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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0062.PDF
official capacity. The outcry against control and restrictions had some foundation for it but at the same the country would not tolerate all absence of control of aircraft, and the Air Ministry after all was the representative of the public. Private flying should be quite separated from commercial flying. He thought we had nothing to fear from isolation. We had the supremacy of the world in aircraft. Therefore independence could not harm us. Captain Lamplugh spoke on insurance. In this, we in JANUARY 27, 192'/ England were far more progressive than any other country.The insurance rates for aerial passengers and goods were the lowest in the world, which was a good sign. The Chairman, in passing a vote of thanks to Mr. Fairey,said that he had never seen a lecture taken up so thoroughly. Captain Barnard, of Imperial Airways, passed a vote ofthanks to Mr. Sopwith and congratulated him on the warlike spirit he had enthused into the discussion amongst so peacefula gathering. OIL COOLING THE first informal discussion of the Royal Aeronautical Society was held in the library of the Society at 7, Albemarle Street, on January 18, The Chairman, Col." The Master of Sempill, A.F.C., introduced the lecturer, Mr. A. H. R. Fedden, of the Bristol Aeroplane Co., designer of the " Jupiter," whose subject was " Oil Cooling." Mr. Fedden expressed the fear that his paper was not so complete as he had intended, owing to the interruptions of business, but for all that, for 15 mins. he dealt very thoroughly and interestingly with the general aspects of his subject. Oil cooling, he said, was necessary with the modern high-powered engines, but the difficulty was to cool the oil with the high temperatures developed. There were two methods of installation, the internal, which gave a rise in temperature, and the external, which gave a drop in temperature. He thought that the quantity of oil used through, the cooler had no effect on the temperature. It was the cooling area that was the important factor. There should be two thermometers, one for the return reading and the other for recording the high temperature of the engine and not the oil. Castrol oil was the best to use, and the feed at 50° to 60° was desirable. In a test when an engine ran for 150 hours, the oil temperature was 105 , and the bearings were quite sound. As regards the types most suitable for oil cooling, there a difficulty arose. It was really impossible to produce a standard cooler for, essentially, it would not be adaptable to all machines. Really to obtain the greatest efficiency, each type of aircraft should have its own designed cooler. The Bristol Company made three types. The drag in each was kept as low as possible. The first, for high-speed engines, weighed 3J lbs., the frontal area was 3-5 sq. ins. and the drop in temperature was 26 . The second type figures were, 5J- lbs., 7 sq. ins. and 39° temp. ; the third, 8J lbs., 17 sq. ins. and 45C temp. The Gnome-Rhone Company had an oil cooler with a 27° drop in temperature. Mr. Fedden mentioned that he had been trying to obtain an empirical formula for a cooler, but he could give no particulars then. He thought that progress in design generally would benefit greatly if considerable tests and experiments were made by the Air Ministry at Farnborough. Wind tunnel tests should be tried, to obtain the drag and efficiency ; and oils should be tested. As the situation was now, designers had very little data on results of coolers in use. Following Mr. Fedden's lecture, there was an interesting debate led by Dr. Thole, head of the Engine Research Branch, Anglo-Persian Oil Co., Mr. Pierson, of Vickers, Ltd., and Major Halford, designer of the " Cirrus," The question of positions of coolers, and various theories for obtaining quickest cooling were raised. It was suggested that installation on the leading edge gave a minimum drag, and Mr. Fedden agreed that results had been successful, but there again he said the difficulty arose of the position being unadaptable for a standardised cooler. The theory of another debater on the cooling was that turbulences in the oil flow gave greater cooling effects, rather than the increase of the tubes. Increas- ing the length of the tubes increased the temperature, whereas an increased oil flow speed lowered the temperature. The practice in oil coolers for other purposes than aircraft, of a twisted bar through the tube to break up the oil volume, was mentioned. A speaker thought there were no means of knowing instantly when the temperature of the oil was too high, as in the case of water cooling where the water boiled and made steam. Mr. Fedden, in replying to the questions, mentioned that cooling was not so efficient with pure mineral oil as with blended oil, but the former was used as the after running effects of the latter were not so satisfactory. He said that large quantities of oil through the cooler only became cooled in small amounts. On the matter of design, a cooler was required which combined greater cooling effect with a drop in drag. He had received particulars of an experiment carried out by Mr. North in a wind tunnel. The cooler was f lbs. drag at 100 ft. per sec. Col. Bristow had designed a cooler in which oil was blown in a fine film over a large area. Its defect was the complication of the design. The Chairman then called upon Mr. Handley Page to make comment on the subject, but Mr. Page pleasantly excused himself on the plea that he had not heard all the lecture, through his late arrival ; he would confine himself to calling for a vote of thanks to Mr. Fedden, which was heartily accorded. AN ITALIAN LIGHT 'PLANE : Two views of the C.F.2 two-seater designed and constructed by CostruzioniAeronautiche Italiane of Milan. The machine is fitted with an engine of 40 h.p., and it will be seen that it is of the side-by-side type. The wing span is 12-5 m. (41 ft.) and the wing area 14 sq. m. (151 sq. ft.). The loadedweight is 470 kg. (1,035 lbs.), and the maximum speed 125 km. per hour (78 m.p.h.). 50
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