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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0033.PDF
JANUARY IO, 1914. (/OCHT On the Emaillite stand was shown the Moreau aerostable, which, it will be remembered, won the Bonnet stability prize. The whole machine seemed unnecessarily complicated, consisting, as it did, of a veritable forest of steel tubes. The automatic stability was purely longitudinal, the shape of the wings being supposed to render the machine automatically stable laterally, although ailerons are fitted. This lateral stability was greatly increased by judicious use of the rudder, as it is quite possible to keep a machine on an even keel without the use of the warp simply by increasing the speed of the dropping wing by turning the machine in the opposite direction. As for the automatic longitudinal stability, this is possessed by nearly every well-designed machine, and is secured simply by means of the longitudinal dihedral angle formed by the difference in the MOREAU. angle of incidence of the wings and the tail plane. In any case one would think that this longitudinal control by means of slinging the pilot's seat could be obtained in a much simpler way. Constructionally the machine was built of steel almost throughout, the pilot's seat being slung by means of steel tubes underneath the main planes, thus giving the machine a very low centre of gravity. This was partly counteracted by mounting the engine up in front of and on a level with the leading edge of the wings. On top of the wings was mounted the petrol tank, from which petrol is fed to the carburettor by gravity. The engine was partly covered by an aluminium shield enclosing the lower part of the engine, whilst the upper part had been left uncovered for cooling purposes. REP To most of the visitors to the Paris Show it was a surprise to find that the R.E.P. firm were showing, in view of the fact that Mr. Robert Esnault-Pelterie definitely retired from aeroplane construc- an 80 h.p. Gnome engine, which did not differ materially from the earlier R.E.P. machines, already known to our readers. It was built of steel tubes throughout, and the high quality of the workman- The skeleton of the all-steel R.E.P. fuselage. Flight" Copyright, tion last year. However, one was glad to see that he had been induced to alter this decision, as it would have been a great loss to aviation generally if the withdrawal had been permanent. Of the two machines shown, one was a single-seater monoplane, fitted with 1 Flight" Copyright. The R.E.P. monoplane. ship was readily appreciated after an inspection of the skeleton fuselage which completed the exhibit on the R.E.P. stand. The joints were not soldered, but were in most cases either bolted or welded by acetylene welding. Control was by means of a single central lever for the warp and elevator, and a foot-bar for the rudder. The chassis was sprung in the usual R.E.P. way by a cross-arm sliding up along one of the struts in the side of the fuselage, and carrying the rudder shock absorbers, and the wheels were carried on two stub axles pivoted on the lower longeron on the fuselage. The wings were supported on the fuselag-e by fitting the spars in hinged lugs, so that no bending strain was imposed upon the rear spar when warping the wings. The upper bracing cables to the front spar were attached to the top of a triangular pyramid formed by steel tubes, whilst those to the rear spar were attached to a single tube. They do not run over pulleys in the usual manner, but were fixed rigidly to the tube which rocks laterally when the wings were warped. The lower front lift wires were secured to the keel of the fuselage, on which were also situated the pulleys for the lower warp wires. The whole machine had been designed with a view to facilitate dismantling, and all parts had been standardised so that in case any part becomes damaged it could be easily and quickly replaced. (To be concluded next week.) 33 c 2
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