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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0775.PDF
SEPTEMBER 9, 19*1 " Flight " Copyright. THE NEW SHORT DOUBLE-ENGINED BIPLANE.—On the left the front engine, and on the right the rear engine, propeller, pilot's seat, &c. same as that already described by us in connection with the standard Short models. Two differences that may be noted, however, are the triple rudder and the small span of the elevator outrigger booms, compared with the span of the elevator itself. Both engines are seven-cylinder rotary Gnomes, and that in front forms as it were the nose of a car, fashioned somewhat, as it appears at first glance, like the outline of a racing automobile. The pilot sits in this car, and there is room for a passenger alongside him, but although the extra seat is not there yet, we have visions of accommo dation being provided for two other passengers behind the pilot if the machine proves anything like as successful as is hoped. The aft motor is situated well behind the back of the car, as one of the photographs shows. The tractor screws are driven by very long chains, running in tubular guides, and rotate in opposite directions, one of these chains being crossed in order to give the necessary reversal of motion. Wright practice is recalled in the use of these steel guide tubes, and in the shape of the tractors themselves; it affords, in fact, a .particularly interesting comparison to note the difference in form .between the slow-speed propellers in front and the high-speed propeller behind. In front of the pilot is a wheel mounted on the top of a pivoted column. Turning the wheel operates the balancers, and a to-and-fro motion of the column controls the elevator. Steering is effected by a pivoted cross-bar under the feet, and this mechanism is fitted in duplicate so that the passenger may work in unison with the pilot. A point that is worth noting is that the fuel tanks are situated as far away from the engines as is practicable, in order to remove as far as possible the liability of serious accident in the event of an atterrissagt brusque. They are also fitted with feed pipes of such design as to ensure a constant supply to the carburettor for any attitude that the machine may assume in flight. So much is, for the moment, all we need say of the new Short biplane, but the fact that it is an experimental machine affords us the opportunity for remarking that it is by no means indicative in itself of the extent of Short Bros.' experimental work, and we should like to congratulate them on this occasion for the thorough ness with which they investigate stresses and strains, and by every means do their utmost to protect the pilot against mechanical failure in flight, for which they very properly say " there is no excuse." M & •-,:, .»• The testing machines at Short's factory at Eastchurch. On the right Mr. Horace Short is testing a 6-ft. strut under compression. The machine on the left is for testing the strength of wires and for determining up to what tension it is safe to trust strainer-eyes, 777 C
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