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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0261.PDF
MAY 4, 1922 THE FRENCH 2,000,000 FRANCS ENGINE COMPETITION Extracts from the Regulations IT is now several months since the announcement was first made of the intention of the French Committee for Aero nautical Propaganda to offer a prize of 1,000,000 francs for the " best " aero engine. Not long after this announcement it was stated that the French Under-Secretary of State for Air had decided to add another million francs in the form of two prizes of 300,000 francs each, the remaining 400,000 francs to be devoted to defraying the expenses of the compe tition. The regulations governing the competition have now been published, and below we give a resumi of some of the more important rules and regulations. For full particulars applicacion should be made to la Commission a"Aviation de VAero-Club de France, 35, Rue Francois—I"~, Paris. The competition will have for its object to encourage the production of an aero engine of " grande endurance." The allocation of the prizes will be as follows :—Two prizes of 300,000 francs each, offered by the Under-Secretary of State for Air, to be awarded according to the national classification (which will be dealt with later). These two prizes are reserved for engines of French design and manufacture. The million francs prize offered by the Committee for Aeronautical Propaganda is to be devoted to purchasing, for the benefit of the French Government, the manufacturing rights of the engine classed first in the competition. This prize is open to the world, the only exception being ex-enemy countries. This engine is to be sold to the French Government for the relatively modest sum of one franc. Competitors will not be permitted to enter more than one engine of any type, nor several engines which are similar except for certain minor parts which, in the opinion of the judges, are accessories only. It will, however, be permissible to enter several engines of different types. Entries must be sent in before December 1, 1922 (to la Commission d'Aviation de I'Aero-Club de France), each accom panied by an entrance fee of 20,000 francs in the case of French competitors and 10,000 francs in the case of foreign engines. By paying double fees, competitors may defer entries until December 1, 1923. In the case of foreign competitors the late entrance fee remains at 10,000 francs. Half of the entrance fees will be returned to competitors whose engines have passed the elimination tests. In the case of foreign competitors the entrance fee of 10,000 francs will be refunded to those who withdraw from the tests before March 1, 1924, the opening date of the competition. Foreign competitors will be required to send in with their entries a written declaration to the effect that, in the event of their engine being classed first, they will hand it over, in running order, to the Committee for Aeronautical Propa ganda on receipt of the amount of the prize. The delivery of the winning engine is to include a full set of working drawings, specification of the materials used and their heat treatment. The declaration specifies also that the French Government, or any company approved by the French Government, shall have the right to purchase for France, her colonies and protectorates, manufacturing rights (exclu sive) with the following royalties : 8,000 francs per engine for the first 100, 7,000 francs per engine for the next 100 and 6,000 francs per engine for the third 100, and so on, decreasing by 1,000 francs per engine until the 601st engine, from which onwards there will be a fixed royalty of 2,000 francs per engine. If, after a period of two years, the total number of engines manufactured under licence does not amount to at least 200, the competitor has the right to cancel the agreement. Each engine, in running order, must be delivered at the place where the competition is to be held (to be announced later) before March 1, 1924. It must be delivered in a sealed packing case, and competitors will not be allowed to remove engines from packing cases until just before mounting them on the test bench for acceptance tests. The judges will number 10, half of whom will be nominated by the Under-Secretary' and the other half by the Propaganda Committee. The judges' committee will be presided over by the Commission d'Aviation de l'Aero-Club de France, who will be in charge of the organisation of the competition. The Tests Engines entered for the competition must be of the internal combustion type, and their nominal power is to be between 350 and 450 h.p. The weight for this power must not exceed 3-3 kg. (7.26 lbs.) per horse-power. This figure includes the engine and fuel and oil for five hours' flight, but not the weight of fuel and oil tanks. The speed of rotation of the 32,000 airscrew must be less than -/h.p. r.p.m. All engines are to be fitted with self-starters so as to avoid propeller swinging and hand starting, and this starter is to be used throughout the tests. By nominal horse-power will be understood the power which can be maintained by the engine at ground level for half an hour at a speed of 32,000 ~== r.p.m. vh.p. Engines will be required to undergo acceptance and elimi nating trials, including a five hours' run on the test bench, driving the airscrew type of air brake which will be used in the endurance test, and a two hours' flying test in a machine provided by the competitor. During this test the machine must remain at an altitude of 2,000 metres for at least one hour. The Endurance Test The engines which pass the eliminating trials will then be subjected to an endurance test of 240 hours' running in 30 periods of eight hours each. It is stipulated that the period for completing the endurance tests must not exceed 100 days. For the first half-hour of each eight-hour period the engine will be run at the number of revolutions corresponding to its normal power, and for the remaining seven and a half hours it will be throttled down to such power as the com petitor considers it will maintain during the test. At the end of each eight-hour run competitors will have access to their engines for one hour. The mean power developed during the seven and a half hours' run will be referred to the power corresponding to a temperature of 150 C. and a pressure of 760 mm., assuming that the power increases in proportion to the pressure, and to the ratio — t in which / is the tem-r 500 perature in degrees Centigrade. The referred mean power thus found will determine the normal power of the engine during the tests, and should be equal to nine-tenths of the nominal power at least. Marks will be awarded for certain features, which will be referred to later, and penalties will be imposed for delays, stops aftid replacements of parts. For a delay in starting each eight-hour run, if less than 15 minutes, a penalty of four points will be imposed ; from 15 to 60 minutes' delay, eight points. A delay of more than one hour will result in the cancellation of the test. A stoppage during a test will be penalised by ten points, and further penalties will be imposed according to duration of stoppage, as follows: Less than 15 minutes, four points ; 15 minutes to one hour, eight points. If the stop exceeds one hour the test will be cancelled. The replacement of parts is midcted according to the character of the part replaced. Thus the renewal of a sparking plug is penalised by four points ; of a sepaiate part or joint the replacement or repair of which can be carried out in one hour, and which leaves the engine in a state fit for further runs without tuning up, 10 points ; of a part or joint which can be replaced or repaired in more than one hour, and which does not interfere with further running, 20 points. For the renewal or replacement of a part or joint such that the engine cannot resume its series of eight-hour runs until it has been tuned up or a preliminary run made, 50 points will be put against an engine. The renewal of, such parts as magneto, carburettor, ignition distributor, distributor or motor of self-starter, fuel or water pumps, etc., will be penalised by 75 points ; while the replacement of such units as oil pump, complete cylinder, bank or group of cylinders, connecting rod complete with bushes, reduction gear, crank shaft or camshaft, crank-case, etc., will be penalised by 100 points. These penalties will also apply to replacements and repairs carried out during the hour preceding and that following an eight-hour run. For parts or units replaced or repaired more than once the penalties will have a cumulative effect, the points given above being multiplied by the number of times the part or unit has been repaired or replaced. This does not, however, apply to sparking-plugs or valves, for which each fresh replacement will only be penalised at the unit rate—4 for the plugs and 10 or 20, according to whether the replacement takes less or more than one hour, for the valves. It should be added that the cancellation of an eight-hour run will be penalised by 100 points, and that the cancellation of the endurance test altogether will follow as a result of : 10 eight-hour tests having been cancelled ; of a number of replacements of those parts which were penalised by 100 points, as stated above, equalling or exceeding half the number of these components in each engine ; of an interval of more than 30 days between two eight-hour runs ; of the duration of the endurance tests exceeding 100 days. An 26l
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