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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0043.PDF
JANUARY 13, 1916. A FIGHTING FLYING BOAT. [/OGHf OT only is there a great deal of time and thought being given to the production of large fighting aeroplanes in this country, but in America the problem is being strongly attacked. Thus the Curtiss Company are building a huge triplane flying boat of which the following particulars have been given by the Scientific American:— " This machine, which can properly be called the first battleship aeroplane, is a direct development of the 'America,'a twin-engine flying boat which was to cross the Atlantic in the summer of 1914, when the outbreak of the war stopped the attempt. "The Curtiss 'battleship-aeroplane' is a triple-screw triplane flying boat, which will weigh, fully equipped, 21,450 lbs. " The hull is of cedar planking, sheathed with copper on the under side, and riveted to stout ash ribs : it is 68 ft. long, and has a beam of 20 ft. The hydro-planing surface of the hull is furnished with a V-shaped bottom, which ends in a straight stem forward, while its rear, cut off sharply, gives the 'step,' on which the boat must ride in order to get off the sea. From the step on the hull it has straight side lines, and tapers gently towards the stern, to end with a water-rudder. " The hull is divided into twelve water-tight compart ments, one-third of which are supposed to keep the machine floating, should the hull be pierced and several compartments be flooded. "The inner arrangement of the boat consists (1) of a conning tower containing the controls and the navigating instruments, and (2) of a cabin, fitted as quarters for a crew of eight, and containing the fuel tanks, ammunition and stores. " The boat is steered from the conning tower; when riding a rough sea the latter can be hermetically closed against the spray. The fuel tanks contain 700 gallons of gasoline and 80 gallons of oil; this will give the machine (at a speed of 75 miles per hour) a cruising radius of 675 miles. This could be considerably increased by fitting additional tanks, in which case the military load (guns, bombs, &c), would have to be decreased. The superstructure of this battleship aero plane consists of (1) the supporting planes, (2) the propelling apparatus, and (3) the steering organs. " There are three superposed supporting planes, each having a span of 133 feet and a chord of 10 feet, with a gap of 10 feet between each plane; the total area of M\Ml\ 1 11 ri«.3 Comparison of the (Fig. 1) new Curtiss fighting seaplane with (2) the America, and (3) the standard Curtiss seaplane- Fig. 4 shows a side elevation of the new seaplane. support amounting to about 4,000 square feet. The weight of the hull and of the supporting planes amounts to about 12,000 lbs. As customary on marine aero planes, the tip of each lower wing is fitted with a pontoon, which prevents the wing from digging into the water when running on the surface or when at anchor. "Just like the 'America,' which revolutionised aircraft construction with her twin engines, the latest product of the Curtiss yards marks again a new departure in the arrange ment of the propelling apparatus. The latter consists of six 160 h.p. water-cooled V-type engines, which are coupled in twin units of 320 h.p., each unit driving an air-screw about 15 feet long. But while one of these twin units is placed amidship and drives a central pusher screw, the two other units are mounted on the leading A drawing o! the new giant Curtiss fighting seaplane. 43
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