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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0180.PDF
[/iGHT of cedar, 4 in. wide and ^\ in. thick are applied to each side at an angle of 450 to the longitudinal axis of the float. These strips in position, they are coated with copal varnish, and while that is still wet a layer of waterproof canvas is put on. This is again varnished and a further layer of cedar veneer applied, making the strips run this time in a direction 900 to the former layer. The floats are finished off by copper nails, which are driven in every two inches or so all over the floats and clinched over. Then, to protect the under-surface, longitudinal ash stringers are applied. FEBRUARY 15, 1913. Six steel struts, spruce filled, of special streamline section support the body of the machine. Ths struts are bedded in the float structure on to the spruce main skeleton, and they are reinforced at the point of attachment by flanged steel plates (refer sketch). Floats built on this principle do not come out unduly heavy. These Grahame-White floats weigh less than 100 lbs. each complete with struts and wiring. Without passengers or fuel the machine weighs 850 lbs., and is capable of carrying a useful load of 450 lbs. The machine's flying speed is expected to average 55 m.p.h. MESSRS. HANDLEY PAGE, LTD. The 5o-h.p. two-seater monoplane exhibited on this stand is now more than a year old. Although it is in such excellent condition, " Flight" Copyright. The 50-h. p. Handley Page monoplane. thanks to the renovation it has undergone at the Handley Page works previous to being brought to Olympia, one would scarcely think to look at it that it had been in existence so long. But the fact that it has had severe use does not make it any the less interesting as an exhibit—rather the reverse. It has the distinction of being the only machine that has, so far, flown from one side of London to the other, following the course of the Thames. This was accomplished when the late Mr. Edward Petre flew it last year, from the old Handley Page testing grounds at Fairlop to Richmond and then on to Brooklands. During its lifetime the machine has flown upwards of 2,000 miles and has carried over a hundred passengers at different times. The 50-h.p. Handley Page monoplane—To the semi- interested spectator, the first point that catches the eye is the unusual gull-like shape of the wings. Probably many an onlooker will think that they have been shaped in this way for the sake of artistic effect. This, however, is not the case. A much more important consideration underlies their design. They are shaped thus in order that the machine as a whole may be, to a great extent, automatically stable in the air. And the intentions of the designer have been borne out by practical test with the machine, fork hasaccomplished many trips in high winds, keeping so steady REVOLUTION COUNTER. PETROL TANK CONTR OL WHEEL. PFTROL TA.M AIR. l>REssu "Flight" Copyright. Handley Page Monoplane.—Sketch of the Interior of the pilot's cockpit* as seen when standing up in the passenger's seat. that the pilot has scarcely ever been called upon to use the controls at all. Struck by a forward or a rearward gust, the machine will rise or fall bodily on a level keel as the case may be. A side gust will have the effect of making the machine roll slightly, but the machine, without any help from the controls at all, always returns automatically to its normal level attitude by virtue of the shape of " Flight ' Copyright. The front section of the Handley Page monoplane. its wings. Considering that the machine is only fitted with a 50 Gnome motor, its performances to date have been remarkably good, for it is not often that one can get a monoplane to fly so well as the Handley Page machine does, and carry a passenger and quite a considerable fuel supply, with an engine of such relatively low horse power. As a further consideration, it must be borne in mind that the machine in question does not come under the category of light monoplanes. Being considered an experimental machine at the time when it was built, no efforts were made to cut down weight. As the machine stands at present, it turns the scale at 850 lbs., but on further machines of this type, Mr. Handley Page calculates that 100 lba. weight can be saved, without in any way weakening the strength of the structure. The fuselage is a rectangular section box girder, having ash longitudinal members, and cross and vertical members of spruce and ash, ash being used at those points of the body where the greatest strains have to be borne. The body is brought to a pent agonal section by the application of a triangular keel to the base of the lattice girders. The girder of rectangular section, however, takes the whole of the body strain, the keel being added simply to improve the appearance of the machine and to reduce its head resistance. Protruding from the front of the body is a 50-h.p. Gnome motor, which is not supported by any bearing in front of the crank case. It revolves under an aluminium cowl, which prevents oil from being scattered broadcast by the engine. The wing spars are housed by two boxes suitably arranged on either side of the machine for that purpose, and strong ash struts are carried laterally across the body in their neighbourhood, to take the com pression that is always existent in a structure of this type. The wings, as wc have remarked, are gull-Shaped, that is, they have a crescent-shaped entering edge, and there is a graduated I84 \
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