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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0206.PDF
of a transverse shaft a short distance forward of the tailplane, carrying cranks for the elevator cables. By this paeans it is hoped to do away with the constant deterioration ofelevator cables which nearly always attends the use of fair leads where the course of a cable is changed. It has beenfound that the grease put into these tubular guides forms, in conjunction with the sand and grit blown into them bythe propeller slip stream-, an excellent grinding compound, guaranteed to ruin any cable in a very short time. Thenew arrangement (which is not shown on our general arrange- ment drawings) is expected to make the life of the control-cables infinitely longer and much more worth living. Seriously, this question of control cables is one of much greater import-ance in the practical running of an air service than one would be inclined to expect, and'we are glad to see attention beinggiven to this point in the latest design. The Engine Installation -j Another feature of this design, in which Capt. de Havillandhas shown that he appreciates the need for designing for commercial conditions, is the manner in which the engineand its mounting and housing are arranged to be detached as a complete and separate unit. One of the accompanyingsketches shows the engine bearers and their supports, while underneath is indicated the way in which the engine unitis attached to the main fuselage, B,y simply undoing four bolts, one at each corner, and disconnecting the petrol pipes,etc., the entire engine unit can be removed for overhaul in the shops, and another unit substituted, so that the machineneed not be idle while its engine is being overhauled. This advantage of unit construction is one to which we havedrawn attention repeatedly, and it might with advantage be extended to include other parts of machines. The radiator is mounted below the engine, and is rigidlyfixed, the amount of cooling being regulated by slats as indicated in the sketch. The main petrol tanks, carryingslightly over ioo gallons, are mounted in the deck fairing above the cabin. The service tank is in the top centre section. The Undercarriage Two things mark the undercarriage of the D.H. 18 asdistinct from the majority of machines. One is its unusual height, and the other is the manner of springing the wheels.The height adopted is such that it allows of the main planes being at an angle of about i6° when the tail skid is on theground. The result of this is that the machine pulls up very quickly, which is of great advantage for emergency landingson small aerodromes. The manner of springing the wheels is unusual in that, although rubber shock-absorbers are used,the undercarriage is not of the ordinary Vee type. The wheel axle runs right across from side to side, and is securedat each end to an upright tube carrying a Tee piece. From the lower longerons of the fuselage two tubes run downto another Tee piece below the first one. Rubber chord is attached to these Tee pieces and provides the springing. Toprevent the machine from bouncing on landing an oleo gear is incorporated, the plunger rod of which can be seen. - •-•• •••-••••••?:-w - m U.S. Air Pilots to Bomb Moving Ship BRIG.-GEN. MITCHELL is a great advocate of the aero-plane as opposed to the battleship. Last week we published a diagram of the effects of air-bombing upon a stationary target.From America it is now stated that these experiments are to be repeated, but, in this case, upon, amongst others, the formerGerman battleship " Ostfriesland " as a first target. The vessels are to be bombed by both army and navy flyers, about150 miles out at sea, and later it is proposed to put the obsolete battleship " Iowa " and others through the sameordeal whilst at speed at sea. This should help to get a better idea of aircraft v. battleship.Leeds Flies to Athens ~ -„„:-, WHERE a week can be saved under urgent necessity isdemonstrated this week in the hustle of Mr. William Leeds, the son of Princess Anastasia of Greece, who was called fromAmerica to the sick bed of his mother, formerly Mrs. Leeds, at Athens. He was, immediately upon the arrival of theliner " Imperator " at Cherbourg on Sunday last, to have taken car to Caen and thence to have flown in a 2-seaterD.H.Q, piloted by Mr. H. H. Perry, wirelessed for the previous day to the Handley Page Co. to be in waiting at Caen.French restrictions, however, prevented this, and Mr. Leeds 1 had to proceed to Le Bourget, whence he was due away on Monday morning, hoping to reach his destination, Athens,on Wednesday afternoon. The only alternative route would have been from Cherbourg by train and steamer,necessitating eight days' journey. Fired by the good example of Mr. Leeds, several of his MARCH 24, 1921 in our sketch between the two upper tubes. The memberscorresponding to the front legs of the ordinary Vee under- carriage are in reality radius rods, and as the wheels moveindependently, and travel back as well as upward, the effect of this movement sometimes looks rather extraordinarywhen the machine is landing. The oleo damper piston effectively prevents bouncing, and the machine appearsto " waddle " on rough ground. As the travel of the wheels is considerable- (about 10 inches), the passengers feel verylittle shock on alighting, and in practice the undercarriage has given very good results. Some of the details have now View inside the cabin of the D.H. 18. been redesigned and look a good deal neater. These will be incorporated in later machines. SpecificationThe main data relating to the D.H. 18 are as follows :— Span, 51 ft. 3 ins., length o.a. 39 ft., height 13 ft., chord, 6 ft.6 ins. Gap 6 ft. 10 ins., area 620 sq. ft., weight empty with water 4,040 lbs., pilot 180 lbs. Petrol 761 lbs, oil 95 lbs.,useful load 1,440 lbs., "total weight fully loaded 6,516 lbs., load per sq. ft. 10.5 lbs., load per h.p. 12.3 lbs., maximumspeed at 1,000 ft. 128 m.p.h., at 5,000 ft. 125 m.p.h., climb to IO^OOO ft. 20 minutes, ceiling 16,000 it., range at 5,000 ft.and full speed 400 miles. These figures apply to the machine as fitted up for carrying eight passengers. If desired theseats can be removed and the cabin used for cargo space. The cubic capacity of the cabin is then 256 cu. ft., and byloading the machine up to a total weight of 7,116 lbs. the useful load that can be carried is 2,200 lbs. The extra loadhas but small effect on the performance, reducing the maximum speed to about 124 m.p.h. and the ceiling to 15,000 ft. Thelanding speed is, of course, also slightly increased by the extra loading. compatriots who also arrived in the " Imperator" are saidto have decided to travel as far as Brindisi in like manner, ten additional machines being radioed for to be in readinessat Paris, like a good many other good intentions, under present conditions, this latter scheme was rather too tallan order to carry through, with the result that after all Mr. Leeds had to carry on with his fleet of one."^A year or so hence, there should hardly be the necessity even to radio for the machines. They will just be "there onthe rank," like unto taxis—or even more so, judging by experiences of recent years. -,.- ._ ^ - , The Navy Outclasses RA.F. WEDNESDAY last week at Association Football the R.N-at Uxbridge beat R.A.F. by one goal to none. The weather was rough as well as the ground, and both seemed to suit thetactics of the naval team better than the airmen. A good shot by Sergeant Wood secured the Navy goal. The teams were :—Royal Air Force.—Flying Officer A. W. C. Bayes, goal i Corpl. A. H. Nicholls and Sergt. Fretwell, backs; Seigt.R. Goffin, Flying Officer C. N. C. Dickson (captain), and Air Craftsman A. Shand, half-backs ; Corpl. R. P. Wash, AirCraftsman G. Ayres, Flight-Lieut. L. H. Pakenham-Walsh, Sergt. T. H. Donald, and Air Craftsman L. Barry, forwards.Royal Navy.—Shipwright Read, goal; Private Revill (R.M.L.I.) and Leading Stoker Edwards, backs; StokerHayes, Able Seaman Stubbs, and Able Seaman Cook, haH- backs ; Sergt. Wood (R.M.L.I.), Corpl. Warwick (R.M.L.I.).Pay Sub-Lieut. Yates, Shipwright J. Quinn, and E. A. Cross- man, forwards. 206
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