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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 1229.PDF
DECEMBER 2, 1920 THE NIEUPORT "LONDON" NIGHT BOMBER AMONG the new types of machines in course of construction or contemplated when the War finished were several of more than passing interest. Of these some never came into being, others were produced in twos or threes where scores had been planned, according to the stage of completion at the signing of peace. Some of these machines have already been described in this journal, others are still being experimented with by the Air Ministry, and publication of particulars is not permitted. Among the machines which, although designed for War purposes, could easily have been converted into very useful commercial machines, especial interest attaches to the Designed by Mr. H. P. Folland, chief engineer and designer of the Nieuport and General Aircraft Co., as a short-distance night bomber, the " London," as the machine is called, has not a very long range, about 200 miles, but carries a very- useful load of bombs over that distance, i.e., approximately 2,000 lbs. The triplane form was chosen from a number of considerations. For a given area probably the triplane form is more manoeuvrable than is a biplane of the same area, at any rate when it comes to fairly large machines. Also the question of housing is simplified by the shorter span of the triplane. Again, from the practical point of view, the shorter • t- THE NIEUPORT " LONDON " : Three-quarter front view " London " triplane, designed and built by the Nieuport and General Aircraft Co., Ltd., of Cricklewood, on account of several unusual features which would appear to have a very special bearing upon the construction of commercial aircraft. We understand that two of these machines are now being tested by the Air Ministry staffs at two different air stations, but although permission has been granted to publish a description, no particulars regarding results of test are yet Available. Before being handed over to the Air Ministry for exhaustive tests, the machines were, however, tested by the firm's test pilot, Lieut. Tait-Cox, who found that they handled very nicely in the air, it being possible to fly them "hands off," and also to fly level with only one engine running. wings of a triplane do not call for such long lengths of timber, which are difficult to obtain. Apart from these general considerations, the designer has given a very great deal of thought and attention to the detail construction, which is such as to lend itself to quick and cheap production by a great percentage of unskilled labour. Not only so, but only such materials as are always,easily obtainable, and at low cost, have been employed in the construction. For instance, the fuselage is really nothing more nor less than a glorified packing case. It is built almost entirely of moderate qualit3' woods such as deal, pine, and cypress. The attach- ment of the various members to one another is by means of nails, brass wire sewing, wood pegs,~and glue, thus eliminating THE NIEUPORT "LONDON " : Three-quarter 1 ear view 1231
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