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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 1234.PDF
DECEMBER 2, 1920 THE NIEUPORT "LONDON Two views of engine installation channel sections placed back to back but separated by a gap of about an inch. The material used is spruce, and where fittings.occur there is a packing piece batween the backs of the twolialves of the spar. Several of our sketches indicatetnis construction, directly or indirectly, and it will be seen tnat a much greater moment of inertia about the vertical axis of the spar is obtained by this form of construction, which presumably results in a stronger spar^ at any rate stronger against drag stresses. From a manufacturing point the construction should be cheaper than the ordinary spar, as thinner planks can be used, and the design has the further advantage that the lift and anti-lift wire fittings can be, and are, housed between the two halves of the spars, thus getting the pulls absolutely central and on the neutral axis. It also enables very simple fittings to be used, and in fact all the wing fittings are of the simplest imaginable form, generally made from sheet steel and entirely without the use of welding. This may sometimes result in a fitting which does not look quite as neat as one whose parts are joined by welding, but per- sonally we know which of the two we would prefer. A good welded joint is perfectly satisfactory, but unfortunately one has no indication what is or is not a good welded joint. In any case the work entailed demands skilled labour, whereas the punching out of a fitting from sheet steel and subsequent filing up is a fairly easy operation." Where in the course ofmaking a fitting it becomes necessary to join two pieces of sheet steel this is done, in the Nieuport " London," by riveting - and dip-brazing. The accompanying sketches show some of the very substantial metal wing fittings, and are, we think, so clear that an explanation of them is superfluous-. Reference has already been made to the very extensive use made of tubular rivets in the Nieuport " London." Broadly speaking, it may be said that wherever in the ordinary machine bolts and nuts would be employed, tubular rivets are used in the " London." The reason for the adoption of tubular rivets are various, but chief among them is, we believe, cheapness and the fact that they are easily procurable. As a matter of fact, the rivets used in the " London " triplanes were produced by the aid of special tools designed by Mr. Folland, and manufactured at the Nieuport works. We have there seen them being manufactured, and certainly it cannot be denied that their production is both rapid and cheap. THE NIEUPORT » LONDON " : Two views of one of the undercarriages I236
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