All Caudron
biplane landplanes from before and into the First World War followed the same layout:
tractor configuration, short
nacelles, twin booms, large
tailplanes, and twin fins. From the
Type A to the
Type G.3, all were single-engined. All types contained
sesquiplane examples; the early types were modified from equal-span biplanes and later ones, from the type E onwards, were sesquiplanes from the start. In contrast to its immediate predecessors, the Type C and
Type D, the Type E was a two-seater, bigger and more powerful. It was designed as a military training aircraft. The two-
spar fabric covered wings had the same rectangular plan, apart from angled tips, and had an upper-to-lower span ratio close to 1.5. There were
two wire-braced bays on each side, though the inner ones were only about half the width of the outer. There was no
stagger, so the
interplane struts were parallel and vertical. The overhang of the upper wing was supported by parallel, outward leaning
struts from the bases of the outer interplane struts. The rear spar was ahead of mid-
chord, leaving the
ribs in the rear part of the wing flexible and allowing
roll control by
wing warping. The two-seat nacelle was developed from the earlier simple, flat-sided structure of the
Type B, supported above the lower wing on two more pairs of external interplane struts. It was larger, with more space for the two occupants and military equipment. The pilot was at the rear with the second seat forward; the upper
fuselage ahead of the
cockpit was raised, leaving the occupants less exposed. A
Gnome Lambda rotary engine was mounted in the front under a semi-circular
cowling intended to deflect oil spray. The
empennage of the Type E was supported on a pair of girders arranged parallel to one another in plan. The upper girder members were attached to the upper wing spars at the tops of the innermost interplane struts and the lower ones ran under the lower wing, mounted on downward extensions of the inner interplane struts. The mounting was strengthened with two diagonal struts on each side, one from the base of the forward interplane strut to the upcurved tip of the lower member and the other from the rear interplane strut to the junction of the lower member and its first vertical cross member. Each of these lower members, which supported the aircraft on the ground as skids, carried twin, rubber-sprung landing wheels. Behind the wing the upper and lower members converged to the rear; the drag on the lower members shortened the landing run. The wingspans of the Type E were greater than those of the Type C with an increase of the inner bay width which placed the booms further apart and increased the undercarriage track from , making landings easier. There were three vertical cross braces on each girder but the only lateral inter-girder cross-members were near the tail, though there was wire bracing. The broad chord, roughly rectangular, warping
tailplane was mounted a little below the upper girder member. Above it, a pair of blunt-cornered, rectangular
rudders were separated by about one-third of the tailplane span. ==Operational history==