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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 1118.PDF
(/jTjgHf THE accompanying photographs illustrate a glider which has been built by Mr. K. H. Eggleton, of Eastleigh, Hants, and with which, we understand, numerous successful glides have been made. It will be noticed that the glider somewhat resembles the well- known Caudron biplanef, especially with regard to the arrangement of the nacelle, tail booms and tail plane. The wings arc quite OCTOBER 18, 1913. THE EGGLETON GLIDER. ment, operates the warp, while a to-and-fro motion o the lever controls the elevator, which is of the flexing type. Four tension springs secure the axle to the skids of the chassis, and thus act as shock absorbers instead of the rubber lings usually employed for that purpose. . Over one hundred flights have been made, we learn, with this Three views of the Eggleton glider. different from those of the Caudron both in section and construction, having been designed by Mr. Eggleton himself. The camber, it will be observed, is very pronounced, in order, no doubt, to get sufficient lift at the slower speed at which the glider flies. The main planes, the chassis and the tail booms each form separate units, of which that of the lail booms is made detachable in order to facilitate storage in the hangar, which has a doorway only ten feet wide. An inspection of the accompanying photos will reveal the fact that no rudder is fitted, as it has been found that steering can be effected by means of the elevator, which is warped in conjunction with the main planes in a similar manner to that employed for carrying out this operation in the Caudron machines. A centrally pivotted vertical lever in front of the pilot, by a side to side move- glider, several or which were free flights, but in the majority 01 cases the glider was towed by Mr. Eggleton's assistants, as it was RUR Sketch of wing construction of Eggleton glider. found difficult to secure the use of a hill providing a suitable gradient. A WARNING TO ® ® ® ® WOULD-BE PEGOUDISTS," As it appears likely that one or more British pilots may be contem plating a series of tests on the lines of, if not of such magnitude as, those successfully essayed by M. Pegoud on his Bleriot monoplane, in order to demonstrate the stability of their particular machine, a few words, drawing attention to a fact which, we believe, is not so generally realised as it should be amongst pilots, may prove useful. When marvelling at the evolutions carried out by that daring aviator, it should be borne in mind that these evolutions were executed on a machine which was not only specially fitted with a greatly increased range of warp and great rudder and elevator move ment, but also possessed that standard Bleriot feature, i e., the open fuselage, which makes machines of that make respond with great promptitude to the directional controls. It is to this point that we should like to direct the attention of pilots. When a machine with a fuselage, which is very deep and very wide in front, and which is entirely covered in, is dived beyond a certain angle, and thereby given a velocity far above its normal flying speed, it has been found to be very sluggish in answering the elevator for the purpose of flattening out after the dive. It has been suggested that the reason ' for this might be, that in a machine with a fuselage of this type, the tail planes at high speed are working in a partial vacuum, which renders them inefficient. If this were the case the pilot would have the impression that his control wires were broken, as his control lever would move backwards and forwards with great ease, and with no appreciable effect on the machine. An experience, which one of our well-known pilots had recently, appears to disprove this assumption. He dived his machine until a very high velocity had been attained, and, on trying to flatten out, found that he had to pull very hard on his elevator lever, bringing it back as far as it would go, and even then the machine only very slowly responded to the elevator. Fortunately he had climbed to a good height before starting the dive, and thus had ample room to drop before flattening out. The fact lhat the elevator in this machine was difficult to raise seems to indicate (hat the top and bottom surfaces of an enclosed fuselage act at high velocities as a very effective damper plane which, in connection with the fixed tail plane, tend to overcome the effect of the elevator. An evolution like that of looping the loop must of necessity be done in a comparatively small circle in order to bring the machine over the top of the curve, and it must be done at a high veloci'y for the same reason. Pilots who intend to put their machines through a series of tests of this order should therefore remember, that a machine which has an tticlased fuselage, whilst perfectly con trollable in all positions in which a pilot is likely to find himself for ordinary flying, may prove to be sluggish on the controls at very high velocities, such as Pegoud's tests entail. The pilots should at any rate convince themselves, by a series of dives of which each one is a little steeper than the preceding one, that their machines do answer the controls with the necessary promptitude. ® ® ® ® An American Aerial Derby. AN " aerial Derby " was successfully carried out on Tuesday last over a 60-mile course round the Manhattan Island, New York. The result was a victory for Curtiss biplanes, which finished first and second, W. Luckey piloting the winner in 53 mins. 6 sees., and Miles the second in 55 mins. 5 sees. The third place went to a Moisant monoplane, with Marvin Wood at the wheel, which finished in 58 mins. 19 sees. 1144
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