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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0852.PDF
DECEMBER 31, 1925 THE POWELL LIGHT 'PLANE A Successful American Machine with Bristol " Cherub " Engine As already recorded in FLIGHT, the machine which won allthe prizes in its class at the New York air races this autumn was the Powell light biplane, fitted with the Bristol " Cherub "engine. This machine won the Aero Digest Trophy, the Scientific American Trophy, and the Dayton Daily NewsTrophy, as well as prize money totalling $2,000. The machine was designed, and to a large extent built, by Prof.C. H. Powell, Professor of Aeronautics at the University of Detroit, and formerly of the National Physical Laboratory dental to the races. The machine can therefore justly beregarded as purely an amateur effort, and as such is, it will be agreed, very creditable indeed.In the design of the Powell light 'plane the biplane type of wings was probably chosen for lightness and compactness.The wing structure is of orthodox design aerodynamically, but considerable scheming must have been required to get thewing fittings for the streamline wires buried inside the wings, since with the thin section used (R.A.F. 15) the rear spar had THE POWELL LIGHT 'PLANE : Three-quarter front view. Note the neat cowling around the BristolCherub " engine. The fuselage is covered with ply-wood. at Teddington. All the design work was carried out bvProf. Powell, and the machine was built by him, with the assistance of Mr. P. Altaian and the occasional help ofothers. I*Prof. Powell has been good enough to send to FLIGHT a setof blue prints and photographs of his interesting machine, and certain technical data upon which the following descriptionis based. Prof. Powell states «that the machine was designed " to win at all costs, which it did at considerable cost," andit may be mentioned that Prof. Powell himself bore the cost of construction and materials, as well as all the expenses inci- a depth of but 1J in. These fittings are in the form of forkedplates or stirrups, the supports for which are so arranged as to allow the wire to swing in all directions, thus ensuring adirect pull without bending at the threads. The top plane is built in one piece, the dihedral being built in, as it were.Owing to the short span (15 ft. 9 in.) it was possible to build the spars in one piece without splicing. The fuselage is a ply-wood covered monocoque structure,built on Jin. ply-wood formers. The three-ply covering itself is rather thick (-ft in.), and Prof. Powell states that, althougha good deal of weight could have been saved by the use of The Powell Light 'Plane : View of the skeleton framework of the fuselage. The undercarriage V'a are made of streamline steel tubes. •-••* •
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