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Benoist-Korn Type XII
In the spring of 1912, Thomas Wesley Benoist announced the completion of his firm's newest aircraft, the Type XII. The two-place biplane, powered by a Roberts six-cylinder, 75-horsepower engine, was one of the first closed-fuselage tractor airplanes to appear in the United States. The Benoist factory produced about five during the next year. Most American aircraft produced at this time were close copies of Wright, Curtiss, or European machines. Benoist was one of the few U.S. firms that built and sold original designs.
This airplane was constructed in the Benoist shop in St Louis by its purchasers, Edward and Milton Korn. The Korn brothers began work on their airplane in March 1912, completed it in May, and flew it soon thereafter at Anna, Illinois. The following year, they performed many exhibitions with the airplane. |