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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0063.PDF
JANUARY 28, 1926 THE SCHNEIDER CUP RACE, 1925 MAJOR J. S. BUCHANAN, before reading his paper on " The Schneider Cup Race " before the Royal Aeronautical Society on January 21, 1926, pointed out that he was indebted to the Air Ministry for permission to give the paper, but at the same time he was directed to say that the views ex- pressed therein did not in any way represent the official view of the Air Ministry, nor indicate the policy which was to be followed. The first part of Major Buchanan's paper was devoted to a history of the Schneider Cup race, from the first one in 1913 at Monaco, to last year's race at Baltimore. As the history of the Schneider Cup race has been fairly fully dealt with in FLIGHT, there should be no necessity to repeat it here, and it will suffice if we mention that the speeds in the race have risen from 45-4 m.p.h. in 1913 to 234 m.p.h. in 1925. The lecturer stated that the Schneider Cup race could be viewed from two aspects : the first was the sporting and spectacular point of view, and the second the technical and scientific. He suggested that it was essential for progress in aviation to maintain these contests, but whether it was right that such races should be confined to such expensive instruments as the Schneider Cup type of machine, and at a cost which could only be borne by Governments, was a question that deserved very careful consideration. Failing Government support, the cost of this kind of racing was such that, under present conditions, no private owner could support it for any length of time. Major Buchanan pointed out that the original deed of gift of the cup provided for inter-club racing, and he doubted whether it was ever con- templated that the contest would in time become a competi- tion between Governments. Major Buchanan suggested that aircraft racing authorities might follow the lead given by yachts- men, and introduce international races for small aeroplanes, in the same manner and under somewhat similar conditions to those prevailing for the international races for the 6-metre cJass yachts. (The italics are ours.—ED.) The next part of Major Buchanan's paper dealt with the British Schneider Cup challengers, the Gloster II and Gloster III, and the Supermarine S.4, and gave a brief outline of the relatively small amount of testing which it was possible to carry out before the machines had to leave for America. Tn the portion of Major Buchanan's paper dealing with the flying at Baltimore, the navigability and watertightness tests, etc., the statement was made that the Supermarine S.4 stalled and crashed into the sea. This, we believe, is the first time that a definite cause has been assigned to Capt. Biard's crash. The actual account of the 1925 Schneider Cup race itself in the main contained little that has not already been pub- lished in FLIGHT, and it is not therefore proposed, in view of the limited space at our disposal, to deal at length with this part of the paper. Tables were given showing the speeds attained by the various competitors in each of the seven laps of the course, and it will suffice if we quote from this table the highest speeds attained by the various competitors. The fastest lap covered by the winner of the race, Lieut. Doolittle, was the last one, during which the average speed of the Curtiss racer was 235-036 m.p.h. Capt. Broad's fastest lap was the third, in which his average speed was 201 -536 m.p.h. Briganti's fastest lap was the third, covered at an average speed of 173-858 m.p.h. The two remaining competitors did not complete the course, but Lieut. Cuddihy's fastest lap was the fourth, in which his speed was 223-081 m.p.h. and Lieut. Offstie's fastest lap was the fourth, in which his speed was 223-041 m.p.h. Turning to the more technical aspects of the race, Major Buchanan gave a table, which we reproduce herewith, in which he gave such information as he had been able to collect on the more important racing aircraft of recent years. He pointed out, however, that the information had been gathered from a large number of sources, and it had not always been possible to check all the details with absolute accuracy. He thought, however, they were sufficiently accurate to serve as a basis of comparison. The lecturer called attention to the " Bamel " seaplane, which existed as an aeroplane in 1923, and he pointed out that if a pair of floats had been fitted to it, as has now been done, its speed would have been within 5 m.p.h. of the Curtiss winner. It was, therefore, fair to say that, except for wing radiators and Reed propellers, in 1923 we were as far advanced in racing types as America, and it was from 1923 onwards that we failed to keep abreast of our com- petitors. Turning next to an examination of the respects in which, the Curtiss racers in the last Schneider Cup race were superior to the British entries, Major Buchanan stated that the principal points of superiority were : (a) general cleanness of design and absence of parasitic resistance (except possibly in the case of S.4) ; (h) wing radiators ; (c) more efficient propellers of the latest Reed type ; (d) better trained pilots, and a settled organisation for racing. The only point on which British designers could fairly claim superiority was in float design. Both the Gloster III and the S.4 were cleaner on the water, and had a much cleaner and a much quicker take-off than either the Curtiss or Macchi racers. On examining these items in detail it was, the lecturer said, apparent that under (a) the most important item was body drag. If a good high-speed wing was chosen, improve- ments in wing form could only give increases of speed of a minor order. In connection with body drag, the lecturer referred to an analysis made by Mr. Glauert and Mr. McKinnon Wood, of the Curtiss aeroplane racers of 1923, in which it appeared that the body drag of this aeroplane should be from 1\ to 3 lbs./sq. ft. of frontal area at 100 ft. per second. If this drag could be reduced to 1 \ lbs. /sq. ft., it was estimated that a gain of 8 per cent, in speed would result. The resistance of a good streamline shape at 100 ft. per second was 1-2 to 1-3 lbs./sq. ft. ; but it was unlikely that this figure could be achieved on an aeroplane, because of the cockpit opening and minor obstructions. Model tests at the N.P.L. indicated that the cockpit opening with wind- screen and pilot's head would increase this resistance to 1-7 lbs./sq. ft. It was possible, therefore, the lecturer said, that as much was to be gained by a carefully faired and streamlined body as by an actual reduction in the cross- sectional area. Obviously it would be better to reduce the drag by both methods, but the reduction in cross-sectional area of the body was limited by the size of the pilot and the space necessary for instruments, etc. ITnder heading (b) Major Buchanan stated that the Curtiss Company claimed that the introduction of wing radiators improved the speed of their aeroplanes by 20 m.p.h. at speeds TABLE Characteristics of Racing Seaplanes Total Weight (lbs.) Wing Area (sq. ft.). . Wing Loading (lbs./sq. ft.) H.P. Loading (lbs./h.p.) . . Area of Fuselage— Max. Cross Section (sq. ft.) Prop. Diar. Prop. Pitch Engine Weight (lbs.) Engine horse-power Engine r.p.m. Speed on Straight (m.p.h.) Landing Speed (m.p.h.) Sea Lion. 3,230 285 11-3 5-6 11-5 8ft. 8ins. 10ft. 6ins. 920 575 2.300 155 63-5 Bamel. 2,770 200 13-8 4-8 9ft. 6ins. 12ft. lOins 920 575 2,300 189 75 Gloster II. 2,500 150 16-63-95 91 9ft. lOins. . 15ft. llins. 840 633 2,500 210 (estimated) 79 * Wing radiators, 51 Gloster III 2,687 152 17-73-8 9-1 7 ft. 9ins. 8ft. llins. 730 700 2,700 218 80 174 sq. ft. S.4. 3,191 136 (flaps.) 23-54-6 8-1 8ft. Oins. 9ft. 3ins. 730 700 2,700 237 90 Curtiss 1 Q' * y c7—o. 2,747148 18-56-0 7 8ft. 6ins. 9ft. 4ins. 690 460 2,300 194 85 Curtiss 1QO42,640 162 16-35-3 7 — — 690 500 2,300 227 80 Curtiss 2,710 144 18-84-4 6-5* 7ft. Sins 10ft. Oins 660 619 2,350 246 85
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