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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 1126.PDF
I* r1SS!S DECEMBER 6, 1928 In the construction of the wings standard stock sections are employed throughout, the main spars being of high tensile steel and the ribs of Duralumin. The sketches on p. 1033 show most of the typical details of the wing construction, such as main spars, ribs, leading and trailing edges, etc. The spars are of the standard Boulton and Paul type, with corrugated flanges and webs, with tubular and plate stiffeners. In nearly all types of built-up box spars of metal, the problem is not so much to produce a strong and cheap spar but to turn out one to which ribs and inter-plane strut fittings can be easily and neatly attached. The way in which the ribs are attached to the spars in the " Partridge " is illus- trated on p. 1033. Channel section pressings have projections which enter the rib flanges and are riveted to them, the pressings being slotted to locate the rib on the spar, and held in place by large tubular rivets which pass through the standard tubular stiffeners in the spar webs. The methods of attaching leading and trailing edges will be clear from the sketches, but it might be pointed out that in the case of the trailing edge use is made of small die castings riveted to the rib flanges. The ribs, it should be mentioned, are all of Duralumin, and are generally of the type shown, although certain special ribs are of slightly different construction. The inter-plane struts are made of Boulton and Paul standardised sections The Boulton and Paul " Partridge " : Sectional view of oleo- pneumatic undercarriage leg. in Duralumin. They con- sist of a main member made in two parts: a front portion of U-section and closed at the back by a transverse wall, which forms the load-carry-ing part of the strut and also the nose of the streamline section. To this main strut structure is attached a tail fairing of wood, which slides into the flanges provided at the rear of the main front member. The attachment to main spar joints is by a " T '-shaped fitting and one bolt, as shown in Fig. 2, on p" 1031. The type of joint used for connecting inter-plane struts, drag struts, wire bracing, etc., to main spars is shown in Fig. 1, on p. 1031. The joint consists of high-tensile steel channel plates riveted to the spar webs on each side, and of detachable high-tension steel side plates. With the exception of the side plates, all parts of the spar joints are made with standardised tools. The tail surfaces are, generally speaking, of similar con- struction to the wings. Undercarriage.—This is of standard type for single-seater fighters, i.e., a plain two-wheeled structure with cross axle and oleo-pneumatic front legs for absorbing the shock, the rear legs of the vee being radius rods. A diagrammatic sectional view of an undercarriage leg illustrates the general principle. The tail skid is of the tracking type, and has a shock absorbing leg making use of rubber blocks in compression. The skid is steerable by the rudder bar through cables and a spring box to absorb ground shocks. Engine Mounting and Cowling.—The engine mounting consists of a high-tensile steel ring plate connected to the longerons of the front frame of the fuselage by four solid drawn high tensile steel tubes, braced in the side bays by similar tubes and in the top plan bay by tie rods. The engine cowling, which blends into the ' streamline body shape. consists of a forward heavy ring or dummy exhaust ring, and a ring behind the cylinders connected by stiffened plates between each pair of cylinders. The cowling has been designed with a view to its easy and rapid removal, and is very robust. The dummy exhaust ring can be replaced by a real exhaust ring without modification to the remainder of the cowling. Petrol and Oil Systems.—The petrol tank is situated in the front frame of the fuselage, between engine and pilot. It consists of an outer shell with its top surface forming a removable lid, an internal tubular structure partly braced by tie rods and partly by the inner service tank which is built into the main tank." The inner tank serves the dual purpose of service tank and baffle, and is filled automatically through a re-entrant filler from the main tank. Inner and outer tanks are connected to a three-way cock so constructed that only one tank can feed the engine at one time. The internal structure, in addition to stiffening the tank, forms the greater part of the tank bearer and also braces the fuselage frame bay which contains it without transmitting the stresses to the tank shell. The connection between the tank shell and the internal structure ends consists of plugs screwed into the tube ends from outside, and using special cork washers. The oil tan.k is situated on the starboard side of the fuselage, and incorporates an oil cooler in its outer surface, which conforms to the shape of the body Oil is fed into the cooler through a valve so arranged that should the oil pressure rise above a certain amount, the oil is by-passed direct into the tank, the cooling being thus automatically controlled. Cockpit Arrangements The pilot's seat is of the " pan " type to accommodate the seat type of parachute. It is adjustably mounted ELLVATOR CABLES The Boulton and Paul " Partridge " : Perspective diagrammatic view of the controls. Inset, the adjustable pedal. 1032
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