The 1910 Deperdussin monoplane was a
tractor configuration mid-wing monoplane, with a very slender
fuselage formed by a shallow fabric-covered wire-braced wooden box-girder, the
longerons curving in to a vertical knife-edge at the back. The depth of the front section of the fuselage was increased by a shallow shell of wood
veneer built over curved formers. Due to the extremely shallow fuselage, the pilot was almost completely exposed, sitting on rather than in the fuselage. The wings were mounted below the upper
longerons and were slightly tapered. Lateral control was by
wing warping. In earlier aircraft the warping and bracing wires were attached to a pair of vertical
kingposts just aft of the
leading edge of the wing: in later aircraft these were braced by diagonal struts leading back to the fuselage longerons. The
empennage of early examples consisted of an elongated triangular vertical fin with a cutout to allow
elevator travel with a rectangular
rudder hinged to the
trailing edge, and a similarly elongated triangular
tailplane with an elevator. In later examples, such as that in the Shuttleworth Collection, the horizontal tail surface was shorter, the leading edges being swept at about 45°. A distinctive feature of the type was that the trailing edge of the rudder and elevator was braced by wires leading to the control horns. The controls consisted of a wheel mounted on an inverted U-shaped yoke, the uprights of which were outside the fuselage structure. Fore and aft movement of the entire yoke operated the elevator and the wheel operated the wing warping. The rudder was controlled by pedals. The undercarriage consisted of a pair of
trapezoidal frames, each braced by a diagonal member extended forwards to form a short upcurved skid to protect the propeller in the case of nose-overs, with a pair of wheels carried on a sprung cross axle between the two frames. ==Variants and nomenclature==