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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0105.PDF
JANUARY 23, 1919 1/tfCHT- Side view of the Bristol bomber. emerge from an inspection of the tables of particulars. Thus it will be seen that although the Ail-Metal machine is of some what larger dimensions than the Bristol Fighter, the loaded weight of the two machines is practically the same. Against this must be put the fact that the MR1 has a 170 h.p. Hispano engine, while the F2B has a 260 h.p. Rolls-Royce. The All- Metal carries, however, slightly more fuel than does the B.F. The loading per sq. ft. is somewhat smaller for the larger machine, ^but the load per horse-power is considerably greater, thus accounting for the fact that the MRI has not so good a performance as the F2B. It might be added that the weight, empty, of the B.F., is 1,750 lbs., and that of the MRI 1,700 lbs. It may, therefore, safely be concluded from these particulars that there is no reason to suppose that an all-metal aeroplane cannot be built as light, or nearly so, as one con structed in the ordinary way of wood. There can be little doubt that for use in tropical climates, such as will be encountered by the post-War commercial aeroplane, the metal construction will be better able to withstand the changes in temperature than will one built largely of wood, and while we should not care to assert that the days of wood con struction for aeroplanes are over, we do think that metal construction will be more general in the future than it has been in the past. The Bristol Triplane. While for her largest machines Italy has to a great extent pinned her faith in the triplane, as instanced by the large Caproni triplane bombers, there has been in this country a tendency, rightly or wrongly, to adhere to the biplane type, even for very large machines. That excellent results may be obtained by the biplane form has been amply demonstrated by the large four engined Handley Pages, but it may be doubted whether the triplane form has been as extensively tested as it deserves. The object of the Bristol Bomber was to provide a high-speed machine for bombing or passenger carrying, capable of lifting a considerable load in addition to the weight of crew and fuel. The " Braemar." as the Bristol Bomber is called, is driven by four Siddeley-Deasy " Puma" engines, developing a total of 1,000 h.p. at 1,500 ft. The manner of mounting the engines will be clear from the illustrations. Two drive tractors while the other two drive pushers, after the manner of the large Handley Page. The two tractors have a diameter of 9 ft. 10 in. and a mean pitch of 6 ft. 11 in., while the diameter of the pushers is 9 ft. 2 in., and the pitch 7 ft. 2J in. The two pilots' seats are placed side by side in the fore part of the body, some distance ahead of the leading edge of the planes, while the extreme nose of the fuselage is occupied by a gunner. Well aft in the body is another cockpit with two guns mounted on a turntable, while a fourth gun is mounted on another gun ring in the floor of the fuselage. The machine is thus well capable of looking after herself as regards defensive gun arrangements. The weight of the machine empty is 9,300 lbs., and she carries 400 gallons of petrol, 40 of oil, and 30 gallons of water. After allowing 360 lbs. for two pilots, the machine is still capable of lifting another 3,000 lbs., bringing the total loaded weight up to 16,200 lbs. The wing loading, it will be seen, is fairly high, 8J lbs. per sq. ft., and the load per horse-power is 16.2 lbs. The speed at ground level is 106 m.p.h., which is not bad for such a large machine, and the climb to 10,000 ft. only takes 35 minutes. Naturally the performance cannot compare with that of the smaller machines, but for a weight lifter it is not by any means poor, and the machine might make a good commercial aeroplane for carrying large loads. Thr«e-quart«r rear view of the Bristol fc»mber r«5
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