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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 1183.PDF
••• WW WTWjPTtf • SEPTEMBER 4, 1919 THE SOPWITH SCHNEIDER SEAPLANE : Rear view. Note the thick bottom portion of the rudder, which serves as a tail float. The 450 h.p. " Jupiter " engine is bolted to the flat nose of the fuselage, and is faired off with an aluminium cowl, through which the cylinder heads project. A " spinner" is fitted over the propeller-boss, and it will be noticed that each cylinder is faired off by additions to the engine cowl, taking the shape of a slice of a cone. The pilot's head is also faired off, and altogether everything has been done to cut down resistance to a minimum. The fuel tanks are carried inside the top and side fairings of the body. The planes, which have a very slight backward stagger, are of short span, and have one pair of struts on each side, in addition to the usual centre section struts. Wing bracing is by streamline wires, and is of standard type. Ailerons are fitted to both upper and lower planes. The tail planes are of the usual type, and do not call for any special comment ; with the exception, perhaps, of the fin, which is somewhat unusual. The extreme front portion of the fin is built integral with the fuselage. The rest of the fin, although curving gradually into the top of the body, is a separate structure, bolted on after the tail plane is in place. The rudder is unusual, inasmuch as its lower portion is very thick, forming a continuation of the fuselage. The latter does not come to a sharp edge at the rear, but is some 6 or 8 ins. wide at the stern post. The leading edge of the rudder is made of the same width, and is covered with ply wood. There is thus no external rudder crank lever, while the single pair of levers for the elevators is housed inside the fin. The whole gives a very neat impression, offering a minimum of resistance. The hollow lower portion of the rudder serves as a tail float. The two floats are of the flat-bottomed type. That is to say, there is no Vee bottom, and no step in the ordinary sense of the word. It will be noticed, however, that the rear part of the float bottoms slopes upward in a straight line, and does not continue the curve of the front part. The latter is placed at a slight dihedral angle, as shown in the front elevation. The consequence is that the nose of the floats forms an angle with the transverse axis of the machine. There can be no doubt that as regards speed, the Sopwith Schneider machine will be difficult to beat, fitted as it is with an engine of 450 h.p., and being very small. The weight, all on, is about 2,200 lbs., so that the wing loading will work out at something like 10 Ibs./sq. ft. This will mean that the landing-speed will be fairly high, and if the day of the race should prove windy, with a rough sea, alighting might prove a matter of some difficulty. The loading is slightly less than 5 lbs./h.p., probably one of the lightest engine loadings ever attained in an aeroplane. A few years ago this was a fair average weight of the engine itself, and the Sopwith should^be practically able to " helicopter." The Supermarine Flying-boat As it incorporates several new features, the flying-boat built by the Supermarine Aviation Co. is, up to the present, more or less of a " dark horse," and its makers do not wish any information published before the race. The machine is not, however, a freak built entirely for speed at any cost, and the makers are prepared to take it out in any sea that is likely to be encountered in that part of the world at this time of the year. It is a flying-boat more or less on the lines of previous Supermarine flying-boat scouts, and is fitted with THE ITALIAN REPRESENTATIVE.—Front view of a " Savoia " flying boat, types 13, fitted with a 250-h.p. Isotta Fraschini engine. II85 G 2
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