what is it?
The Voisin X (sometimes written as Voisin 10) was a French two-seat pusher biplane which was built in two versions, one fitted with a 37 mm (1.46 in) Hotchkiss cannon (the LBR or X Ca.2), and the other as a conventional night bomber (the LAR or X Bn.2). Problems with the Peugeot engine in the previous Voisin VIII led to the installation of a new Renault engine of greater power and reliability, but the new aircraft was otherwise nearly identical to the VIII. Despite its obsolescence, it would make up the bulk of front line night bomber escadrilles until the end of the war.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 17.9 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 109 years ago, in 1917.
- Wingspan of 17.9 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1917
- introduced
- 1917
- number built
- 900
- role
- night bomber & reconnaissance
- engines
- 1× Renault 12Fe
- crew
- 2
- length
- 10.4 m
- wingspan
- 17.9 m
- height
- 4 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,200 kg
- top speed
- 135 km/h
- range
- 350 km
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q3562374, Wikipedia: Voisin X (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.