The Caudron R.11 (or R.XI in contemporary usage), was a French three-seat twin-engine long range escort fighter biplane developed and produced by Caudron during the First World War.

Development

The R.XI was intended to fulfill a French Corps d'Armee requirement for a long range three-seat escort fighter. Its design was similar to the Caudron R.4, but without a nose-wheel, and with longer wings and fuselage, with two bracing bays outboard the engines rather than three, along with a much larger tail. Hispano-Suiza 8Ba liquid-cooled V-8 engines were housed in streamlined nacelles just above the lower wing, fitted with frontal radiators, which replaced the air-cooled Renault engines used in the R.4.

Operational history

Production of the 1000 R.XIs ordered by the French Army began in 1917, with the first aircraft completed late in that year. The first escadrille, R 46, was equipped with the type in February 1918 and the last escadrille to form was R 246, before the Armistice resulted in an abrupt end to production, at which point approximately 370 aircraft had been completed by Caudron, Régy Frères and Gremont.

Variants

Operators

Specifications (Caudron R.XI C.3)