FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0847.PDF
duration at least. Were it possible to obtain half a minute's flight with such a model, it would be well worth constructing, as many interesting experiments could be done with it, and since such a model is or could bs a real prototype of the full-sized article, so far as its weight, distribution, &c, are concerned, such experiments would be of more value in some respects than those carried out with rubber-driven motors. The span of the machine is 40 ins. ; the length 31 ins. ; chord 7'Stins. ; number of longitudinals, three. Dimensions of tail, 10 ins. by 6. The Broadstairs Model Construction Co. " With reference to your interesting article on making models resemble their prototypes," write the above firm, " we beg to say that we have always been keen advocates in this direction and have discouraged as much as possible the flying stick and the A frame. '• We send you herewith some photographs of models recently supplied to clients, amongst them being Master Antony Asquith ; we shall always be pleased to send you from time to time photo graphs or models as supplied by us, to show that our clients are jnclining towards your advice." A model biplane tractor by the Broadstairs Model Construction Company. HAS THE MODERN MODEL BEEN ANTICIPATED? Mr. P. L. Senecal's Claim. We have received from Mr. L. Senecal the following communication and details of a model aeroplane which his father, Mr. P. L. Senecal, claims to have made and flown as long ago as 1876, i.e. 38 years ago. Mr. Senecal was an old member of the Aeronautical Society, and undoubtedly carried out a great deal of experimental work that unfortunately has not been recorded as fully as it ought. The claim as stated is an extraordinary one, even when one is fully aware of all that the Frenchman Penaud accomplished. With respect to the distance flown, viz. 700 yards, we think there must be some mistake, unless it was accomplished in a very high wind which simply blew the model along. We do not know of any modern twin screw tractor model, even hand launched, which has accom plished anything like this distance. We shall be pleased to receive any corrobaiive evidence of this claim, in respect to which we prefer for the moment not to express any opinion ; we shall be pleased to hear, however, what any of our readers have to say on the subject. *' Just a few remarks," writes Mr. L. Senecal, " in connection with your article in FLIGHT of June 19th, ' The Use of the Model in the Development of the Aeroplane.' The paragraph headed, ' The Aim of Early Experimenters,' is the one I refer to. In this you mention that the early models were not successful because of the inefficiency of their motors. To prove that there were models from the wheels of a clock, and rose from the ground and flew successfully, The longest distance that this model flew has been measured by my brother and I, and found, by stepping, to be about 700 yards* ; the launching and alighting points having been described to me by my faiher. The model terminated its flight in the branches of a tree, so that the model would have flown a greater distance. I am reconstructing the model myself, and will forward the results when I have tested the machine. The remains of the original model are still preserved, and it was from these I obtained the dimensions given below. The rest my father described to me. I hope that you will find space to publish particulars and drawings of this early successful mode!, which can be proved to have actually been seen in free flight. I shall be pleased to answer any enquiries concerning this communication to the best of my ability. Design and Materials Used in Construction. " Motor rod—bamboo, \ inch in diameter ; 4 ft. 6 ins. in length. Cross bars at each end of white pine. Triangular section, knife edge forward, slotted in bamboo nod. "Main Plain—at slight dihedral angle to motor rod. Span, 3 ft. 9 ins. ; chord, 9 ins. at central rib ; hinged at roar edge and El_E-VAT|r»&L,| J IWTOB ROD-' REAR EOOC or tLtvAWR WASHER I e~H) SIDE AND END ELEVATIONS OF PROPELLERS Mr. Senecal's 1876 model. which could give a fair duration at that time, I am sending you the design and description of a model that was built by my father, Mr. P. L. Senecal, who was for many years a member of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain. This model was built in 1876, and exhibited in company with a travelling helicopter model at the Workmen's Exhibition in Victoria Street, S. W., in 1879. It was catalogued under the heading, 'A Free Aerial Kite,' but in reality it would be now termed a twin tractor monoplane of the floating tail type. Previous to the Exhibition this model was repeatedly flown in Hyde Park (there were not so many trees there as now), and on one occasion flew across the Serpentine. This flight was commented on by a letter to the editor of the Mirror 0/Science, which I believe is now the English Mechanic, by someone who must have seen the flight. "The model was afterwards fitted with a chassis and wheels made elevated or lowered by pin fastened to central rib passing through motor rod at \ lof chord from front to roar edge of plane. The forward edge of the pla>ne was made of bamboo triangular seotion and tapering towards the wing tips knife edge as leading edge. The rear edge and ribs were constructed of stiff watch spring, except the central rrb, which was of bamboo. The whole plane was kept taut and stiff by concaving the plane from the central rib by bowing it by means of a piece of wire drawn tight under the rib. This gave the plane a rough camber, accentuated by the fact that the elevating pin, which was one-third of the chord from the edge of the plane, gave the maximum bow or camber one-third from the leading edge, high in the centre and washing out towards the plane tips. This was, I believe, the first cambered plane to fly or to be used in any way in the problem of flight. * Penaud's best distance and duration appear to be 70 yards and 13 ieconds. 847
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
