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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0055.PDF
January 26, 1928 Supplement to FLIGHT ENGINEERINGSECTION Edited by C. M. POULSEN January 26, 1928 CONTENTS FAGE 1 Metal Construction Development. By H. ]. Pollard, Wh.Ex., A.F.R.Ae.S The Problem of Aerodynamic Interference. By Stanley H. Evans, A.F.R.Ae.S., M.I.Ae.E. 4 Wheel Brakes and their Application to Aircraft. By G. H. Dowty, A.F.R.Ae.S., M.I.Ae.E ., 7 EDITORIAL VIEWS In presenting this number of THE AIRCRAFT ENGINEER, the Editor feels justified in expressing the view that it is. perhaps, the most interesting since the first issue, published two years ago. We have been extremely fortunate in securing for the present number three contributions of more than usual interest, each in its own way dealing with a subject that is very much to the fore at the present moment. Mr. Pollard, whose experience in metal construction will be well known to most of our readers, commences what we feel sure will prove not only an interesting, but also an instructive series of articles on the development of metal construction. It is probably safe to say that there is not now in the country a single firm which is not devoting its attention to this subject, and as we understand that Mr. Pollard intends to make his articles of direct assistance to those engaged upon such work, we feel greatly indebted not only to him, but to the Bristol Aeroplane Company for permitting him to give our readers the benefit of his experience. Mr. Dowty concludes his series of articles on brakes in this number, and here again he has not confined himself to " theori- sing," but has published a lot of valuable data which should be of great assistance to others. We thank him for the articles and hope that before long he will return to our pages with another subject, or perhaps with an elaboration of the present one. Mr. Evans, who has been associated both with the Handley Page and the Gloster companies, and previous to that with Mr. F. Koolhoven in Holland, commences a series of articles on another very topical subject, that of interference. We have now arrived at a stage where the old summation method of estimating drag is no longer in keeping with modern know- ledge of the subject, and where it is known that interference between adjacent parts causes undesirable eddies and increases the drag. Mr. Evans has been making rather a study of this problem, and in the articles to follow he will deal with the subject in more detail, the present instalment being more by way of an introduction. METAL CONSTRUCTION DEVELOPMENT. By H. J. POLLARD, Wh.Ex., A.F.R.Ae.S. [Metal construction of aircraft has now come to be accepted as the ultimate form, at any rate for service machines, and every aircraft firm in the country is turning its attention to forms of construction possessing some particular merit, such as efficiency, simplicity, cheapness, and so forth. It is, therefore with considerable pleasure that we are able to publish in the present issue the first of a series of articles on metal construction by Mr. H. J. Pollard, who is now engineer in charge of metal construction at the Filton works of the Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd. Mr. Pollard commenced his aeronautical career in Vickers Aeronautical Technical Office, where he worked for two years under Mr. Pierson. He then joined the design staff of Boulton & Paul of Norwich as stress calculator. Later, when the development of metal construction was undertaken by that firm, Mr. Pollard was put in charge of this work under Mr. J. D. North. After a few years with Boulton and Paul, Mr. Pollard joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company as engineer in charge of metal construction under Captain Barnwell, and in that capacity he has had wide experience in detail structure design and manufacture, ranging from the 32 h.p. all-metal " Brownie " monoplanes to monoplanes and biplanes of ten times the weight of the " Brownie." Mr. Pollard is thus well qualified to write on the subject of metal construction.—-ED.] IN reviewing the progress of the construction of aeroplanes entirely in metal it must be noted this comparatively new art has developed slowly. A few aircraft manufacturers have tackled the problem systematically, and those few have made much headway; of the two British aeroplane and building firms who first made a systematic attack on the problem, one firm has had one type of machine in production for a consider- able time and the other is about to build one machine in series. The difficulties of the art probably explain the apathy- shown by the majority of aircraft constructors to metal con- struction ; it is hoped that the knowledge that the pioneer experimenters are now reaping some of the reward of their endeavours will act as an incentive and cause others to give the subject serious thought. Consideration of some of the possible reasons for this atti- tude of indifference will throw light on some of the problems of light metal construction. Firstly, the manufacturer has had no outside incentive until recently to depart from the older methods of construction since the materials employed have not been considered as of 54a
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