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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0127.PDF
FEBRUARY 24, 1921 AIR MINISTRY ACQUIRE SHORT "SILVER STREAK" As briefly recorded in our issue of last week, the Short all- metal aeroplane " Silver Streak," which was exhibited at the last Olympia Aero Show, has been purchased by the Air Ministry. This machine, it may be remembered, aroused very great interest at Olympia on account of its unusual construction. Not only was the entire framework of the machine manufactured from metal, steel and Duralumin, but even the wing and fuselage covering were of metal. The "Silver Streak" is therefore a truly all-metal machine, and as such is of more than passing interest. Although the machine was described in our columns at the time of the show, it may not be without interest briefly to recapitulate its main features. The fuselage is built up in the form of a framework of channel section Vickers Duralumin members, the whole structure main dimensions of the machine are : Span, 39 ft. Length overall, 26 ft. 6 ins. Chord, 5 ft. 3 ms. Gap, 5 ft. 1 in. Area, 368 sq. ft. Petrol capacity, 50 gals. Oil capacity, 6 gals. Weight empty, 1,865 lbs. Weight fully loaded, 2,670 lbs. Load per h.p., 10.27 lbs. Load per sq. ft., 7.22 lbs. Maxi- mum speed about 120 m.p.h. Cruising speed 90 m.p.h. Range, 260 miles at full power, 450 miles at cruising speed. Endurance, 3 hours at full speed, 5 hours at cruising speed. Climb, 10,000 ft. in 11 minutes. We do not know what tests the Air Ministry intend to carry out with the " Silver Streak," but it is to be hoped that the machine will be given a good deal of flying so as to deter- mine such points as the effect on the metal structure of vibration, the manner in which the aluminium covering stands up to the effects of moist air, in short, whether this form PURCHASED BY THE AIR MINISTRY: The Short "Silver Streak," which was exhibited at the last Olympia Aero Show, was delivered to one of our flying stations recently, as announced last week being covered with thin sheets of the same material. The channel and angle sections are riveted to the covering, thus forming a complete unit. The wings have tubular spars and tubular drag struts, with streamline tubular inter- ylane struts. The wing bracing is in the form of stranded •cables, with Short pattern adjustable ends. The sheet aluminium covering is fluted at intervals of approximately 3 ins. to give greater stiffness, and is quite thin, 26 gauge to be exact. The ribs are sheet Duralumin and have* small flanges projecting vertically, to which the bent-up flanges of the covering are riveted. The engine fitted is a Siddeley "Puma" of 250 h.p., mounted on built-up box section cradles. Great care has been taken in the arrangement of the petrol system, all petrol Pipes being of steel and without any rubber joints. The of construction compares favourably or otherwise with ordinary wood and fabric construction. It would be of interest to know to what extent the metal covering helps in taking stresses, but this would probably mean destruction tests, and until other points have been determined it seems a pity to destroy the machine in this manner, even if useful data did result. In any case, it is gratifying to know that the authorities have purchased the machine and intend to test it thorougly. At present very scant data are available regarding the behaviour of a metal aeroplane under actual working con- ditions, and if the tests on the " Silver Streak " help to widen our knowledge of this subject, it will be to the benefit of future aviation, in which metal construction will undoubtedly play an important part. 127
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