FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1920
1920 - 1056.PDF
OCTOBER 7, 1920 m m m The Gordon-Ben- nett Race : The Verville- Packard flown by Major Schroeder m m m m m m m m m m m It has been designed by Mr. H. P. Folland, Chief Engineer and Designer to the British Nieuport Co. In its general design it is somewhat similar to the well-known " Night- hawk," but has small, non-staggered wings with one strut on each side. In spite of its high speed (at least 170 m.p.h.) it lands at the comparatively low speed of 65 m.p.h., and that the design is robust and by no means a racing freak is amply proved by the splendid cross-country flight made on it by Mr. J. H. James. The engine is a 320 h.p. A.B.C. " Dragon- fly," which has regained the reputation it lost in the Aerial Derby by " sticking it " iill the way from Hendon to Etampes without a hitch, _.;. .-- The Two French Nieuports Generally speaking, the two Nieuports entered are similar to that shown for a few days at the last Paris Aero Show. Lecointe's machine had had the top plane reduced in span so as to gain slightly in speed, the top plane being chosen because it is not fitted with ailerons and is thus easier to cut down. The fuselage is of monocoque construction, very care- fully streamlined, and the vertical fin to which the rudder is hinged is built integral with the body. The very greatest care has been taken to streamline everything as far as pos- sible, and the machine probably represents the practical limit in streamlining for the standard type of aeroplane. It thus scored by detail refinement rather than by any departure from orthodox design. The machine flown by Kirch was similar, except that its wings were of slightly greater area. The Spad As regards the French Spad flown by Bernard de Romanet, this had the standard Spad fuselage of monocoque construc- tion, but an alteration in the wing arrangement was notice- able. Instead of carrying the top plane on centre section struts from the body, the G.B. Spad had its top plane attached direct to the fuselage. Judging by its performance, this innovation did not improve the speed, and the machine was obviously slower than Lecointe's Nieuport. In the first place, the maximum cross section of the body is much greater than that of the Nieuport, and the large nose radiator probably does not make matters better, although one would imagine that the two Lamblin radiators fitted to the Nieuport offer quite a lot of resistance. However, these radiators are now very extensively fitted on French machines, so possibly their resistance is less than one would be inclined to expect. The Verville-Packard The chief interest of this American machine lies in the size of its engine. The Packard is credited with a power of some- where about 600 h.p., and was thus by far the most powerful in the race. It has a very high compression ratio—over 6 to 1—and the not unexpected result was that it overheated and prevented Major Schroeder from completing even the first lap. One therefore had no opportunity of seeing what speed the machine actually was capable of. The design of the machine is obviously influenced by M. Herbemont's Spad designs. The large fuselage is of monocoque construction, with the fin built integral with the body. The wings have a decided taper towards the tips, and there is only one strut on each side. This is of the " I " type, and does not impress one as any too strong, especially when it is remembered that the machine is a large one. To make matters worse, the planes have a pronounced stagger, which makes the use of " I " struts a doubtful procedure. One understands that the machine has been flown in America, but at Etampes it was aever flown until Major Schroeder started in the Gordon- Bennett Race. One was not, therefore, surprised to find that things went wrong during the race. ;i:,-.'•..,„..-. The •• Texas Wildcat " ~~""" With regard to this machine one cannot speak from first- hand knowledge, as the machine was kept at Villacoublay, and did not arrive at the Villesauvage aerodrome until Sunday, September 26, when it was flown over by Roland Rohlfs. One gathers that some obscure metamorphosis had taken place between the test flights in America and the arrival at Etampes. While the machine alleged to have been entered for the race was a monoplane with thick wings, the machine which arrived at Etampes is said to have been a biplane. Something appears to have happened during the interval, and on the arrival at Etampes things happened again, fast and furiously. That the machine was fast cannot. be denied. So, unfortunately, was its end. In landing, the wheels, which apparently were not sprung, collapsed, and the next time the machine touched, the points of the- chassis struts dug into the ground, and the machine nosed over, breaking itself into fragments from which little or no idea of its original shape could be formed. By a marvellous piece of luck the pilot was not killed on the spot, his injuries being confined to a dislocated shoulder, several cuts about the head and a very black eye. On the day of the race he was on the aerodrome taking a keen interest in the race, and all will join in wishing this plucky American a speedy recovery. ' _ -- The Dayton-Wright Monoplane ~ In many respects the machine entered by the Dayton-^ Wright Co. was the most interesting of all at EtampeS. Whereas in the other machines performance was attained by engine power and by carrying streamline refinement to a maximum, in the " R. B." a serious attempt was made at attaining the same performance with a small engine, but reducing head resistance to a minimum by flattening out the wing section and withdrawing the undercarriage inside the fuselage. A broken rudder cable prevented this machine from showing what it really can do, but whether or not the arrangement would have resulted in a speed superior to that of the other machine, the originators of the design deserve credit for their courage in breaking away from conventionality and seeking improvement along original lines. There is little doubt that something like finality has been reached as regards the attainable speed with the aeroplane as we know - it today," and if appreciably greater speeds are to be attained some other means will have to be adopted. That there are ,. features which are open to criticism in the Dayton-Wright; ' may be admitted, but the machine is frankly an experiment, and judged as such is well deserving of praise. The fuselage is of the monocoque type, and appears to be built on more or less orthodox lines. Its chief feature is that although very narrow it is extremely deep—so deep, in fact, that the pilot is entirely enclosed inside the cabin and obtains his view through windows in the side. This^ arrangement is certainly open to objection as the view must necessarily be restricted. We have, however, discussed this point with several experienced pilots, and they are of the opinion that the view is really very little worse than that. of the ordinary machine, where in any case one can see very little straight forward. For landing, the pilot merely pushes the windows in the side open with his head and can then see quite well enough. At any rate Rinehardt made »£• perfect landing on the day of the race, and did not appeatj; in the least handicapped by being inside. U> IO58
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
