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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0027.PDF
./• . JANUARY 15, 1925 THE FOCKE-WULF TYPE A. 16 An Interesting German Commercial Aeroplane THE question" has"frequently been argued whether or not it is possible to^apply the principles governing light aeroplane design to larger machines—in other words, whether it is possible to build an enlarged version of a light 'plane and get the same relative efficiency as regards performance and useful load. It is A. 16 was designed and built by the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau, A.G., of 21/22 Loeningstrasse, Bremen, a firm of recent date, having been established in January of 1924. As the accompanying photographs and general arrangement drawings will show, the Focke-Wulf A. 16 is a cantilever high- THE FOCKE-WULF A.16 : Three-quarter front view. The engine is a 75 h.p. Siemens radial air-cooled. generally maintained that this is not possible because the structure weight of an aeroplane increases as the cube of the dimensions while the area increases only as the square. To this argument—which is, of course, perfectly sound from a theoretical point of view—the answer is sometimes advanced that the rate at which the percentage of useful or paying load decreases with &ize can, in practice, be diminished by changes in structural design, i.e., by not making the larger machine geometrically similar to the smaller in all its structural details. Sometimes it is found that in a large machine it is possible to use built-up components in place of solid ones, and thus effect a saving in weight. If this is done wherever possible the result is that the structure weight does not increase quite as the cube, although probably more rapidly than the square of the dimensions. In view of the arguments, sometimes rather heated, that have centred around this subject, we have thought it of interest to give an illustrated description of a German commercial aeroplane recently prodoiced, in which, to a very large extent, the features which characterise many modern light 'planes have been incor- porated, and which, in spite of its low engine power, carries four persons at a very good speed. This machine is the Focke-Wulf A. 16, fitted with a 75 h.p. Siemens radial air-cooled engine. The A. 16 carries three passengers in wing monoplane in which every care has been taken to suppress all external bracing, not only of the wing structure, but of the tail members and undercarriage. The lines, although clean, are not particularly smooth, especially in the neighbourhood of the nose, where sudden changes of direction occur. This is, THE FOCKE-WULF A.16 : Three-quarter rear view addition to the pilot, so that the power expenditure is but 25 h.p. per paying passenger. In spite of this fact, the top speed is 135 km./h. (84-4 m.p.h.), so that there can be little doubt as to the efficiency of the design. The 27 THE FOCKE-WULF A.16 : Side view, showing entrance door to cabin. of course, due to the necessity of providing reasonable cabin space on the one hand and reducing the cross-sectional area immediately aft of the engine on the other. The steep slope of the " breast " does not, however, appear to have affected the efficiency to any great extent, for which possibly the fact that this portion is covered with a fairly rounded aluminium cowling is responsible. In other words, if one were to draw " waterlines " through the fuselage these would show a fairly rounded form in front. On top of the fuselage there is a central hump which conforms to the upper curvature of the wing section, and so there is no sudden discontinuity in the region of maximum air pressure, if one excepts the coaming around the pilot's cockpit, which is placed immedi- ately ahead of the front wing spar. The wing is placed wholly on top of the fuselage structure, and the centre portion forms, in fact, part of the cabin, giving more than 6 ft. of head room. The wing section used appears to be one of the Schoukowsky family (it is erroneously shown with flat bottom camber in the side elevation of the general arrangement drawings), and the wing tapers both in chord and thickness from root to tip. c 2
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