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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0006.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 2, 1931 direction to the vortices of theseeddies. The propeller blast will then become practically straight.By fitting the propellers behind the main wing, their blasts go straight out into the air withouttouching any part of the plane. This arrangement has not beenadopted in the present plane, as the makers did not consider theconnecting shaft problem between engine and propeller sufficiently cleared up, and they did not wantto enter into any new experiments. All these are advantages worth considering, and they make itintelligible why the German Aero- nautical Research Institute at-taches such importance to the new type of plane. It will be recollected that the first Focke-Wulf canard plane was completed in 1927 and that several successfulflights, in fact 14, were accom- plished with it, before, on Sept-ember 29 of that year, Herr Wulf, the associate of Hinrich Focke, crashed with the plane and losthis life. This accident, it must be pointed out, was discovered to be no result of any flaw in the" canard " principle, but was traced to a special kind of controlof the front wing, which has now been dropped, and to which refer-ence will be made later. The new Focke-Wulf " Ente " has a total length of 34 -5 ft.,and the lower surface of the fuselage is square with a slight curve in the longitudinal direction making the ends comeupwards. It is built up of welded steel tubes covered with fabric, and the main wing, which is of the peculiar Focke-Wulf type and has the ailerons in the normal position, is built up of wood, likewise fabric covered. It has a span of33 ft. and a lifting surface of 317-5 sq. ft. It lies on top of the fuselage and is secured there in a recess, its leading edge beingabout 12 ft. away from the rear end of the fuselage. Left and right of the latter, fitted immediately under the wing, areengine nacelles carrying at their forward end each one Siemens & Halske radial engine of 100 h.p. output. Behind the engines,inside the nacelles, are fireproof bulkheads, and again behind these are the upper ends and the rubber ring shock absorbersof the telescopic legs. The wheels beneath the main wing are supported on divided axles. The engine nacelles also carry "TAIL FIRST" : In this view of the Focke-Wulf "Ente" in flight can beseen the undercarriage, the outboard fins, and the very large fin and rudder. the oil tanks, whilst the fuel tanks are located in the wingnose, right and left of the fuselage. Immediately in front of the leading edge of the main wingbegins the three-place passenger cabin, entered by a door on the right side. In front of the passenger cabin the top ofthe fuselage sweeps down embracing at this point the pilot's open cockpit. In front the fuselage ends in a blunt point,above which it carries trestle struts, which support the front wing. The latter has a span of 16-4 ft. and a lifting surface of64-6 ft. It is trapezoidal, or almost triangular in shape, with a straight and long leading edge. The trailing edgesmeet at an obtuse angle, and their under surfaces are recessed for the elevators. These are compensated and supported bya number of brackets holding them so that there is a slot between them and the wing, which slot becomes narrowerwhen the elevators are depressed for climbing, and larger THE FOCKE-WULF " ENTE : Two views of the front plane. Note the slst arrangement of the elevator flaps.
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