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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 1194.PDF
OCTOBER 24, 1918. THE AUSTRIAN BERG SINGLE-SEATER -.,,;.:_.,.'%5.^,-,.-. 200 H.P. AUSTRO-DAIMLER ENGINE [In our issue of May 23rd, 1918, we published a brief description and an illustration of the Austrian Berg Single-Seater. We have since been able to carefully examine this machine in detail, and to prepare drawings and sketches of its main con- structional features.—ED.] turtle-back. This will be seen in the plan view of the generalarrangement drawings and also in the plan of the body in Fig. 1. v Fuselage. Constnictionally the fuselage of the Berg biplane is of thesame type as that of the earlier models of Albatros biplanes, i.e., there is a light internal framework of wood, covered onsides as well as top and bottom with three-ply. There are no internal wires for bracing the body, the three-ply covering'being relied upon to perform this function. Although not possessing such refinements as rounded sides, the body of theBerg is of fairly good stream-line form, as will be seen from the illustrations. The machine exhibited is in a somewhatincomplete state as regards its front portion, especially the top covering of it and the engine-housing and radiator, which As a type the Austrian Berg belongs to the single-seaterfighter class with high-power; engine. It follows what has now become almost standard practice for single-seaters in itsstrut arrangement, which comprises only one pair of inter- plane struts on each side. As a single-seater it is desirablethat the view forward and upward shall be as good as possible, and this has been aimed at, and attained to quite a fair extent,in the Berg by placing the top plane low over the body, where, owing to the angle of incidence, the pilot from wherehe is placed sees it practically edge on. When we say that the top plane has been placed low over the body we do notmean to infer that the gap between the planes has been reduced beyond normal. Rather has the relative positionof top plane and top of body been attained by making the body very deep at this point, and by so seating the pilot Three-quarter rear view of the Berg single-seater. —fairly high in the body—that he obtains the view desired. This is accomplished, not so much by making the main body very deep, but by surmounting it with a fairing of turtle- back of much greater depth than those usually found on machines of this size. With the object always in view of ob- structing the pilot's vision to as small extent as possible, this turtle-back, also that portion of it lying in front of the pilot, has been kept narrow at the top. In section it forms what is roughly the shape ef a man's head and shoulders, as will be seen from the front elevation in the general arrangement drawings. In this manner, by leaning his head slightly to one side or other, the pilot can easily see past his engine, the cowling of which, although not in place on the machine examined, has probably conformed to the same contour as the rest of the fuselage top. To the rear of the pilot's seat this turtle-back tapers off until it ends in a point some little distance ahead of the tail planes. The lateral taper of it is somewhat more abrupt than is that of the body rails, so that as the rear portion of the body is approached there is a widening strip of flat horizontal surface on each side of the is absent. We have endeavoured, however, to reconstruct it to a certain extent, as shown by the dotted lines in the side elevation of the general arrangement drawings. The top plane shows clearly that no radiator has been mounted in its centre section, and as there are no indications that the radiator has been fitted on the sides of the body, the inference is that it must have been placed in the extreme nose. As to the exact shape the radiator may have had, this is a matter for conjecture, but in view of the shape of the fuselage top it appears probable that the radiator was of somewhat similar shape, as otherwise undesirable lines must have developed where the shape of the radiator was carried into that of the engine-housing. The general shape of the body, and many of the details will be clear from Fig. 1. It will be seen that there are only four main longerons, whereas the early-type Albatros had six, two of which were placed approximately halfway up between upper and lower corner rails. In the front portion of the body the bulkheads are of special form to provide supports for the two engine-bearers. The shape of these "95
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