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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0557.PDF
MAY 23, 1918. THE AUSTRIAN BERG SINGLE-SEATER FIGHTER. 200 H.P. AUSTRO-DAIMLER ENGINE. [While the different types of aeroplanes produced in Germany are fairly well known in this country, owing: chiefly to the number of them that have been captured from time to time, our knowledge of the Austrian aircraft industry is more limited. This is partly due to the fact that fewer of them are seen on the western front, Austrian activities in the air being more particularly confined to the Italian theatre of war, where the various types of Austrian machines are probably as well known as are the German on the battle front in France. Also it should be remembered that to a large extent, so far as our knowledge goes, the Austrian industry has been conducted more along the lines of constructing German-designed machines under licence, thus tending to increase output, rather- than with an aim to encouraging original design. That home designing has not been altogether stopped in Austria is evident, however, since from time to time one hears of Austrian machines, of makes known not to be German licence productions, being seen by Allied pilots. Among these is the Austrian Berg single-seater fighter. Reports have been received occasionally of this machine, but up to the present nothing definite has been generally known concerning it. Now, however, one of these has been added to the collection in the Enemy Aircraft View Rooms, and by the courtesy of the authorities we are able this week to publish a brief description and an illustration of the Austrian Berg. To the best of our knowledge this is the first description to be published in this country.—ED.] SIMPLICITY would appear to be the keynote of design in the Austrian Berg single-seater fighter, both as regards mass, or aerodynamic, design and structural design. The machine has every appearance of being designed chiefly with a view to rapidity of production, yet this object has been attained by a studied sim- plicity of detail rather than by any scamping in work- manship. In fact, although the finish is not, perhaps, as good as on some machines, the workmanship ap- pears everywhere to be really quite good, and the • materials employed in the construction are, if anything, better than found on a good many German machines. Whether this is due to a more plentiful supply of the right materials in Austria than in Germany, or : whether Austrian inspection is stricter than - that . obtaining in Germany, is difficult to say; and one can only call attention to the fact without venturing an explanation. Fundamentally the Austrian Berg is of the single- seater fighter type in which the pilot and top plane are so placed in relation to each other that the wing obstructs the view to a very small extent only. This • has been accomplished, not so much/'by reducing the gap to a smaller proportion of the chord than usual, . as by making the body very deep and placing the pilot fairly high inside the body. On closer examination it is found that the extra depth of the body is provided by deepening the turtle back, which forms a much greater proportion of the overall depth than is the case in most machines. The body proper, which is of the flat-sided variety, is constructed on similar lines to those of the older models of Albatros biplanes, i.e., of longerons and struts of fairly small section, the whole being covered with three-ply wood. As distinct from the Albatros, however, there are only four longerons, the auxiliary rails halfway up the sides of the latter having evidently been deemed unnecessary by the designer of the Berg. The turtle back, which is different from the majority in that it does not, except in front, cover the whole width of the flat top of the body, but comes to a point just in front of the vertical fin, is of a peculiar section. This may, in the absence of a sketch, best be described by saying that it consists of three curva- tures, a convex at the top, a concave halfway down, and again a convex at the bottom. The object, evidently, is to provide. stream lining of the pilot's head by having the turtle back deep without, how- ever, obstructing the view to too great an extent by having it very wide. Roughly the configuration is that of a man's head and shoulders. The pilot's cockpit is very comfortable, the deep top efficiently screening his face while at the same time, owing to the peculiar outline, not obstructing the view to as great an extent as one would imagine. By leaning his head slightly the pilot can easily look past the nose of the machine, so that there is really no " blind " spot beyond a few yards ahead of the machine. The fact that the chord line of the upper wing if projected passes through the pilot's line of vision renders the view forward and upward particu- larly good. Small circular windows are inserted in the turtle back in front of the pilot, but it appears- that the view obtainable through these is of very little practical utility, and the inference is that they are placed there to admit light on to the instrument board rather than to provide direct vision. The pilot's seat is extremely comfortable, and fe provided with arm rests, thus enabling the pilot to rest one arm while working the control lever with the other. For a long flight this makes for comfort. It is only a minor point, it is true, but one nevertheless which is worthy of consideration. On the whole the machine gives the impression that it would be a very comfortable machine to fly, regarded purely from the flying point of view, and without knowing anything about its capabilities as used for fighting. The controls are more or less of the usual type. There is a longitudinal rocking shaft, mounted rather higher above the floor boards than is generally the case. The control lever is forked around this shaft,, and is free to oscillate forward and backward for operating the elevator. A short length of cable passes from the lower end of the "joystick " to a point on the floor boards. This limits the extent to whicb the lower end of the lever can move back, and has the effect of preventing, when on the ground, the elevators from touching and getting damaged. lit connection with the lateral controls, the wing flaps are fitted with cranks resting in slots in the planes* and there is a somewhat unusual arrangement whereby the positive cable is taken to the front arm of the crank, so that it is the return cable which pulls the wing flap down. The reason for this may be found in the warped wing flap, which may conceivably have its outer tip tilted upwards to such an extent that the effect of moving the flaps is to put a force acting downward on the flap moved upwards before the flap on the opposite side, which has, of course, been moved down simultaneously, receives an upward force. To bring this peculiar action about the crank on the rocking shaft points downwards instead of, as is more usually the case, pointing upwards. The foot bar operating the rudder is of the T type. 555
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