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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0393.PDF
A COMBINED WHEEL AND FLOAT UNDER-CARRIAGE. WITH comparatively few exceptions, notable among which ire the Caudron seaplanes, aeroplanes are as a rule divided into two classes—those intended for use over land and those designed to start from and alight on the surface of the sea. The form of under-carriage is consequently de termined beforehand, according to the element from which the machine is intended to ascend. In Germany a good deal of experimenting was carried out before the war with the object of producing an under-carriage that would ren der an aeroplane amphibious, as it were, **. e., enable it to start from and return to either land or sea. Various devices were tried, some fairly successful, others less so. The majority of them had this in common, however much they differed in detail, that the change from land to sea chassis was accomplished from the pilot's seat, thus enabling a machine to start from the land, alight on the sea, and subsequently return to the land again. As a matter of fact, this performance was, if we remember rightly, one of the conditions in the German race for the Lake Constance Prize in 1913. In this country, as has been pointed out, little has been done in this direction. A Sopwith bat boat did, it is true, win the Mortimer Singer Prize, the con ditions of which necessitated a combined wheel and float chassis, but apart from this little practical effort at solving the problem has been made here. That the combined land aud water chassis would have its advan tages appears obvious, especially under war conditions when a raiding machine, for example, might be forced on account of engine trouble or through other causes to come down before regaining the sea. If this has to be accomplished without wheels there is every probability of disaster, and certainly no hope of re-starting, while, if wheels had been incorporated in the design of the undercarriage, not only would a smash be avoided, but there would be at least a sporting chance of getting the engine going again and making a fresh start. There is one particular sphere where, it appears to us, the combined wheel and float chassis would be of service, i.e., for coast defence. Whatever uses the double service undercarriage is put to, and of whichever form it is, it is evident that it will in principle be a seaplane chassis fitted with auxiliary wheels rather than a land chassis provided with floats, since the machine must initially be designed as a sea plane in order to be capable of lifting the floats. The weight of the extra wheels, with the gear for operating them, should not be prohibitive, whereas the extra weight of a pair of floats on a machine designed for operating over land might, of course, very seriously impair its per formance. Bearing this difference in mind, there should be no serious difficulty, from a constructional point of view, in producing an effective combination wheel and float chassis. Several devices were, as we have already pointed out, in existence in Germany as long ago as 1913, some of which were described in our issue of July a6th, 10',V A further contribution to the number of attempts to solve A suggested alternative mounting by Lieut. Angstrom, In which the wheels are sprung by means of a coil spring. the problem has just bsen received from Lieut. Angstrom, of Stockholm, Sweden, who is a pilot in the Swedish flying corps, and therefore a practical man who knows what is required, from the pilot's point of view. Lieut. Angstrom's proposed combination chassis con sists, as will be seen from our illustrations, of two floats mounted on struts in the usual way, but so pivoted around the lower ends of the struts as to enable them to tilt laterally in the manner shown. r——1 ————————— ————— " T , o • - . _ r,mbined float and wheel under-carrlage,—The top diagrams show Lletit. Angstrom's suggested arrangement ofa ^Dj°" „ htta- on water, while the front and side elevations at the chassis, in front and ^^^&SStXSfOfi alighting on land. 393
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