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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0896.PDF
10 §• fSs2§i DECEMBER 2, 1926 The GLOSTER AIRCRAFT Co., Ltd. WHERE TO SEE BRITISH AIRCRAFT By A VISITOR TO CHELTENHAM IN the world's aeronautical calendar the Paris InternationalAero Exhibition is one of the events of the year. It is by no means as convincing or instructive an event as the Britishcounterpart, the Royal Air Force Display at Hendon, which is a practical demonstration of what British aircraft reallycan do. International Exhibitions, however, are always of particularinterest. They bring together the products of different countries and thus enable useful comparisons to be made.Unfortunately, in the case of Paris foreign representatives discover that the Exhibition is international more in namethan in fact, which is disappointing. There will, no doubt, be many visitdrs to the Paris Exhibi-tion who, like myself, are keenly interested in British aircraft. I am afraid the Exhibition will afford them little opportunityof indulging that interest, for unless I am greatly mistaken, British aircraft, as distinct from British engines, will beconspicuous principally by its absence. " Where to see British Aircraft" is therefore not a guide to the BritishExhibit in Paris. My disappointment in this respect is tempered by thereflection that exhibition machines are exhibition machines, and to see them freshly doped and decorated on ornate exhibi-tion stands is to learn little about their real flying qualities and fitness. Things are not always what they seem, as wesometimes discover when we get up into the blue. The exhibition stand is, after all, little more than an introductionto the machine exhibited. To form an accurate judgment of the qualities of the machine, we must have accepted testsand, moreover, see the particular constructor's factory and methods. To judge British aircraft, therefore, and to realise theunqualified superiority of British design and workmanship, one must cross the Channel. I am convinced that anyonevisiting Great Britain and inspecting the British Aircraft Industry, can have little doubt that British aircraft formsthe vanguard of aeronautical research to-day. It is in support of this conviction that I write the following impres-sions of one of the factories I visited, the Gloster Aircraft Company's factory at Cheltenham.1 When preoccupied with arranging a programme for mystay, the name " Gloster " came irresistibly to my mind in the first place. It seemed to conjure up in my brain visionsof swift birdlike forms, and graceful lines suggestive of good design and sound construction. I could scarcely go wrongif I selected " Gloster " for my first visit. The Gloster Works are conveniently situated next to themain railway line which runs from Bristol northwards through Cheltenham to Birmingham, Manchester and the North, abranch line running into the factory itself. The buildings have obviously been designed for efficient and rapid produc-tion. I was informed that the factory turned out nearly 100 machines per month during 1917-1918, when greatdemands were made upon them. The efficient administration and the order and system prevailing throughout the worksimpressed me. It takes a full day to get round the 12 acres of shops whichcomprise the factory. My tour began with the timber section, a series of extensive buildings literally humming withwork. Here I was able to verify the Gloster reputation for good workmanship, which is undoubtedly of a high standard.I visited shop after shop in the whole process of aircraft manufacture; the very up-to-date woodworking mill,woodwork finishing section, propeller shop, polishing shop, all with their excellent inspection and selection organisations ;then on to the foundry and the extensive sheet-metal shops. Here I watched the Gloster petrol tanks in the making.Almost all Gloster types have the petrol tanks neatly recessed into the upper wings and secured in a very simple way by fourbolts only. These tanks can be taken out and replaced in the short space of less than half an hour, a considerable advantageover tank installation in the fuselage which often requires hours for replacement. The Gloster arrangement, moreover,has the additional advantage of providing a simple gravity feed to the engine, which eliminates all pump troubles. Amongst the numerous detail parts which I examined inthe engineering shops was the Gloster patent oleo under- carriage, which is one of the neatest and best on the market.Here, too, it was obvious that metal construction plays an important part in Gloster progress. This Company is con-centrating its efforts as regards metal construction on the all-steel method, and most of their types are now beingproduced in steel as well as in wood. I had an opportunity of seeing several all-steel machines later in the erecting shops.The metal construction experimental section gave me an indication of the very thorough way in which this firm istackling the important problem of the application of metal to aircraft construction. In the erecting shops were, of course, the finished products—" Grebes," " Gamecocks," " Gorcocks," and others—an impressive array. I know of no other make of machines sopleasing to the eye as Gloster machines. Their graceful lines seem to me to court the air, and I have no doubt in myown mind that this has a good deal to do with their excep- tional performances. To look at the " Gamecock," with itsclean engine cowling, its machine guns nicely let into the sides of the fuselage, its tanks neatly recessed into the wings,after having seen in detail the excellent workmanship put into it, is to understand without difficulty how this fightingscout has won for itself a reputation as signal as that of the Gloster private aerodrome at Brockworth. 786/
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