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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0696.PDF
JULY 12, 1917. < • - r - The Roland chaser D. II. are swept back as was once the custom in a large number of German aeroplanes. Ailerons are fitted to the top plane only, and are operated Nieuport fashion by cranks on tubss running along the rear spar. The chord of both planes is the same, 4 ft."9 ins. The stabilising plane and the vertical fin 25 ft. 9 ins.—and has, as distinct from the majority of other biplanes of the chaser type, two pairs of inter-plane struts on each side. The wings are staggered, and have a dihedral angle, but are not swept back. Ailerons are fitted to the top plane only, and are warped, their angle of incidence decreasing progressively towards the tips. They are hinged, as in nearly all German machines, not to the rear main spar, but,to a false spar placed between the rear spar and the trailing edge. The chord of the wings is just under 5 ft. and the gap 4 ft. 3 ins. The result of this small gap is that the top plane is very low over the body, a tendency in German design that is very noticeable of late. The engine usually fitted in the Halberstadt chasers is a 120 h.p. Argus 6-cyl. water-cooled. It has overhead valves, which are not, however, operated by an overhead camshaft as in the Mercedes, but by tappet rods and rockers, as in the Benz. The petrol tank, which also serves as a seat, has a capacity of 76 litres (about 17 gallons). The pressure in the tank is maintained by a pressure pump driven off the engine a hand-operated pump being provided for cases of emer- gency. The petrol service tank, which has a capacity of 18 litres (about 4 gallons), is built into the centre section of the top plane, where are also mounted the radiator and small water tank.The "Rex " Chaser. A small, single-seater biplane, built by the Rex Co., of Cologne, has been observed at the front, but little is known regarding it except that it is apparently somewhat similar to the Nieuport, in that the lower wing is of smaller span and chord than the upper. Also, the inter-plane struts— of which there is only one pair on each side—are placed in the shape of a V. It differs from the Nieuport, in that the upper plane has no sweepback, and the lower neither sweep- back nor dihedral. The centre section of the top plane is attached to struts sloping outwards, as in the Sopwiths. The Halberstadt chaser. are covered with three-ply wood, and both rudder and elevator are partly balanced by triangular projections, as appears now to be the mode in Germany. The engine fitted is a 175 h.p. Mercedes, with the exhaust pipes bent outward and backwards as on the Albatros. The radiator is in- corporated in the centre of the top plane. Two machine guns are fitted, one on each side of the engine, and, of course, with the usual interrupting gear. The weight of the machine empty is 1,450 lbs. The Halberstadt Chaser. Details of this machine are already familiar to readers of " FLIGHT " through an illustrated description which appeared in our issue of April 5th, 1917. We are now able to supple- ment the information then given by approximate scale draw- ings and other data from L'Aerophile. The Halberstadt chaser is a single-seater of short span—28 ft. 6 ins. and The Rex chaser. The bady is 01 the monocoque type, built of three-ply wood, with projections for the attachment of the lower planes. In front view this machine appears approximately as shown in the accompanying silhouette. The Fokker Chaser Biplane. Two types of this machine have bsen turned out by'the Fokker firm, one with a 100 h.p. rotary engine (Oberursel) and the other with a 175 h.p. Mercedes. No specimens of these machines have been captured—at least, not in a con- dition to provide much information—but photographs of one which landed in Switzerland give a good idea of the general arrangement. Both wings, upper and lower, are of equal dimensions as regards span and chord (29 ft. 6 ins. and
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