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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0523.PDF
AUGUST 13, 1925 OFF FOR A GLIDE : The Abrial " Vautour " ready to start, and, inset, in flight. German " Vampyr " type, but with a more rounded nose and with strut-braced wings. The wing section used is somewhat similar to the Gottingen sections, although the mean camber curve is stated to be different from those of the Gottingen sections. The construction is one of the prettiest pieces of work which we have ever seen, and is a credit to M. Peyret. It was on this glider that M. Auger reached an altitude of 720 m. (2,360 ft.) above his starting point, and glides of 4£ hours' duration were also made on it. The glider on which Commandant Massaux remained aloft for 10 hrs. 19 mins. 43| sees, was the Poncelet " Vivette," which took part as a light 'plane in the 1923 Lympne meeting. The glider is no doubt very efficient, but the pilots cockpit appeared extremely cramped, and it is something of a mystery how Massaux managed to " stick it " for nearly 10i hours. The Nessler monoplane glider, shown in one of our photo- graphs, was a somewhat crude affair, and was mainly inter- esting because of the fact that it was covered with oiled silk. A glider of most unusual design was the Landes-Breguet, also shown in one of our photographs. This machine has arched wings, somewhat like those of a gull, and in model form a machine of this design has won a number of prizes in competitions in which the model gliders were launched from a captive balloon. In the full-size glider, however, difficulty was experienced with the wings, which were con- structed entirely of bamboo, and were in consequence extremely flexible ; so much so, that it seems rather doubtful if the machine would be safe to take up, at any rate in a gusty wind. The fuselage, which appeared to be so short that the rudder control cou'.d not possibly be effective, was built up on four duralumin longerons, with three-ply formers, and stringers of split bamboo. The biplane glider entered by M. Robert Ferber was of unusual design, in that the ply-wood covered fuselage was shaped like a very thick wing section, while the gap between the planes was unusually large. The glider must have been very lightly loaded, but does not appear to have put up any startling performance. The Bouriau-Chapautau monoplane glider was somewhat reminiscent of a Dewoitine, but had a fuselage of greater width than depth. The wing section was a bi-convex one, with the steepest camber on the lower surface, which gave the wing the appearance of having been put on " upside down." r SPAN 41-6 LENGTH 20-6' WING AREA 2 15 2 SQ ABRIAL A2"VAUTOUR" The Abrial Glider "Vautour." General Arrangement Drawings, to Scale. 523
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