FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0025.PDF
JANUARY 12, 1928 THE CENTRAL STATES " MONOCOUPE" An American Light 'Plane SOME little while back the Central States Aero Co., ofDavenport, Iowa, U.S.A., constructed a light monoplane, designed by Don Luscombe and Clayton Folkerts, of thatfirm. The performance of this first machine was so successful that the company at once put the " Monocoupe " (as it iscalled) into production, and the output at present is one a week. The " Monocoupe " is a high-wing monoplane—a typethat has become, quite fashionable now in the States—with enclosed cabin-fuselage, and fitted with a 75-h.p. Detroit" Air-Cat " 5-cyl., air-cooled, radial engine, and seating two side-by-side. It has a maximum speed of 102 m.p.h., anda stalling speed of 48 m.p.h. ; the cruising speed is 80 m.p.h. with a fuel capacity of 20 gals, it has a range of about 400miles. Its design load factors are 6 • 5 for high incidence ; 4-5 for cut having a slope of 1 in 12. The trailing edge is of ^-in.piano wire. The ribs are built up of £-in. basswood webs reinforced byspruce cap strips, large rectangular lightening holes being cut in the webs, and each rib, which is spaced 14 in., weighs1\ ozs. The compression ribs are similar, except that they have no lightening holes and are reinforced by rectangularcompression members glued and nailed to each side and centering at the drag bracing fittings ; the solid webs stiffenthe spars against twisting. Both front and rear bracing struts come together at thebottom of the fuselage, the cross member of the latter at this point consisting of a 1 in. by 0-049 steel tube, 32-5 in.long and having a margin of safety of 3-58 per cent, under the maximum compressive load and 4-46 per cent, underthe maximum tensile load induced by the struts. The Central States "Monocoupe": Three-quarter front view of a recent American light 'plane. It is fitted with a 75-h.p. Detroit " Air-Cut," 5-cyl., air-cooled, radial engine. low incidence ; 2-5 for inverted flight ; and 2 for nose-divecondition. In some places, owing to the small size of the machine, it was necessary to work with the minimum sizes,but in most main members, the strength is in excess of the required load conditions. For instance, the ribs have a marginof safety of 20 per cent. ; the fore and aft wing struts are 14 per cent, and 12 per cent, respectively over required loadfactors, while the weakest member of the fuselage is 13 per cent. over. The weight empty of the " Monocoupe " is650 lbs., and laden, 1,134 lbs. The wings, which have a Clark " Y " section, are in onepiece, 30 ft. span by 5 ft. chord (or an aspect ratio of six), and are externally braced from the fuselage by two pairs ofsteel V struts. They are of wood construction, fabric covered, the spars being of I-section selected spruce, the front sparbeing located at 15 per cent, of the chord, and the rear spar at 65 per cent. ; the spars are spliced at the centre by a vertical The brace-strut lower fitting is attached to the transversetube of the fuselage by a long strip weld to insure full use of the strut strength ; a central vertical " fin " prevents thefitting from bending under compressive loads. The fittings securing the struts to the spars are fastened by two -&- and two-&-in. nickel steel bolts, the strut bolts being $-in. of the same material. The single drag wire bracing is of the conven-tional type, No. 10 piano wire being used throughout. The wing is attached to the fuselage by four j^-in. nickelsteel bolts passing through single lugs extending from the spars and passing through a box fitting at the upper fuselagejoints. The ailerons, of rectangular plan form, are attached directlyto the rear wing spar by three pin hinges, both the spar and torque member of the aileron being reinforced at the hingepoints. The ailerons are comparatively small, having an area of \2\ per cent, of the main wing area. The Cen- tral States ''Mono- coupe": General Ar- rangement drawings. SPAM LENGTH WIN^AREA 3Or O" 19* 9 CENTRAL STATES " MONOCOUPE" 75 HP DETROIT"A|R- CAT" 25
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
