FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0826.PDF
"• The Latecoere 8. "Flight "Copyright DECEMBER 15, 1921 A number of these run longitudinally, with others inter-secting them diagonally, the latter wrapping spirally around the fuselage. Vertical formers or bulkheads serve as supportsfor the diagonal and longitudinal stringers. The remarkable feature about the construction is that all diagonal and longi-tudinal stringers are in short straight pieces, attached to the formers via small Duralumin plates at the points of inter-section. As there appears to be one rivet only securing the ends of the stringers to these plates, the structure appearsto be none too strong, but one understands that it is intended to cover the whole fuselage with thin sheet metal. By thetime this is riveted to the basketwork with a few hundred thousand rivets, there will probably be sufficient strength inthe structure. But what an enormously expensive fuselage it must have been. And any gains which one might hope forby this form of construction must have been outweighed many times by the. time and cost involved. Frankly, wedo not think the design a good one, and as regards the work- manship the less said the better. A great percentage ofthe rivets appear to have been placed dangerously close to the edges of the metal, which here and there has split fromthe rivet holes to the edge. \'M " Flijht" Copyright TWO LATECOERE DETAILS : On the left the very substantial tall skid, and on the right one side of an •' ;> ' • . - ,• :- . undercarriage. - ^ T.. . . .< ___ . a course, while normally the centre one only is used for steering. The bracing of the tail is unusual, and one noticed that the lift wires run out at a very flat angle indeed. No data of weights or performance of this machine are available, but the main dimensions are as follows : Length, over all, 47 ft. 9 ins. ; span, 81 ft. ; height, 20 ft. 6 ins. A huge fuselage was also exhibited on the Latecoi're stand. This is for a bomber, and is one of the most remarkable pieces of metal construction in the whole of the exhibition. The metal employed is Duralumin throughout, and nearly everywhere it is employed in the form of channel sections. The " Lat. 6 " is intended, as already said, for a bomber, and is in addition to be provided with a very full complement of guns, according to a sketch elevation given in a catalogue. According to the brief specification, there are to be four engines of 250 h.p., placed in pairs on the wings. The general characteristics are to be as follows: Length o.a., 51 ft. 8 ins.; span, 84 ft. ; height, 20 ft. 6 ins. ; wing area, 1,300 sq. ft.; total loaded weight, 11,600 lbs.; wing loading, 8-9 lbs./ sq. ft. ; power loading, 11 -6 lbs./h.p. ; speed near the ground, 142 m.p.h. ; speed at 13,000 ft., 133 m.p.h. (To be Continued.) . •',.'-.'~£ri:~ • C: :,.7-^ THE LONDON-CONTINENTAL SERVICES FLIGHTS BETWEEN DECEMBER 4 AND DECEMBER 10, INCLUSIVE Routet •a o 55 BO No. of flights carrying 1 60 a < Fastest time made by • '-••'• -- --: :r~« Type and (in brackets) Number of each type flying Croydon-Paris ... Paris-Croydon ... Totals for week 12 26 27 10 9 II h. m. '2 29 2 >-,8 D.H. 4 G-EAWH (2h. 3m.) ... D.H. 4 G-EAWH (2h. 20m.) D.H. 4(1), D.H. 9(1), D.H. 18(2) G.(3),H.P.(2),Sp.(2),V.(i). D.H. 4 (1), D.H. 18 (a), G. (2), H.P. (2), Sp. (1), V. (1). 2036 9 17 * Not including " private" flights. t Including certain journeys when stops were made en route. X Including certain diverted journeys. § A journey between Croydon-Rotterdam (goods), and between Amsterdam-Croydon (1 pass.) were also made. Av =Avro. B. = Breguet. Br. = Bristol. Bt. = B.A.T. D.H.4 — De Havilland 4, D.H.9 (ate). F = Fokker. Fa. = Farm an F.50. G. = Goliath Farman. H.P. = Handley Page. M. >•= Martinsyde. N. =a Nieuport. p. = Potez. R. = Rumpler. Sa. = Saimson. Se. = S.E.5. Sp. = Spad. V. = Vickers Vimy. W. = Westland. The following is a list of firms running services between London and Paris, Brussels, etc., etc.:—Co. des GrandesExpresses Aeriennes 1 Handley Page Transport, Ltd.; Instone Air Line; Koninklijkie Luchtvaart Haatschappij; Messagedes Aeriennes; Syndicat National pour l'£tude des Transports Aeriens; Co. Transaerienne. 826
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
