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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0101.PDF
FEBRUARY 17, 1927 THE "EXPERIMENTAL LIGHT 'PLANE CLUB WE have received from Mr. Granger, of Nottingham, the following account of how a few enthusiasts have designed and built gliders and light aeroplanes, and the difficulties which they have encountered and, in part at any rate, overcome :— " I am writing to tell you of the existence of a new flying club, whichmay interest you because its objects go deeper than those of the clubs now in existence. 'Before describing it I will describe as briefly as possible its origin. "My brother and I have always been keen on flying, but have not had(he necessary funds to proceed in the orthodox manner. In 1921 I endeavoured "to build a glider, but failed through inexperience (we are stillusing up parts of it, When we need members of vast strength regardless of weight). In 1924 my brother (J. Granger) and I set about another glider,and with the aid of a few friends built a monoplane of 160 sq. ft., using old Avro wings and making the rest ourselves. We flew this machine onceonly not because it was no use but because we found it impossible to get people out on to a remote hillside at short notice (and early hours) to helpTO to handle it. My brother Was the lucky man, as he was the lightest of the party, and On this occasion spent some seconds in the air in control(to a certain extent) of a flying machine. Greatly encouraged, and winners of sundry small bets from scoffers, we set about the building of a glider solight that we two could handle it alone. Before going any further I will say that neither he nor I have ever touched the joystick of an aeroplane,though we have flown joyfully as passengers ; our employment is not remotely connected with engineering in any form, and we have no friendsin the aircraft world from whom to seek advice. I set about the designs of the new glider on Christmas Day, 1924. It is a biplane of 160 sq. ft.In designing it I was guided almost entirely by the study of drawings and photographs of the single-seated light 'planes published in flying papers,having no other source of information except from inquests on various scrap wings, etc., we had acquired. Working hard in our spare time, almostentirely at week-ends, we completed this machine as a glider, except for covering, by Christmas, 1925. The whole machine was cut out from theplank except for a few parts on our small circular saw and all fittings cut out of the sheet. " At this time we met an ex-R.A.F. pilot who seemed greatly impressedwith the work. The machine stood up well to tests of strength, and he proposed the installation of an engine. Owing to our experience of thedifficulties of handling and housing a glider we agreed. The pilot, Mr. C. Newham, immediately set about the making of a propeller and experimentswith'a two-stroke engine. The glider*fuselage being unsuitable, we scrapped it and set about a new one. A 400 c.c. A.B.C. engine was fitted and fivepropellers were made by Newham and tried. The machine was completed in July last year, after 18 months' work. We have named it the' Linnet." Without the wheels and axle weighs 207 lbs. The lightest HTO wheels we could get at a price within our funds weighed 35 lbs., whichwas unfortunate, but could not be avoided. We had made wooden ones, but'were anxious to have the shock-absorbing properties of pneumatictyres and so have not used these. We built the machine to teach ourselves to fly, but we decided not to handle it ourselves till it had made at leastimp decent flight in order to confute the scoffers many and various, so our pilot took it over. *' The Air Ministry, for a nominal fee, allowed us the use of HucknalAerodrome, some 10 miles from our place, and between the end of July and the middle of October we sallied out hopefully nearly every Sundaymorning before dawn. Unfortunately we were underpowered. When I designed the machine I had very little knowledge of wing sections, and theone employed is not efficient at low speed. Anyhow, the machine was taxied hundreds of miles round the 'drome ; we have towed it across behinda car and had successful glides, and have achieved a short night under power— about 100 yards 20 or 30 ft. up—without a single structural failure beyonda bent tail skid caused by my slamming the tail down on the ground once when taxyiug and nearly standing the 'bus on its head. " During the summer we were joined by a fourth—Mr. B. Howard—andhave now formed ourselves into a club. He is at present endeavouring to obtain another engine of greater power. We found that the A.B.C. whendeveloping 6 h.p. would not quite, but very nearly, maintain the machine in the air, and we are convinced that we should fly strongly with 10 h.p.If we could obtain some light wheels we could save the difference in weight. Unfortunately funds are somewhat nebulous, and second-hand motor-cycleengines are our only possible source of power. " In the meantime, while the engine is being sought for, the rest of theclub is not idle. The old monoplane glider has been fitted with a 7-9 h.p. engine and turned into a two-seater taxying machine for practice purposes,in order to give the biplane a better chance when we start to fly it. Early in the autumn we decided to build a new machine, and the choice lay betweenan ' Autogyro ' and Capt. Hill's ' Pterodactyl.' We built a 6-ft. model of the Autogyro and tested it with the draught from a propeller mountedwith its engine on a bench. It rotated more or less satisfactorily, but all the gas lights were blown out and everything in the room either fell downor stuck to the ceiling, and so this work was adjourned to the open air. We found that we should have to make prolonged experiments before startingon a full-scale machine, and so turned to the Pterodactyl. I have designed a modified machine on these lines, and one wing is already complete. Wehope to be able to fly it with the A.B.C., but shall try it as a glider towed behind a car first. If the A.B.C. is not powerful enough, the new 'bus willhave to share an engine With the ' Linnet ' for the time. " Now we have formed ourselves into a club under the title of the' Experimental Light 'Plane Club,' and our object is this—to build light aeroplanes and experiment with engines with a view to developing a machinethat can be built cheaply and flown safely. The sporting side of flying, except for the wealthy man, is completely ignored in this country InGermany they have summer camps in the Rhon valley where young men go to fly gliders from the crudest to the most perfect, and we should like tosee a similar movement here. " Secondly, we want to fly light aeroplanes and to join with us those whohave the enthusiasm to work on them and maintain them. We have friends who support this idea, among them a " B " licence pilot, who has a groundengineer's certificate, and has sufficient confidence in our machine to fly it when ready. If we can raise the funds we hope to be able to acquire oneof the existing light 'planes for this branch of the club. " Our membership untilwe can'get properly organised will be very limited.On the constructional side we need one or two more who are able and willing to work on the machines. We are also open to a few non-flying memberswho will help to handle the machines on the ground." AN AMATEUR-BUILT LIGHT .'PLANE : The " Linnet " has been designed and built by members of the " Experimental Light 'Plane Club'" ,of (Nottingham. 89
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