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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0626.PDF
I/Sl JULY 13, 1912. THE MILITARY COMPETITION— THE MACHINES. THE COVENTRY ORDNANCE BIPLANE. As mentioned in our issue of last week, the Coventry Ordnance Works, Ltd., are entering a pair of machines for the War Office aeroplane competition. One of these has already been described in FLIGHT; the other is of the same type, but is fitted with a 110-h.p. Chenu motor in place of the ioo-h.p. Gnome ; it has 5 ft. less of wing span, and it is some 2 ft. shorter in overall length. Details and photographs of this latter machine we are not yet able to publish. In the meantime, however, let us briefly recapitulate the main characteristics of the 100-h.p. Gnome-engined machine that has been flying at Brooklands for some two months past. We print in this issue a series of photographs illustrating this highly interesting and original biplane. Its design is jointly due to Mr. Howard Wright and Mr. W. O. Manning, A.F.Ae.S. For its construction, mo§t of the building Was carried out at Mr. Howard Wright's works at Battersea, the metal work being done at the Coventry works. Incorporating the fuselage as a feature of construction, it is a biplane of the tractor type. The body, of lattice-girder construction, flattening toward the rear, is sufficiently wide to seat pilot and passenger side by side. Its sides are parallel. In front, the four longerons are assembled into a specially designed pressed-steel housing, in which both the motor and the propeller-shaft are mounted. The drive to the propeller-shaft is by a Hans Renold chain, it being so arranged that the speed of rotation of the propeller is half that of the engine. The propeller itself is strikingly large, for it measures 11 ft. 6 in. from tip to tip, while in its construction nine laminations of teak are employed. It has the peculiarity that, from the boss to a point some 18 ins. down the blade, it is designed to give no forward thrust, but merely to revolve in air, causing as little resistance and absorbing as little power as possible. For this and other reasons, when the machine is flying, those in the cockpit notice comparatively little rush of air. As an advance on accepted practice, particularly relating to Gnome engines, the motor on this machine has been equipped with Bosch dual ignition in order that it may, when neces sary, be started from the pilot's seat. The main supporting surfaces are double surface, are unequal in span and are separated by a gap of 8 ft. The upper plane spans 40 feet, the lower 24 ft. 8 in. The chord in measurement diminishes from 6 ft. at the centre of the wings to 5 ft. near the tip. Both end sections of the top plane, each 10 ft. in length, are constructed so that they may be warped for the correction of lateral balance. As for the cross sections of the plane, the designers have made use of one that has been experimented with by M. Eiffel, for, data relating to its behaviour being available, it has been thought more advantageous to have something definite to work upon than to employ a section the virtues of Which might be problematical. The landing gear is about as simple a conception as one could possibly cite. No shock absorbers have been introduced, all the shock absorbing necessary being done by large diameter 6 in. tyres. Protection is afforded against damage to the propeller by a turned up hickory skid, which proceeds forward and which is connected to the nose of the machine by a pair of struts of Honduras mahogany arranged V fashion. A good idea of the tail is conveyed by one of our photographs. Tanks for the storage of fuel and oil are located under the bonnet. Here there is a tank for oil holding 32 gallons and one for petrol holding 10; the main balk of the petrol, however, is carried in a large tank arranged in the streamline well below the fuselage. From there to the auxiliary tank under the bonnet it is fed by pressure. Main characteristics:— Motor... 14-cyl. Gnome, ioo-h.p. rotary Overall length ... 33 ft. 3 in. Span ... 40 ft., 24 ft. 8 in. Area Average chord Weight, all on Speed ... ...350 sq.ft. ... 5 ft. 6 in. ... 2,000lbs. ... 60m.p.h. THE BLERIOTS. OK the two monoplanes for the War Office competitions entered by L. Bleriot one is of the same type as that which first appeared in England at the time of the last Aero Exhibition at Olympia, in March, 1911. In this machine pilot and passenger sat side by side. The other machine is a replica of that with which both Hucks and Hamel have done much flying of late in England. Accommodation in this latter machine is provided tandem fashion. For the present it is to the former machine that we propose to devote a few lines. Its fuselage serves a double purpose ; not only, as in other mono planes, is it used as the backbone of the machine, but its after portion is splayed out horizontally, and covered with fabric forming a fan-shaped tail. To the rear is hinged a semi-elliptic flap, which governs the machine for ascent and descent. The fuselage itself is of the customary box-girder type, cross-braced in conventional Bleriot fashion. It is covered in with fabric throughout its whole length, to improve its ability to penetrate the air with little disturbance. In front, under a cowl specially designed to protect the pilot from oil, is the motor, a 70-h.p. Gnome, slung on both sides of the crank- case. The landing gear is essentially the same as that which was fitted to the first Bleriot monoplane that startled the world by its flight across the English Channel. One slight peculiarity it has, however, that the top horizontal wooden member of the chassis-frame is, in the machine under review, applied to the base of the fuselage instead of to the top, as in previous machines. By this means the overall height of the chassis is considerably lowered, and this contributes to give it increased robustness. Although the chassis is considerably reduced in height, yet this method of applying it to the fuselage allows the front section of the machine to be lifted well above the ground, thus providing clearance for a propeller of ample dimensions and giving the wings, when at rest, a large angle of incidence, a feature which materially helps the machine in stopping within a reasonable distance after landing. The tail is supported by a double bent skid of rattan cane. Well forward in the body, so near to the leading edge of the wings that they may obtain a clear view of the ground below and in front of them, are the seats for pilot and passenger arranged side by side. The pilot sits on the right-hand side, and it is in front of him that THE MILITARY COMPETITIONS.—The Mars monoplane, entered by Mr. C. E. Kny and constructed bv the Deutsche Flugzeug \v\rke at Leipzig, It will carry the No. 23 In the Military Trials. 626
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