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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0238.PDF
(/ycED MARCH 25, 1911. THE GRAHAME-WHITE BIPLANE. THE " NEW BABY" TYPE. ALTHOUGH belonging to a very conventional type—the Farman—the latest Grahame-White biplane is full of in teresting constructional details that well repay a close study on the part of those who are concerned in the aeroplane development of the day. So soon as any one particular type becomes popular because of its extended success, progress is necessarily confined more or less to minor features, and in this way detail design and workmanship steadily improves, and a' fund of useful experience is gradually built up to enhance the chances of success with any new model that may be ultimately evolved. Most of the high-class machinery of the present day is useful only because it is well made, and the excellence of engineering workmanship nowadays is not only a matter of relative superiority as between one machine and another, but is absolutely a fundamental necessity to the success of the type as such. The internal- combustion engine, for example, would be a complete failure but for the fact that it is well made, and thus it is that there is a distinct interest attaching to an investigation of a number of aeroplanes of the same type. At the present time the Farman biplane represents a type of machine that is most popular. Many manufacturers very wisely adopted it as a basis of their own design, because for one thing it is a line along which they are assured of success; and secondly, which is equally important, the popularity of the type itself is more or less a guarantee of some measure of commercial prosperity as a reward for such labours. Notwithstanding the fact that there are so many machines on the market of the Farman type, however, each one of those that we have • nil ill '!•»! • Hl"l Wi II'IWHIWIM—H*lMyB»i*W 'iimiMMMtofflnMIHI'i i, % '• ' , • .:.:•.-• ',•.-•• '---••- • -«..•,• illustrated in FLIGHT has had some detail or other that has been worthy of the attention of our readers, and the present machine is no exception. Its broad feature of interest is its small size, for the span is only 27 ft., and the overall length only 32 ft. 3 ins. It is intended for a light, fast flyer, and it has been beautifully built throughout. Most of the timber is silver spruce, with the exception of the central struts and the under-carriage, which are made of ash.* It will be noticed, too, that the under-carriage does not extend very far below the main planes, consequently the machine as a whole is not very high ; indeed, when standing on the ground it is only 8 ft 6 ins. to the edge of the upper main plane. In order to allow the propeller to clear the""ground, too, it has been necessary to raise the engine, which now " Flight" Cjpyright. Mr. Grahame-White and his "New Baby" biplane. " Flight " Copyrigh . Front view of ths GrahamJ-White "New Baby" biplane. 240
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