Bréguet 905 Fauvette

Following Bréguet's success in the 1954 and 1956 World Gliding Championships with the Type 901, Jean Cayla designed the Type 905 for the 1958 event. It is a Standard Class sailplane with a span. Like its predecessor, the 905 is a cantilever mid-wing monoplane but its structure contains glass reinforced plastic, more plastic foam and less fabric. It also has a butterfly tail. It has a wing of straight tapered planform, terminated with small "salmon" fairings at the squared-off wingtips. The major structural component is the main spar plus nose D-box unit, skinned with a plastic foam-filled ("Klegecel") sandwich with ply outer layers. Ribs, ailerons and Schempp-Hirth airbrakes are attached to this torsion box. The whole upper wing surface and outboard lower surface is ply, supported by an internal Klegecell lining, with fabric below, aft of the spar. Slotted ailerons occupy the outer 45% of the trailing edge; there are no flaps. Each complete wing weighs just . The Fauvettes's fuselage is built in three parts. The nose section, with a moulded plastic foam shell over a steel frame contains the cockpit, which is covered by a high, one-piece canopy over the upright seating position, giving the Fauvette a somewhat humpbacked look. The centre section also has a steel frame, covered by moulded polystyrene; wings, cockpit and twin fuselage side towing hooks are attached to this frame. Behind the cockpit the upper fuselage line is formed with a polystyrene fairing which overlaps the conical rear fuselage, made of ply-foam sandwich. The V-tail is straight-tapered with sweep on both edges. The fixed surfaces are ply-foam sandwich structures, carrying fabric covered control surfaces. The Fauvette has a fixed, monowheel undercarriage, assisted by a tailskid. ==Bréguet Bre 906 Choucas==

Bréguet also designed and built a two-seat version of the Fauvette, the 906 Choucas (). The Choucas, which first flew on 26 October 1959, was larger and heavier than the Fauvette with an span, a length of and an empty weight of . In 1962 they had plans for a production run of one hundred but gained no orders, so only one was built. ==Operational history==

The Br 905 competed in the 1958 World Gliding Championship at Leźno in Poland as was intended, though it failed to repeat the success of the earlier Bréguet, coming in 9th out of 24 in the Standard Class. It was piloted by Camille Lebar. The Fauvette was well received by those who flew it, reporting light controls, good aileron response and general good behaviour. On 11 August 1969 a Fauvette under airtow shed its tail unit, killing the pilot. Investigators found that the bonding between the fuselage and tail unit had failed and the type was grounded. Though a modification involving metal and wood straps to reinforce the bonding was devised, most Fauvettes never flew again. The strengthening added to the weight. and there were another two in the UK in 2012. ==Variants==

Data from Bréguet production ;905: One Prototype. ;905PS: Preproduction aircraft. three built. ;905S: Production aircraft. 42 built as flyaway or kit. ;905SA: Three built. ;905BM: One built. ;906 Choucas: Larger, two-seat version. One built. ==Specifications (Bre 905 Fauvette)==