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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0973.PDF
SEPTEMBER 25, 1914. l/DUm THE "ROUND BRITAIN" MACHINES. THE machine which was officially numbered 8 in the Circuit of Britain, and for which Mr. Sydney Pickles had been nominated pilot, was The Blackburn Tractor Seaplane. Although being of the biplane type the latest Blackburn follows along the lines of the monoplanes previously pro duced by this firm. As seen fiom the side, the body of the seaplane greatly resembles that of the monoplanes, but constructionally it differs from the latter in that it is of rectangular section instead of the triangular section employed in the mono planes. The four ash longi tudinals converge towards the rear, where they join on to a vertical knife edge. Cross bracing is still by diagonal wooden strips instead of the more univer sally adopted wire bracing. A turtle back extends from the engine cowl back to the tail plane, and has openings cut in it for the pilot and passenger. These sit one behind the other in separate cockpits, with the pilot at the rear. Petrol is carried in two tanks mounted on the upper longitudinals of the body; one in front of the pilot, containing 32 gallons, and a second one in front of the passenger, holding 21 gallons. The front tank is divided by a transverse partition, the front portion containing five gallons of oil, or sufficient for a flight of five hours' duration. The petrol tank in front of the pilot has its rear end sloping slightly forward to form a dash, on which Mr. . <<> Sydney ruL Pickles, who .Blackburn •was tractor "tli nominated biplane. fnl ^-C pilot 1 1 '•' 1 ' K for in. the secured to a transverse rocking shaft, working in bearings on two longitudinal members inside the body. Rotation of the wheel operates the balancing flaps, a to-and-fro movement of the wheel and column actuates the elevator, and the rudder is controlled by a pivoted foot bar. In the nose of the body is mounted the engine—a 130 h.p. Salmson-Canton-Unne motor driving a Blackburn propeller. An aluminium cowl encloses practically the whole of the engine, and extends back in the shape of a turtle-back, over the top of the body. The main planes, of which the lower one only is set at a dihedral angle, are characterized by having their trailing edge longer than the leading edge. Balancing flaps are hinged to the trailing edge of the top plane only. These are inter-connected by cables passing over pulleys on top of the upper plane, and running across to the corre sponding pulleys on the other side. From the lower surface another series of cables pass from the bal ancing flaps to the control wheel. The main planes are braced internally and fitted with stout compression struts between the spars. Two pairs of interplane struts connect the planes on each side of the body, and cable bracing is employed. At the rear of the fuselage is a set of tail planes, con- ROUND BRITAIN MACHINES, No. 8.—Side view of the Blackburn Tractor seaplane. The wheels shown do not form part of the chassis, but are merely used for running the machine down to the water. are mounted a complete set of instruments, including revs, indicator, altimeter, compass, clock, &c. The controls consist of a rotatable hand wheel mounted on a single, central, tubular column, which is, in turn, 973 sisting of a cambered, fixed tail plane, a divided elevator, a vertical fin and a balanced rudder. A small float, supported from the body on four steel tubes, takes the weight of the tail planes when the machine is at rest. c
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