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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0614.PDF
Mitchell would be the man best able to decide if such modifi- cations were advisable. Commander Bird also expressed his thanks to the CO., and all officers and ranks at the R.A.F. station at Calshot for the valuable assistance which had been given during the carrying out of the flying tests of the machine, and but for their timely assistance it would have been impos- sible to have carried out these tests as quickly and as success- fully as had been done. The Supermarine team will include, in addition to Captain Biard, the pilot of the machine, Mr. R. J. Mitchell, Chief engineer and designer ; Mr"; A. Powell, in charge of erection, Mr. H. B. Pickett, engine mechanic, Mr. G. H. Broome, rigger, and Mr. H. M. Grimes, launchman. The Gloster-Napier III. The machine designed for the Schneider Cup Race by Mr. H. P. Folland, and built by the Gloucestershire Aircraft Co., Ltd., Cheltenham, may be said to be the logical development of the company's previous racing machines. Mr. Folland has always been an advocate of the biplane for racing machines, and in the Gloster-Napier III he has adhered to that type. The Schneider Cup challenger bears a strong family resem- blance to previous Gloucestershire racers, but has been consi- derably " cleaned up " and streamlined, wherever streamlining was possible. The wing area is exceptionally small, and the machine is certainly by far the smallest for its power ever constructed in Great Britain. The fuselage is a plywood covered structure of very small cross sectional area, and of good streamline shape. There is but a single inter-plane strut on each side, and the wings are braced by streamline wires in the usual way. The wing section used is a special racing section developed by Mr. Folland, and a peculiar feature of the wings is that the tips of the upper plane are rounded, whilst the lower plane has square tips. Ailerons are fitted to the lower plane only, where they are readily accessible, and we believe the rounding of the top wing tips was chosen with a view to making the lower plane ailerons as effective as possible. Like the Supermarine, the Gloster-Napier III has Lamblin radiators mounted on the wings, but whereas in the Super- marine the radiators are fitted under the wing, they are placed in the Gloster-Napier III in the leading edge of the lower plane close to the fuselage. Owing to the fact that the wing section used is a thin one, the radiators project considerably, and give the appearance of offering considerable resistance. This impression is, however, probably more apparent than real, and actually the resistance may be quite low. Probably a cerain amount of resistance could have been saved by using wing radiators sunk in flush with the wing surface, but the construction of such radiators for a thin wing is not without difficulty, owing to the fact that at high speed the spars of a thin wing deflect a certain amount, which would be likely to cause leaks in the wing radiators. The Gloucestershire Aircraft Company consider that by now they have overcome the difficulties, but time did not allow of building these special radiators for the present machine. The undercarriage is of the twin-float type, the two floats being built entirely of Duralumin by Short Bros., of Rochester. Like the Supermarine floats they are of the single-step type, but they are carried on a braced structure of steel tubes. The Napier engine is neatly cowled in, and Mr. Folland has taken advantage of the fin above the fuselage carrying the top plane by fairing the cowling for the central bank of cylinders neatly into this fin. The cross-sectional area of the fuselage appears smaller than that of the Supermarine, but in conse- quence the " bulges " formed by the cowling over the cylinder banks are rather larger, and it would be interesting to know which affords more resistance, the smaller fuselage with larger bulges, or the larger fuselage with smaller bulges. The propeller is a Fairey-Read. The tail of the Gloster-Napier III is of orthodox design, and the fixed tail plane is braced by streamline wires. Vertical fins are provided both above and below the fuselage, and the rudder is slotted to clear the conical shape of the stern of the fuselage. cSEPTEMBER 24> 1925 In the Gloster-Napier III, the biplane racing machine would appear to have reached approximately the limit of its develop- ment, and the workmanship and finish are such as one would expect in machines produced by the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company. During tests flights the machine is stated to have handled extremely well, both on the water and in the air, and Capt. Broad and Mr. Hinkler have got in considerable practice, not only on the actual racer, but also on the " Bamel " practice machine. At a luncheon given by the Gloucestershire Aircraft Com- pany and by D. Napier and Sons, Mr. David Longden, Managing Director of the Gloucestershire Aircraft Co., referred briefly to the long association of these two firms in air racing, and said he trusted this would continue, and he was glad to be able to express the thanks of his Company for the generous assistance received from all quarters ; especially from the Air Ministry and their technical staff, and also the officers and men of the Felixstowe station. Several constructors had also given advice and help without reserve, and he took that as an indication that the industry as a whole realised that this event was one of cardinal importance to Great Britain's prestige in the air. Mr. Longden added that a British victory in the race would prove of great importance, also to the pros- perity of the industry, as he was sure that trade followed records. In conclusion Mr. Longden expressed his thanks to the De Havilland Company and to A. V. Roe and Co., respectively, for their very sporting spirit in lending for the race their pilots, Capt. H. Broad and Mr. Bert Hinkler. The Italian Representative. Concerning the Italian representative but little information is available. We are able, however, by the kindness of General A. Guidoni, the Italian Air Attache in London, to publish this week two views of the Macchi Schneider Cup machine. This, it will be seen, is a flying boat monoplane, and is fitted with a Curtiss engine of a nominal 425 h.p. The very high centre of thrust, coupled with a very low centre of resistance, would appear to tend to make the machine somewhat difficult to fly, as one would imagine that there must be a very considerable difference in trim between the engine-on and engine-off condition. The machine is certainly of very clean lines, and it would be difficult to imagine a single-engined flying boat in which resistance was reduced to a greater extent. The machine will be piloted in the Schneider Cup race by the famous Italian aviator, De Briganti, who won the Schneider Cup race for Italy in 1921, when he was flying a Savoia flying-boat. The Napier Engine. At the moment little may be said concerning the special racing engine developed by D. Napier and Sons for the Schneider Cup challengers. The photographs published on page 609 show the engine to be of similar engine design to the famous Napier " Lion," but considerable cleaning up has been effected, with the result that the spaces between cylinder blocks are now entirely free of obstruction, which fact has enabled the designers of the machines to provide cowling of very low resistance. The Napier racing engine uses direct drive, and the power output has been very greatly increased, so that, in conjunction with the reduced weight, theiracing engine should be a difficult proposition to beat. Details as to speed and power output of the Napier racing engine cannot, for obvious reasons, be published at the moment, but all who heard the engine running were agreed that, for smoothness and steadiness, it would be difficult to improve upon it. Probably at a later date we may be in a position to give further details. Air Minister's Messages. Owing to extreme pressure of work the Secretary of State for Air, Sir Samuel Hoare, was not able to visit Southampton or Felixstowe to inspect the racing seaplanes, but he sent telegrams on both occasions, regretting his inability to be present and wishing the British challengers success in the Race. M. Coste Detained in Germany M. COSTE, the French pilot who is in hospital at Freiburg, as a result of the Paris-Karachi flight crash in the Black Forest—when M. Thierry was killed—has been " arrested " by the German authorities for violating German law by flying over forbidden territory without permission. It is expected, however, that Coste will be allowed to return to France—when well enough to do so—during the official inquiry which is now in progress. Meanwhile the French Government has lodged a protest, through its Ambassador at Berlin, against the action of the German authorities. Col. Mitchell Leaves U.S. Air Service IT is reported from Washington that Col. Mitchell, who has of late severely criticised the U.S. Government Air Policy —especially as regards the " Shenandoah " disaster—has been relieved from active duty as an air officer in the U.S. Army. No reasons for this action are as yet forthcoming. 614
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