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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1137.PDF
It is worthy of note that -whilst none of these controls are duplicated, the elevator cranks are fitted with two sets of bolt holes, so that the leverage can be adjusted if necessary. Undercarriage. The undercarriage consists of a steel axle, fitted with 760 by 100 wheels. The axle is supported from a pair of tubular steel struts at either side by means of triple steel coil spring shock absorbers. The upper attachment of the undercarriage struts is shown in Fig. 23,-which illustrates the form of bracket carried on the outside of the fuselage, and bolted to one of the forward bulkheads. The struts are reinforced for the reception of the bolts in a manner similar to that described for the interplane struts. At their bottom end, the struts are welded together into the form shown in Fig. 24, and they are also reinforced by a fixed axle or tie-rod, the sockets of which are slotted for the reception of the turn-buckles of the cross-bracing wires. The undercarriage design is considerably neater than that found oji the general run of German aeroplanes, and appears to be both strong and light. . Tail Skid. A view of the tail skid is given in Fig. 25, and it will be seen that this possesses one or two features of interest. The skid itself is of ash, reinforced with a light built-up sheet steel shoe. The forward end projects through a hole in the fuselage, and is fitted with the usual shock-absorber device, which is fastened to the rearmost bulkhead. The tail skid is pivoted to an extension of the rudder post, and though it is capable of swinging slightly from side to side, is not actually steerable. Immediately above the shoe of the tail skid, is a second steel shoe, shaped like a spoon, which is rigidly supported by a pyramid of steel tubes. The object of this is to prevent any possibility of the elevator cranks coming into contact with the ground, even should the tail strike the earth sufficiently hard to carry the tail skid shock absorber to its limit of extension. Engine. The engine is a high-compression 160 h.p. Mercedes (com- monly known as 180 h.p.), and is of standard type. This engine has been fully described in Handbook No. 805. Engine Mounting. The engine bearers are of wood, and are directly supported by bulkheads in the forward part of the fuselage. Petrol Tanks. There are two tanks for petrol. The main supply is carried under .the pilot's seat, and has a capacity of 24 galls. This is fed to the carburettors under air pressure, and the usual hand and engine pumps are employed. The second tank is let into the upper surface of the centre section of the top plane, and is clearly shown in Photo. B." This contains 8 galls., and is fitted with a glass tube, lying parallel to the upper curvature of the plane, by which the pilot can readily see the level of the fuel. This gravity tank can be filled from the main tank by means of a semi-rotary hand pump. _ ; Radiator. ' — ' The radiator is of the type which is becoming more and more adopted by German designers, namely, that which is embodied in the upper plane surface. In this case the radiator' forms part of the right-hand side of the centre section. It is fitted with a small subsidiary water tank, details of which are shown in Fig. 27, which is provided with a trumpet nozzle pointing forward. Details of the radiator shutter are given in the photograph No. A. Provision is made for the fitting of a water-circulation thermometer, but this instrument -was not actually found on the machine. The radiator shutter consists of a sliding panel of sheet steel mounted on a light tubular framework forming rails. This is within easy reach of the pilot, and can easily be slid forward or backward when it retains its position by reason of the lift effect upon it, and the friction between the guides and the rails. As shown in sketch, Fig. 26, the inlet and outlet pipes of the radiator are both fitted at its left-hand front corner, the radiator being furnished with internal baffles, which promote complete circulation of water through all the tubes. In order to prevent the possibility of an air-lock forming, a small tube is led from the outlet pipe through the bottom of the radiator tank, and is brought close to the bottom side of its top surface. If air should accumulate in the forward and upper part of the radiator, this tube would quickly allow the lock to be dissipated. The sketch, Fig. 26, shows the adapter for the radiator thermometer in the outlet pipe. From the inlet pipe, a smallbranch is tsipepj fi far th.§ x%x^yt$tqt j^cljset, au4 from tha .OCTOBER 10, 1918. rear end of the radiator, a pipe provided with a cock, by which the tank can be emptied, is led to the trailing edge of the upper plane. Oil.A supply of 5 galls, of oil is carried in a small tank fitted at the side of the engine. The latter is furnished with a pump,which, while circulating the lubricating oil contained in the tank, draws a small supply of fresh oil from the tank atevery stroke. Propeller. The screw is of the usual built-up type, and consists of eight laminations of woods in the following order :— Ash, ash, mahogany, ash, mahogany, ash, mahogany, ash. It has a diameter of 2.4 metres and a pitch of 2 metres, and was built at the Luckenwalde Propellerwerke, Niendorf In front of the propeller boss proper is a built-up laminated plate to which a spinner is fixed by means of a girdle of stranded steel cable. Wireless. : ''• The aeroplane is internally wired to give greater capacity for wireless, and accommodation is provided for the aerial and its spool in the observer's cockpit. The wireless dynamo, •which also provides current for electrically heating clothing, is driven direct from a pulley on the engine, and is mounted on a bracket carried by the left-hand engine bearers. The form of this bracket is shown in Fig. 28, which also indicates the manner in which it is adjustable. The bracket consists of a flanged and welded sheet steel construction com- prising two plates. The upper extremities of these plates are joined by a transverse bolt on which is hinged a pad against which the foot of the dynamo base is bolted. A similar bolt and pad is furnished at the bottom of the plates, but in this case the bolt is adapted to slide in a guide so that the tension of the belt can be adjusted and the bolt and its pad locked in any position by a thumb screw. The dynamo, when fitted, lies outside the wall of the fuselage at a point level with the rear of the engine, and is then covered in with a bulbous streamline fairing. When the dynamo is not (the whole of the wireless apparatus being installed only when actually required) fitted, this streamline fairing, which is readily detachable, has its place taken by a flat panel which can be discerned at the left-hand side of the fuselage in photograph No. B. Engine Control. A throttle lever of the usual ratchet type is "fitted at the left-hand side of the pilot's cockpit, the carburettor being fitted with an automatic altitude connection. On the dash- board is a screw-down grease pump, for lubricating the water- pump spindle. Ignition is controlled by a self-locking lever. The dash- board is completed with the usual instruments—starting magneto, main switch, petrol pressure gauges, oil-pressure gauges, air pump, and petrol lever indicator. On the right- hand side of the pilot's seat is a lever controlling the clutch of the wireless dynamo drive. —•:!.--.• . " '". 7 ' Level Indicator. A level indicator of the type shown in Fig. 29 is fitted on the dash board. It is of a type not previously found on German aeroplanes. It consists of a pendulum device, operat- ing a circular disc, the lower half of which is covered by a semicircular metal shield. The upper half of the disc is dark in colour, though not quite so dark as the shield, and below its horizontal diameter the swinging disc is painted white,, so that if the machine side-slips a white sector becomes visible aginst a dark background, as indicated in the sketch. This instrument appears to be very much better made than the usual indicators fitted to German machines. Gun Mounting. A notable feature of the Halberstadt machine is the fitting of the gun ring, which is not incorporated in the. fuselage, but is attached to its top surface by streamline steel struts. In front, it is supported by two converging steel tubes in a form of a " V " which branch from the upperfuselage longerons. The gun ring is thus very rigidly supported. Since the greater part of it is directly in the slip stream of the screw, it is made of very fair streamline section, as may be gathered from the photograph No. A, and in general is much lighter and far better constructed than the usual German gun mounting. The accepted type of bracket and locking device is employed. Both portions of the ring are made of wood covered with doped fabric. Fabric, ' -: The fabric is of the usual quality found on the better class of German aeroplanes. It is dyed with the familiar polygonal 0f~COl<mr«( and is applied to the wingq
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