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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0110.PDF
FEBRUARY 16, 1928 THE SUPERMARINE S.5 : The steel centre portion of the starboard float, which forms the petrol tank. Standingon end is the water header tank, and on the right the oil tank. The small inset shows a section of the central bulkhead of the steel portion of the float. that although in normal straight flight the petrol pump could handle it, during a steep turn, with centrifugal force increasing the virtual distance, the engine would be momentarily starved, and so a small service tank was placed in the fairing behind the starboard cylinder block. Thus during a turn the engine takes its petrol from the small tank, the straight leg of the Schneider course giving the pump an opportunity of filling this tank from the float tank before the next turn was reached. The actual petrol system is diagrammatically illustrated by a sketch. The petrol capacity, by the way, is 55 gallons. Not only because of the high speed at which the Napier " Lion " racing engines were run in the Schneider Race, but also on account of the propeller gearing in the winning machine, which naturally called for efficient lubrication, bearing in mind that frictional losses in the gears must have amounted to a good many horse-power, the oil system of the S.5 required rather close attention, and the normal disposition was not regarded as being sufficient. Consequently, the oil coolers were arranged along the sides of the fuselage, where pre- sumably they would be in the slipstream and always getting a good supply of fresh cool air. Whether that position is the best possible is, perhaps, open to doubt, since it would THE SUPERMARINE S.5 : Three views of a float, in skeleton, with the petrol tank installed, and finished, except for the deck planking.
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