FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0215.PDF
APRIL 19, 1923 LIGHT AND GLIDER A FEW more particulars are now to hand relating to the Dewoitine light 'plane with which Barbot made his flight over Toulouse, as recorded in FLIGHT last week. According to M. Dewoitine, the machine weighs 252 kilos. (554 lbs.) " all on." The engine fitted is an Anzani two-cylindered cycle engine, with direct drive to the airscrew. On the bench the engine had turned the propeller at 1,480 r.p.m. at full throttle (corresponding, according to the Anzani power curve to approximately 9 h.p.), but during the actual flight, owing to some mistake, it was not possible for Barbot to open the throttle fully, with the consequence that the engine was only turning at between 1,300 and 1,350 r.p.m. as he was taking off. At a speed of 1,350 r.p.m. the engine should develop about 7 h.p., so that the Dewoitine may safely be assumed to have got into the air (incidentally after quite a 554short run) with a power loading of = 79-2 lbs./h.p. Considering that the average commercial machine carries something like 20 lbs./h.p. only, the economy of the light 'plane will be obvious. It must be admitted, however, that the commercial machine flies considerably faster. • • * DURING the actual flight, i.e. once he had got well into the air, Barbot throttled down to 1,200 r.p.m., at which speed the engine was giving about 5 h.p., corresponding to a power loading of about 110 lbs./h.p. Tne cruising speed was in the neighbourhood of 40 m.p.h., while the full speed is estimated to be about 54 m.p.h. • * * EXCELLENT as are these figures, the results obtained with the " Wren," designed by Mr. W. O. Manning and built by the English Electric Co., seem to be even better, from the point of view of economy. The A.B.C. engine, a brief descrip- tion of which is published elsewhere in this issue, is of 400 c.c. capacity, and is rated at 3J h.p. At a speed of 4,500 r.p.m. the power is slightly more than 7 h.p., and as the " Wren " weighs approximately 360 lbs. " all on," the full-power loading is 51 -5 lbs. /h.p. At no time was the engine opened out fully, and actually the machine must have taken off with the engine developing between 4 and 5 h.p., corresponding to a power loading of about 80 lbs./h.p. When flying level the engine was further throttled down, and at cruising speed the power loading must be about 100 lbs./h.p. As the machine is considerably lighter than the Dewoitine, the economy must be a good deal better, and Mr. Manning is to be congratulated upon having designed a machine which probably marks, as near as possible, an irreducible minimum in fuel consumption. At the same time the maximum speed is by no means bad, and although the machine has not yet been thoroughly tested out for this, it is expected that she will do at least 50 m.p.h. • • • FROM France it is reported that Maneyrol, winner of the Daily Mail £1,000 Prize at Itford last October, intends to attempt a flight from Vauville,. near Cherbourg, to Jersey and back in a Peyret glider fitted with a 7 h.p. engine. The shortest distance between the mainland and Jersey is a little under 20 miles, and should be within the capacity of the Peyret. It will be interesting to see how this machine, which is a tandem monoplane, will behave as a power-driven light 'plane. As a glider it requires rather a high wind to remain aloft, and consequently it may be assumed that it will require rather more power than the " Wren " and Dewoitine. The tandem arrangement, however, lends itself admirably to the installation of a light engine, as this can be mounted in the nose of the fuselage, and the machine trimmed by simply shifting the pilot's seat back some 6 ins. or so. • * * THE view obtained by the pilot in the Peyret is, perhaps, the best possible in any aeroplane, as he is seated behind the trailing edge of the front wing and is placed at such a height relatively to the two wings that he sees them both " edge on." The " hollow-ground " shape of the deck fairing allows him to see straight forward, and only the relatively narrow width of the fuselage obstructs his view downward. Being well aft of the front wing, the pilot should be fairly safe even in a pretty bad crash, and thus the various advantages of the tandem arrangement might outweigh the somewhat inferior aerodynamic efficiency. It seems likely that the tandem arrangement may be about on a par with the biplane as regards efficiency, since the weight and resistance of a tail plane and elevator are saved. The controllability of the Peyret, it will be remembered, is remarkable. IT is reported from Paris that Hanriots are constructing aflexible-wing light 'plane to take one of the le Rhone A.B.C. engines, the first of which was exhibited at the last ParisAero Show and illustrated in FLIGHT of January 11, 1923.This engine is similar to the standard 400 c.c. A.B.C. fitted to the " Wren," except that a three-to-one reduction gear isfitted. Thus a large-diameter propeller could be used, with improved propeller efficiency. No particulars are yet avail-able relating to the Hanriot light 'plane. • • * "; THIS week we commence the description of the construc- tional details of the FLIGHT prize-winning design " Turkey Buzzard " monoplane glider. The general arrangement drawings were published last week, from which it will have been seen that this machine is of very pleasing lines. The design is generally good, but larger control surfaces would undoubtedly have been an advantage, and we should advise any of our readers who intend to build from the published drawings to increase the size of ailerons, elevator and rudder. The Editor will always be pleased to give any advice on such alterations from the original design. The machine should be very suitable for any competitions which may be held in connection with the competition for the Sutherland Prize for light 'planes, to be held in September next, and com- petitors may use the same opportunity to make attempts on the Selfridge 1,000 guineas Prize for flying a distance of 50 miles in a straight line. • • * THE other design, " KL." is not as efficient a glider a*" Turkey Buzzard," but should be very suitable for beginners and as a school machine. Details of it will be published whenwe have finished publication of the " Turkey Buzzard '" drawings. • * • " GLIDING AND SOARING FLIGHT " is the title of a book published by Sampson Low, Marston and Co., Ltd. The author is Mr. J. Bernard Weiss, son of the late Mr. Jose Weiss, who was one of the pioneers of flying in this country. The book has a preface by Mr. C. G. Grey, and an appendix by Mr. W. H. Sayers. It is in no sense a technical work on gliding, but is rather a historical account of what has been done from the earliest days up to the present time. Inci- dentally it gives a fuller account of the work of Jose Weiss than has hitherto been available, and the experiments of that early pioneer deserve to be much more widely known than they are. As Mr. Grey points out in his preface, "Mr. Jose Weiss—such is our English custom—is much better known in the United States as a great painter of English landscapes than he is in this country in his more important manifestation as a great pioneer of aviation." The price of " Gliding and Soaring Flight " is 5s. net. • • • SOME months ago we announced that our old friend Capt, F. Warren Merriam intended to start a gliding school at Wroxall, Isle of Wight. We now learn that the number of enquiries received, and the orders placed with Merriam for the construction of gliders, is so great that he finds himself unable to cope with them single-handed, so to speak. Merriam therefore desires to get in touch with a pilot, preferably one of his old pupils, who will take an active part in the work, and at the same time invest a small amount of capital in the undertaking. It is, we believe, the intention to run a joy-riding concern in connection with the gliding school, and possibly even a complete training establishment, pupils commencing by learning to glide and then proceeding to the power-driven aeroplanes. If any of Merriam's old pupils (and there must be hundreds of them) should see this and be interested in the proposition, they are asked to com- municate with Merriam, at the Whiteley Bank School of Gliding, Wroxall, Isle of Wight. • • * FROM the South Coast Land and Resort Co., Ltd., we learn that this company, proprietors of Peacehaven Garden city, between Newhaven and Brighton, has included in its develop- ment programme the establishment of an aerodrome on the Sussex Downs. Last summer, it may be remembered, Mijnheer Fokker made a few flights on the Peacehaven site, and the proprietors of this estate are now prepared to give all reasonable facilities to anyone who desires to practise gliding. We have no personal knowledge of the locality, but full particulars can be obtained from the proprietors, the South Coast Land and Resort Co., Ltd., Peacehaven Sussex. ~ „. - «».••;, • - .,.,, . - .,„• i 215
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
