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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0628.PDF
JULY 5, 1928 in the form of a Warren girder, the longerons and strutsbeing formed from fiat steel strip into circular sections with projecting flanges for external riveting. Outside the mainstructure are added light hoops and stringers which carry the fabric and bring the square section up to a rounded form.The undercarriage is a plain Vee type, but is unusual in that the telescopic (front) legs are attached not to the lowerlongerons as is usually done, but to the top longerons. The rear struts are attached at their upper ends to the spar ofthe bottom centre-section. The shock-absorbing medium is oil, and compression rubbers, the first 2\ in. of travelbeing taken on the oil only, the remaining 4 \ in. of travel on the rubbers contained in the top container. Like the fuselage the wings are of all-metal construction,with the exception of the fabric covering. They are of normal two-spar type, the spars being made from flat steelstrip, rolled and drawn to the final section, and the webs and flanges together forming a box-section whose separatemembers are joined by riveting. The drag bracing struts are circular-section steel tubes, and in the outer bays thesepass through both spars, extending aft beyond the rear spar to form supports for the hinges of the Bristol-Friseailerons. The wing ribs are high-tensile steel channels. The cowling of the engine has been well thought out, andthere are front and rear fairings to each cylinder which, with the aluminium " helmets " fitted over the valve gearof each cylinder, reduce the drag of the projecting cylinder heads to a minimum consistent with sufficient cooling. The main dimensions of the " Bristol " single-seater fighterare : Wing span, 33 ft. 10 in. (10 -32 m.) ; wing area, 307 -15 sq. ft. (28-55 m2.) ; length o.a., 24 ft. 10 in. (7-6 m.). Theweight, empty, is 1,990 lb. (905 kg.). Fuel and oil, 607 lb. (276 kg.) ; military load, 528 lb. (240 kg.). Total loadedweight, 3,125 lb. (1,421 kg.). Wing loading, 10 -17 lb./sq. ft. (49-8 kg./m.*). Very full performance figures will be foundin the specification on page 541. THE BRISTOL ENGINES The Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd., appears always to beunlucky in the allocation of stands. This year their engine stand, although adjoining the machine stand, is under thegallery where the light is very poor, and where consequently justice is scarcely done to the splendidly finished engines,which for sheer workmanship and finish ought to have been placed right in the middle of the Salon within sight of every-one. Nevertheless the reputation of the " Jupiter " is such THE GEARED BRISTOL " JUPITER VIII " : Three-quarter front and three-quarter rear views. The controls are of normal type as regards their action andgeneral disposition, but special provision has been made in the case of the foot bar for the rudder control for adjust-ment to suit various pilots. The seat has a neat adjustment for height, by means of which the pilot can raise and lowerhimself within fairly wide limits, according to whether he wishes to be well screened from the wind, such as for aprolonged flight, or to have an unobstructed view either for fighting or for landing, etc. The petrol system of the " Bristol " single-seater fighteris that which is now almost universal in Great Britain, i.e. with two tanks in the top plane, giving direct gravity feedto the engine. On each side is a tank, built into the wing, of 35 gallons capacity, and gauges are provided which canbe read from the cockpit. The oil tank is suspended from the lower longerons, just aft of the fireproof bulkhead, andis shaped to conform to the fairing lines. The tank incor- porates a neat oil-cooling device. The Bristol " Jupiter " engine is mounted on a rectangularplate of sheet steel with flanged-over edges. Steel channel pieces are riveted to the back of the engine plate in orderto reinforce the corners. The plate is anchored to the fuselage by four steel tubes, whose forward ends are riveted to thecorners of the engine plate, while the rear ends are bolted to the fuselage joints by tapered bolts. that large numbers of visitors make their way to the back toexamine in detail the four engines exhibited. These are : the " Jupiter VI A," the " Jupiter VII "the " Jupiter VIII,"and the " Titan." The series VI is, as is well known, the direct- drive engine, the letter A in this case indicating high com-pression. The series VII is the supercharged engine, i.e., fitted with a mechanically driven blower or " booster," whichprovides a certain degree of supercharging that enables the engine to give its full power at 12,000 ft. The series VIIIis the geared version, while the " Titan " is a five-cylinder radial utilising a large number of standard " Jupiter " parts.The " Jupiter VII " is included among the engine specifica- tions published elsewhere this week (see p. 566), and in thefollowing notes we will therefore refer mainly to the three other types. The Bristol engines will already be so wellknown, that a detailed description is not needed, even did our space permit of giving one. But a few refinements arefound on the exhibition engines which have not hitherto been in general service, and a reference to which may, there-fore, be of interest. The arrangement of the auxiliaries on the back of the engine has been altered in the series VI A.and " Titan " engines. The magnetos, instead of being placed at an angle diagonally, are placed, in the new arrangement,at right angles to the crankshaft, as are also the petrol pumps. In this way space has become available centrally for an 576
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