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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0153.PDF
FEBRUARY 7, 191S. "A POST-WAR AEROPLANE."# By F. W. HALLIWELL, A.M.J.I.E.* THIS paper is an attempt to outline the probable line of development of one particular type of machine, although its more insistent points may possibly apply to the great majority. Construction of Existing Types. Aeroplanes of to-day may be divided into several groups, but undoubtedly the most widely used type for all purpose , RADIATOR The longerons are in most cases ash, the struts, except where excessive load occurs, being spruce. The cross-bracing is by means of high tensile wires, varying generally between 16 S.W.G. and 12 S.W.G. and provided with turnbuckles for adjusting the length. Some firms do not consider it necessary to provide turn- buckles for the last few tail pannels, but rely on getting the wires right to length before assembly. When the fuselage is erected it is " trued up " by means of these wires, each panel being squared up in turn so that the Fig. 1. is the Tractor Fuselage machine. These vary in size according to the purpose for which they are intended, but the main principles of construction remain the same. The aeroplane may be divided into three principal com- ponents, the fuselage including under-carriage, the wings, and the tail. To take the most important unit from a con- structional point of view—first, the fuselage shown in Fig. 1 represents by far the most generally used type at present. It consists of four fore and aft members known as longerons, which run the entire length of the machine. These are braced t resultant final shape of the whole is correct; also when this is done, each wire should have its proportionate amount of tension before being locked. It is usual to taper the longerons from somewhere about the rear seat down to the tail. This necessitates different cross strut sections, and therefore clips all the way along the fuselage. Fig. 2. np by means of struts and ties, in such a way that the whole forms a box lattice girder, capable of taking either downward or sideloads, or withstanding torsion, about its longitudinal axiS *« Paper read before the Graduate Section, Institution of Automobiletngjnetn, and before the Junior Institute of rngineers. At the latter the chair wsls taken by Wing Commander The Master of Sempill, while Lt.-Col.Mervyn O'Gormac contributed to the discussion fillcwing (he lecture. Examples are given in Fig. 2 of typical fuselage clip fittings used at cross sections where struts occur. The under-carriage, as shown in Fig. 1, is composed of three pairs of ash struts fitted with sockets on the fuselage, which sockets are in four cases an integral part of fittings, which fulfil the triple function of positioning the fuselage cross section struts, carrying the hinge pins for the wing spar joints, and receiving the ends of the under-carriage members. 149
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