FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0970.PDF
the machine tend to turn over on her nose, another pair of wheels are mounted near the nose of the body, projecting through the floor in the same manner as do the two main wheels. The tail it will be seen, is chiefly remarkable as being of the biplane type. The armament of the Type I was to consist of three machine guns, one placed in the nose and one between the trailing edges of the planes, while a third was to be mounted immediately below the upper rear gun, and was to be fired through an opening in the floor of the fuselage. For its time, therefore, the Sage Bomber, Type i, was very well armed, but as it was never finished its merits JULY 24, 1919 it. We say not unnaturally because on the face of it the problem of designing such a gear is a serious one, considering the speed of revolution of the screw and the rate of firing of the gun. However, at the time Sage No. 2 was conceived this problem was still being tackled, and so instead of experi menting with gun gears this firm turned their attention to the design of a machine which should mount its gun in such a position as to provide a free field of fire. It may be re membered that quite early in the War the French Nieuport firm produced a little two-seater in which the observer could stand upright with his head and shoulders projecting through The Sage Type 4b seaplane. as'^a fighter were never ascertained. The estimated per formance was quite good for the power and loading. The Sage Scout, Type 2 (1916) Before synchronised gun-gears became generally adopted the tractor type of machine was of comparatively little use as a fighter, in spite of its inherent advantage over the pusher type as regards performance. In order to overcome the difficulty the Sage Type 2 was designed. As already men tioned, when this machine was first conceived, the syn chronised gun had not become generally accepted, there being at the time, not unnaturally, a certain doubt as to the feasibility of devising a mechanism which would prevent the gun from being fired while a screw blade was in line with a circular opening in the top plane. This was more or less the type adopted by the designer of Sage No. 2, but realising the discomfort caused to the gunner by standing upright in the slipstream of the propeller, and the effect this draught would have on the gunner's sighting, provisions were made for sheltering the gunner inside an enclosed cabin. How this was accomplished will be seen from the accompanying illustrations. The Type 2 is a small machine, and may be said to belong to the scout class as regards dimensions, although it is de signed as a two-seater. The upper plane is of greater span and chord than is the bottom one, and the inter-plane struts are of the Vee type, with but one pair on each side. The top plane, it will be seen, has its centre section mounted on THE SAGE TYPE 4c SEAPLANE This machine is very similar to the Type 4b, except that it has folding wings. 972
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
