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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0901.PDF
AUGUST 19, 1920 • .•>,.-ii-a.., • • owing to the low position and forward stagger of the top plane. A metal cowel encloses the nose of the fuselage and the engine, the latter having its cylinder heads projecting outside. . The main petrol-tank is situated immediately behind the engine, and a small auxiliary tank is mounted behind the main tank. The latter has a capacity of 19.8 gals., and that of the auxiliary tank just over 2 gals. The oil-tank is mounted above the engine, and is of fairly large capacity, to meet the' requirements of a long flight. The main planes are of equal span and chord, and the top plane, which is staggered forward nearly 1 ft. g ins., is straight, whilst the lower plane is set at a dihedral angle of about 2°. The top plane is in one piece, and is supported above the fuselage by two pairs of struts. The lower plane is in two sections, each being attached to trfe lower longerons of the fuselage. Upper and lower planes are separated by one pair • of interplarie struts each side. Ailerons of tubular steel construction are fitted to the top plane only. Both planes are of simple construction, the front main spar, of 3 section, forming the leading edge, and the trailing edge is formed of steel wire. The rear spar is, we believe, of box-section. The ribs, of which there are 13, are equally spaced. . The tail plane, which is semi-circular in plan form, has a cambered upper surface, and is mounted at o° angle of incidence on the line of thrust. It is braced top and bottom by steel tubes. The elevators are divided, and the rudder is hinged to a vertical fin of moderate streamline section. These surfaces are, it appears, of steel tube construction. The control is extremely simple, as may be seen from the accompanying diagram. The "stick" consists of a tube terminating at its lower end, where it is attached to the floor of the cockpit, in a universal joint, and having four lugs, mounted on it a short distance above the latter. From two of these lugs cables are led to the port and starboard ailerons respectively, whilst the other two lugs form attach- ments for the elevator cables—one of which is led forward over a pulley mounted on the floor in front of the control column, and thence rearward, the other cable passing direct to the elevator crank arms. From a constructional point of view, the landing-gear forms, perhaps, one of the most interesting features of this machine. The chassis itself is of the orthodox V type, with wood struts. It is in the wheels that a somewhat novel— and, we rather fancy, unique as far as aircraft are concerned— arrangement is employed. By the use of extremely resilient springs for the shock-absorbers, it has been found possible to dispense with the usual pneumatic-tyred wheels, and use in their stead s,olid wooden wheels 1 These consist of wooden discs, with metal hubs, the felloes, made in the form of, pneumatic tyres, being of oak. In size the wheels are uniform with usual practice, being 760 x 100. 'A *f luki? °f the orthodox pattern is mounted at the tailend of the fuselage. During the first trials, which w«re carried out at the firm's aerodrome the machine exhibited very good flying qualities being stable, and easy to fly. We have no information as to its landing speed, but judging from its loading and maximum speed (Hi m.p.h.),we should say that it would not be particu- larly low. r THE W.K.F. SPORTING BIPLANE : Diagrammaticsketch of the simple control gear for the ailerons and elevators The following are the principal'characteristics of this machine :— Span .. .. .. .. .. 17 ft. 3 ins. Chord .. .. .. .. 3 ft. 3 ins. Gap .. .. .. 3 ft. 1 in. to 3 ft. 4 ins. Stagger A ft. 9 ins. Overall length .. .. .. 14 ft. 4^ ins. Overall height .. .. .. 7 ft. o ins. .T Area of main plains (inc. ails.) .. 101 sq. ft. Area of ailerons (2) .. .. 6 sq. ft. Area of tail plane .. .. .. 8J sq. ft. Area of elevators .. .. .. 4 J sq. ft. . " Area of fin .. .. .. • • 3i sq. ft. Area of rudder ^. .. 3\ sq. ft. Weight fully loaded (approx.) .. 740 lbs. Fuel capacity (10 hrs.) .. -.. 22 gfals. " Loading per sq. ft. .. .. .. 7.4 lbs. : ' Loading per h.p. .. .. .. 21 lbs. -•• Speed (max.) .. .. .. .. 81 m.p.h. : Engine 3-cyi: 30-35 h.p. Haacke or Hiero. Plan view of the W.K.F. Sporting Biplane, showing the main planes in skeleton
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