First seen on Louis Béchereau’s 1912 Deperdussin air racer, the monocoque, or “one shell,” fuselage was an innovative design. The single wooden shell facilitated a smooth, streamlined shape and the skin of the fuselage itself bore the structural loads and was internally hollow. The fuselage was very different from the strut-and-wire bracing pioneered by the Wrights and used by the rest of the aeronautical community.
The Lockheed Vega and Sirius are examples of wood monocoque construction.
