FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0006.PDF
JANUARY 2, 1909. AEROPLANE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. Types. v»V .'.... '...;•;..;'. .. ;•;•''.•• ; "'•'.. MONOPLANES have a distinct superiority in numbers over the biplanes at the first Aeronauiical Salon, but presumably it is only a matter of individual preference at the present time as to which of the two types has been adopted. The monoplane has of course less surface than a biplane occupying the same width of spread, and is therefore a higher speed machine. It lends itself to simplicity of construction, and if fitted with a tractor screw, as most are, to the use of a direct coupled engine. The absence of transmission chains is, of course, a merit in itself, but the direct drive involves a high-speed propeller, which appears to be attended with other complications. On a monoplane, the size and pitch of a screw of reasonable size appears to render high speed necessary in order to give the velocity required for flight, so to this extent the condi- tions are in common accord. On the Pischoff mono- plane there are two chain-driven propellers placed behind the main wings, as on most biplanes. Having thus briefly dealt with the types in general, we give below a table summarising the various aeroplanes on view. Among the details included in this list are certain leading dimensions, and also the weight of the different machines in flying order but without the pilot; these latter figures, however, are not such as should be regarded as too literally exact, if the comparative appearances of the aeroplanes themselves may be taken as any guide. Machine. Details. Exhibitor. ad. p | ice . 5 Engine. Ader's Avion (No. 3) R.E.P. (No. 2 bis) Bleriot (No. 9) Bleriot (No. 11) ... Antoinette ... La Demoiselle Pischoff Vendome (No. 2) ... Clement-Bayard ... 'f'•'!•'- •-•-.'•- Astra (Kapferer) ... Wright (molei) ... Farman (No. 1) Delagrange (No. 3) Bleriot (No. 10) (3- seater)Lejune (No. 1) Breguet helicopter- aeroplane Monoplanes. Arts et Metiers Museum Etab. R. E. Pelterie... Soc. Bleriot Soc. Bleriot Soc. Antoinette Santos Dumont Pischoff and Koechlin R. Vendome .. Clement-Bayard m 16 9 97 12 9 12 sq. m. 615-7 24 13 40 9 - 23 26 523 Double Monoplanes. Soc. Surcouf ... 10 Biplanes. Cie. Navigation Aer- ienneVoisin Freres ... Soc. d'Encouragement Bleriot Lejune... ' ... ' . ,; .,'' Special. •Breguet ^. ... ... 12 10 10 '3 6 14 40 t —~ 2 52 5|4°65 5*23 60 kgs. 258 360 410 160 500 67 — 3°S 400 — 450 500 45° 480 15° 1 • • 55° h.t 40 35 35 50 175° 5° 35 22 50 50 50 12 50 steam 7-cyl. R.E.P. 16-cyI. Antoinette 7-cyl. R.E.P.8-cyl. Antoinette 2-cyl. 2-cyl. 3-cyl. 'Anzani 7-cyl. B.-C. 7-cyl. R.E.P. 4-cyl. B.M. 8-cyl. Antoinette 8-cyl. Antoinette 8-cyl. Antoinette 3-cyl. Buchet 8-cyl. Antoinette Installation. ''-.-:• ' ~. •.-. •-£• •: '' •.•.; •-:.'":..-.. :':j- •"•• -?--.- The tractor screw in front, as representing a principle of propulsion, is one to which Sir Hiram Maxim, in his recent book, is strongly opposed, on the ground that it fails to take advantage of the air set in motion by the machine as a whole as a means of neutralising some of the normal slip. On the other hand, M. Esnault-Pelterie, among others, considers that the wake from the slip itself is turned to better account with a tractor screw because it creates a higher effective velocity of the air under the centre of the main wings. The Pelterie monoplane, however, is constructed to make as much use of this central air current as possible, but there are others which are not, and at the best, the frame, whatever its shape, occupies a considerable cross-section behind the screw. At the moment, therefore, it may be said that the engines are usually placed in front of monoplanes because that position makes the best mechanical job ot the installation. On biplanes the engine is either on one side of the pilot, as on the Wright and Bleriot machines, or immediately behind, as on the Farman and Delagrange (Voisin) aeroplanes. In all cases the propellers are just behind the main planes, and on the Wright, where there are two, and on the Bleriot, where there is only one, they are driven by chains. The Voisin machines have a direct drive. When there are two propellers they should turn in opposite directions in order to neutralise the tilting effect, and on the Wright machine this is accom- plished by crossing one of the chains. The chains are enclosed in tubes, and as the motor is alongside the pilot one chain is longer than the other; it is this one which is crossed. Frames. Wood is the favourite material at the present time for the framework of aeroplanes, and, indeed, it seems likely to give birth to quite a new development of constructive engineering. Already two firms have specialised in the manufacture of hollow wood beams and struts, and one in particular— the Soc. Anon. Construction d'Appireils Aeriens — exhibit some most interesting models of elliptic lattice girders showing great refinement of workmanship. Wood, as is well known, is ordinarily lighter than metal for the same strength, although it is much more bulky. On an aeroplane the bulk of wood required is not disproportionate to the present size of the machine—whatever it may be in the future—and in consequence it has become a very popular material. Only two notable examples of steel need be referred to, the Breguet and the R.E.P. In the latter case the frame is-; comparatively small, and in the former it is very extensive, and, in fact, forms an interesting example of tubular steel work quite apart from any reference to its application to the subject under discussion. Most of the monoplanes have boat-like frames of V section, which gives some of them the appearance of racing skiffs; in a few cases, the sides are actually wood- covered, at any rate in part, but in general the frame is a light skeleton structure covered with fabric. In general, such frames taper in section aft, and either have a bluff end forward or a short sharp point. A feature of the Wright frame is the detachability of the struts between the two main planes; the ends of the struts are fitted with steel screw-eyes, .which fasten on to corresponding curled hooks. Diagonal wire stays give the necessary
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
