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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0148.PDF
[/JJGHT] EBRUARY 7, I9I4. AN AEROPLANE IN THE MAKING. IN these days of aerial locomotion when the sight of an aeroplane flying overhead is such an everyday occurrence as to excite com paratively little interest, one is, perhaps, a little apt to overlook the enormous amount of work and the forethought and care devoted to t he production of a modern aeroplane. For this reason we think that the majority of our readers will be interested in a description of the different stages of evolution which a machine passes through from the time the designs leave the draughtsman's table until it is ready for the air. - . We are indebted to the Sopwith Aviation Co., Ltd., for their courtesy in giving m every information and in placing their exten- are given their final form with the spaces between the ribs cut down to an I section for the sake of lightness. The spars are now sent to another department to have the ribs fitted. These latter have in the meantime passed through various stages as follows : The planks from which the ribs are to be made are first sawn out to a thickness slightly greater than the desired thickness of the webs. These thin boards are then planed down to exact size on the planing machine. Before proceeding to describe the manufacture of the ribs, it is as well to call attention to the fact that the webs of the ribs are divided into three pieces. The front portion runs from the leading edge to the front spar, the second part runs from the rear side of the front spar to the front side of the rear spar, whilst the last piece continues from the rear spar to the trailing edge. These three parts of the Attachment of ribs to spars. .sive works at our disposal for the purpose of obtaining the necessary notes and sketches. It would have been difficult to find a more representative firm, for at their works at Kinsgton, where the Sopwith Aviation Co. employ some 150 workmen, in addition to a large staff " ^draughtsmen, all the most up-to-date machinery and latest labour- aving methods are employed, whilst the workmanship of their machines has already established for them an enviable reputation, equalled only by the excellence of their design. As wood is the material mostly employed in the construction of the majority of aeroplanes a start will be made with the wood working department. It is almost needless to point out that all the wood used for aeroplane construction must be of the very best quality, air dried, well seasoned, and absolutely free from knots and shakes. Spruce, ash and poplar are the woods most generally employed, and of these ash is generally used for the longitudinal members of the fuselage and for the wing spars, whilst spruce is used for struts, ribs, cross-members, &c. Poplar is frequently employed for the webs of the ribs. When the planks have been thoroughly seasoned they are sent to the shop in which are the saws, planing machines, spindle machines, &c., by means of which the Sketch showing method of assembling ribs. web of the rib are held together by two thin flanges screwed into the edges of the web. The method of manufacturing the different parts of the webs is as follows : A template of exactly the same size as the particular section of the web is placed on top of the thin boards from which the webs are cut and their outline is traced by means of some sharp instrument such as an awl. The man who performs the tracing or marking off then passes the boards on to the man in charge of the jig saw, who cuts out the individual webs, taking care to leave about TV of an inch all round the tracing line. The webs are now cut down to their exact size on a spindle machine. This is done by nailing the rough web to a board of the same shape as the web but pro jecting about J of an inch outside the web. This projection is of such a width that when it touches the circular guide on the table of the spindle machine, the cutters will just touch the tracing line, so that by pushing the carriage board to which the web is attached along the circular guide, which is concentric with the The hollow leading edge and Its attachment to rib. The ribs are slid along spar, beginning with centre one. Sketch showing opening in rib through which the spar passes. rough wood is converted into ribs, struts, skids, spars, or in short, all the finished parts that go to make up an aeroplane. They then go to the different machines to be shaped into form according to the purpose for which they are intended. The wing spars are first sawn out of a plank of approximately the desired thickness. If they are not of exactly rectangular shape they pass through the spindle machine, which, briefly speaking, consists of a table or platform through which projects a vertical shaft revolving at a very high speed (about 5,000 revolutions per min.). This shaft carries the knives or cutters by means of which the parts are given the desired form, and which are interchangeable, so that by substi tuting a different set of cutters the same spindle machine may be used for a variety of purposes. In these spindle machines the spars I48 spindle, the webs are cut to the correct size and shape and, as the carriage board used is the same for all the webs, it follows that they will all be cut to the same size. From the wood working department the webs are sent to the erecting shop where the flanges are screwed on and the ribs finished off ready to go on the spars. The method of assembling the ribs is as follows : The three parts of the webs are placed on a former of the same shape as the finished rib, and having two short pieces of wood attached to it to represent the spars. The web pieces are butted against these dummy spars, and the flanges are put into place and held temporarily in position by tacks nailed along the former at certain intervals. The flanges are then secured to the webs by means of small screws, and the ribs are passed along to another man
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