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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0845.PDF
JUNE 26, 1919 "Flight" Copyright No. 10.—The Martinsyde F 4, 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III, flown by Lieut. Robert Nisbet. No. 10.—The Martinsyde, F 4, 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon In the main the Martinsyde biplane flown by Lieut. Robert Nisbet was the standard F4, which type has to its credit the fastest climb and speed at great heights, as well as the speed record for the Paris-London flight (1 hr. 15 mins.). The F. 4 is one of the most beautiful aeroplanes we have ever seen, quite apart from her qualities as a flying machine. There is positively not an ugly line or curve in her. As all the Martinsyde productions, she is beautifully finished in every detail, yet the construction is such as to be a sound pro duction job. The body, which is very deep in front, is covered with three-ply in front, and shows the numerous external duralumin fittings which one always associates with the Martinsyde machines. The deep coaming in front of the pilot has " tumble-home " sides, and as the body is not very wide the pilot's view forward is not restricted to nearly the extent that might be expected. The top fairing of the fuselage behind the pilot comes to a sharp edge, which adds greatly to the appearance of the machine. A feature of all the Martinsyde biplanes is the manner of attaching the bottom plane to the fuselage. There are short wing roots permanently attached to, and situated below, the bottom of the fuselage. To these roots are attached the two bottom wings. The break in the lines caused by the bottom spars below the body is faired off with an aluminium plate which is so bent as to carry the fuselage bottom along from the nose to the pilot's seat in easy curves. All these things may appear of little importance, but they contribute their share towards the graceful appearance of the machine, and, incidentally, they probably have quite a lot to do with the performance. No. 11.—The Nieuport L.C. 1, 320 h.p. A.B.C. Dragonfly Generally speaking, the Nieuport biplane entered for the Aerial Derby was very similar to the standard Nieuport Nighthawk. It is, however, designed as a two-seater, although in the race it had the passenger's cockpit covered in. As recorded elsewhere in this issue, the machine, which was piloted by Lieut. L. R. Tait-Cox, had engine trouble and was obliged to retire from the race, but this is not necessarily any criterion of the capabilities of the machine. The cause of the engine trouble was one that might have happened to any engine, on any machine, and certainly the Nieuport L.C, 1 shows a very good performance, both as regards speed, climb and manoeuvrability. It might be mentioned that the letters L.C. 1 stand for Land Commercial No. 1. A feature of the L.C. 1, which it shares with the Nieuport Nighthawk, is the extensive employment of wood, the number of metal parts having been reduced as far as possible, while in no single instance are any of the few metal fittings that carry loads built up by the use of welding. In spite of the relatively small cross section of the fuselage, the cockpits are "Flight" Copyright No. 11.—The Nieuport L.C. 1, 320 h.p. A.B.C/Dragonfly, flown_by Lieut. L. R. Tait-Cox. 845
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