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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0940.PDF
DECEMBER 15, 1927 THE BLACKBURN "IRIS II Three Rolls-Royce (Photographs IN the paper read before the ^-i.Ae.S. & I.Ae.E. recently, Major Rennie dealt with the problems of the long-range flying-boat, basing his calculations on a boat the character- istics of which may be taken to resemble fairly closely those of the Blackburn " Iris," of which Major Rennie is the designer. In the course of his paper Major Rennie defined seaworthiness in the following way :—" A boat is seaworthy if it remains so while on the water, and when in the air is airworthy, and is able to alight in a seaworthy condition and still be airworthy." Whatever may be one's opinion of this definition, few will dispute the fact that in the two " Iris " boats Major Rennie and the Blackburn company have pro- duced machines which for seaworthiness and clean running on the water must be considered to be among the world's best. In his paper, after thus defining seaworthiness, Major Rennie made the following remarks, which are significant- in connection with the three views of the " Iris II " published this week:—"While it is not .within the-province of this paper to discuss the design as affected by seaworthiness, as defined above, it may be said if due consideration is given to the type of vee bottom on the hull, the form of the fore body and the run of the chine from the main^tep to-the bows, a satisfactory degree of seaworthiness may,. be obtained, as experience with the Blackburn " Iris " has shown a remark- able advance in this respect , without sacrifice in other qualities." ^. The photographs on page 847 show quite clearly-the form of the bottom of the " Iris II," and it will be noted that not only is the chord of the vee inclined at a considerable angle, but the vee itself is made with a pronounced hollow, turning into a nearly horizontal direction at the chine. This is visible both in the upper photograph and in the inset front view. • <s> "281 M.P.H." UNDER the above title D. Napier and Son, Ltd., of Acton, have just issued an exceedingly striking leaflet. The contents include illustrations of the British Schneider machines—the Supermarine-Napier S.5 and the Gloster-Napier IV—the British team, and the Schneider Trophy itself, together with a " Condor " Engines on p. 847.) The lower photograph illustrates the remarkably clean run- ning on the water, the " blister " being kept quite low, well below the level of the lower plane and the airscrews, by the curved vee. At the same time the sharp lower portion of the vee probably enables the machine to alight with very little shock. The " Iris I " had a wooden hull which was, generally speaking, of similar form, although a comparison of the photographs published this week with those published in our issues of September 9 and October 7, 1926, will reveal certain differences. With the metal hull of the " Iris II," coupled with certain changes in the superstructure, notably the engine cowlings, a considerable advance was made. Among others may be mentioned the absence of water soakage in the metal hull, which in a machine of this size may amount to several hundred pounds. From the fact that the Blackburn " Iris II " has now been put on the Air Ministry's " Open List," it may, perhaps, be permissible to venture the guess that this machine may be followed by a third in the series. It is only by continued development, incorporating in each succeeding machine such improvements as have been suggested by experience with the preceding type, that progress can be made. As Major Rennie pointed out in his paper, model tests in the tank are a very useful guide if their results are translated in the light of practical experience with full-scale machines. A definite policy of development is what is chiefly required at the moment, and fortunately there are indications that those in authority are at long last beginning to realise the vital necessity of fostering the seaplane in the interests of British Empire aviation, both civilian and service. The Blackburn " Iris " family is one link in this development. number of extracts from the Press regarding the part played in this classic contest by the Napier engine. All are contained within neat grey art covers, on the front one of which is a beautiful colour design—reproduced, for the first time in this country, by a new process—depicting the Victorious Super- marine-Napier S-5 flying over the Lido. MELBOURNE AIR PORT : We show on the right an aerial view of the new air port of Australian Aerial Services,Ltd., at Melbourne, which were opened recently by His Excellency, the Governor-General. The new premises— which are also shown at close quarters on the left—adjoin a dead-end tributary of the river Yarra, which, it isintended, will be used as a seaplane base. The machines shown include a Sopwith "Wallaby " and A.N.E.C. biplane. 848
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