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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0764.PDF
NOVEMBER 19, 1925 Briefly, the fuselage of the two Gloster machines underreview comprises ash longerons, spliced in the neighbour- hood of the cockpit, and swelling, as regards the lowerlongerons, to a considerable depth in the region where are attached the lower wing spars and the undercarriage struts.The fuselage struts are tapered towards their ends, and fit over the bolt heads of the fuselage fittings. The latter areof very simple form, and consist generally speaking of flat plates in the line of pull, very little bending being employed.The fuselage bracing is in the form of round tie-rods, threaded at the ends to fit the fork ends securing them to the steelclip fittings. Over the main fuselage structure light formers and stringers provide a good streamline form above and below.The fuselage covering is fabric. In front the fuselage terminates in an engine plate con-structed of multi-ply wood, which is attached to the four longerons by very simple sheet-steel fittings, and to whichis bolted the special " saucepan " engine bearer of the Armstrong-Siddeley engine. At the stern the fuselage isof somewhat unusual design in that the stern post is not permanently built into the fuselage structure, but is anintegral part of the structure of the top and bottom fins, and is secured to the longerons by special fittings, as shownin one of the sketches published this week. The fins, rudder and elevator are of normal wood construction, but the in the way as regards the machine controls. The usualinterrupter gear is, of course, fitted so as to enable the guns to be fired " through " the propeller. Petrol SystemThe petrol system of the " Gloster " machines is of the direct gravity feed type, the two petrol tanks being situatedin the top plane, and pipes leading from them down to a T-collector with non-return valves (shown by a sketch lastweek), which enables the pilot to take the fuel from either tank, or from both simultaneously if required. The twopetrol cocks are provided with extension handles, which can be reached from the cockpit, so that if the pilot believes him-self to be in danger of crashing he can shut off the petrol. The absence of petrol pumps and the provision of twoseparate petrol tanks should result in great reliability as regards the petrol system, and in the case of the " Grebe,"which is a military machine, a bullet hole in one tank would not put the machine out of action, as the pilot would merelyswitch on the other tank. THE WINGSIt has already been stated that both in span, chord and section the top and bottom planes of the Gloster machinesare unequal. The bottom wing section is a " thin " high- speed one, while the top plane section is a deep high-lift THE GLOSTER "GREBE II," ARMSTRONG-SIDDELEY "JAGUAR" ENGINE: Front view. elevator attachment is somewhat unusual in that the elevatorspars are not secured direct to the longerons, but to a cross- tube suspended on the diagonal bracing wires. This featureis shown in the same sketch. The trimming gear for the tail plane is in the form of a worm, and is operated by a leverfrom the pilot's cockpit. The undercarriage is of normal vee type, but the shock-absorbing medium is formed by rubber blocks working in compression, and the bounce is checked by an oil dampergear or dashpot. The tail skid, which moves with the rudder so as to give good steering on the ground, is similarlysprung. It formed the subject of one of the sketches published last week. CockpitsIn the case of the cockpits a distinction must, of course, be made between the " Grouse " and the " Grebe," the formerbeing a two-seater school machine and the latter a single- seater fighter. In the " Grouse " the two cockpits are placedone just aft of the wings and the other partly under the top plane, which is cut away to facilitate access. Dualcontrols of normal stick type are provided, and the machine can be piloted from either seat. In the " Grebe " there isbut a single cockpit, but this is of very ample proportion, and is not in the least cramped. The two machine guns. which form the normal equipment of this type are housed inside the fuselage fairings, so that the pilot can change hisammunition drums and generally attend to his guns without having to put his hands over the side, where, at the highspeeds, and great altitudes attained, they would quickly become numbed with cold. The guns, it may be added,are very conveniently situated, and yet are not in the least section. The construction is normal, except that the wingspars, which are of I-section, are built up of several lamina- tions. The reason for this is probably that the waste is con-siderable when spindling I-section spars out of solid spruce. The ribs are normal N-girders of spruce, and the drag bracingis in the form of round section tie rods. Where the tanks, are housed in the top plane, the bracing is transferred fromthe centre lines of the spars to the top, so as to clear the top of the tanks. The ailerons, which are operated by tierodsand T-cranks inside the bottom wing, are not hinged directly to the rear spars, but to false spars forming an angle with themain spars. In the latest machines, they project beyond the trailing edge of the main wing. Only the bottom aileronsare operated direct from the cockpit, the movement being transmitted to the top ailerons by a single strut on each side,the attachment for which, as well as the T-crank, is shown in sketches published this week. The top plane of the Gloster machines does not incorporatethe usual centre-section, but the two halves are attached to a steel tube cabane rising from the top longerons of the fuse-lage. The attachment is a very simple one and consists of two bolts, one for each spar. The details, as well as thoseof the spar root fittings, were shown by some of our sketches published last week. The lower spars are secured to shortspar roots bolted underneath the bottom longerons of the fuselage, and in the case of the spar coinciding with thechassis strut attachment short tubes running diagonally to the lower longerons brace the spar roots against the obliqueloads imposed by the chassis strut. Details of the arrange- ment were also given last week. The wing fittings are ofsimple straightforward type, and the work of dismantling 764
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