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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0505.PDF
FLIGHT, MAY 29, 1931 ANOTHER HEINKEL AT STOCKHOLM : This twin float cabin seaplane is of more typical Heinkelappearance than the amphibian illustrated on previous pages. (FLIGHT Photo.) usual Junkers practice, with the exception of the wingbracing already referred to. Duralumin is the chief struc- tural material, with a few steel fittings for highly-stressedparts. The torsional strength of the wing depends mainly upon the duralumin covering, which, it is claimed, canbe riddled with machine-gun bullets without the torsional strength being materially reduced. The pilot's cockpit of the K.47 is of normal layout, andhis armament consists of the usual two fixed machine guns, firing forward. The gunner's cockpit, however, isthe centre of interest in this machine, and is the key to the whole design. The fuselage is so shaped as to obstructthe view and field of fire as little as possible. To this end it is of narrow beam over the rear part, while the tail isset low, and the decking slopes down at a considerable angle. This has been done so as to enable the gunnerto lire downward at a slight angle (some 3 degrees) below the horizontal. The upward angle of the gun is 90 de-grees, so that the total elevation range is 93 degrees. Firing broadsides at the speeds attained by modern fightersis regarded by the designers as almost impossible in any case, and so no attempt to allow of this has been made.Instead, the lateral movement of the rear gun has been limited to 18 degrees on each side of the centre line ofthe machine, or a total bf 36 degrees. This amount of traverse is entirely unobstructed, because, instead of theusual centrally-placed rudder, the K.47 has two rudders, placed near the tips of the tailplane. In this position theyare outside the range of the gun, and there is thus no risk of the gunner shooting his rudders or fins away. The gun mounting is interesting, and is of a type knownin Sweden as a " gunglavett," a " gung " being a rocker I of a rocking-horse, for example), and " lavett " meaninga mounting. This " rocker-mounting " consists in effect of a beam supported near its centre on a pivot, and carry-ing at one end the machine gun and at the other the gunner's seat. Its object is to enable the gunner tooperate his gun even while the machine is making a very sharp turn, when otherwise centrifugal force would pre-yent him from moving about. Windage on the gun when it is swung outboard to the limits of its traverse iscounteracted by a spring device, the strength of which is f> pn portioned to the angle of the gun as to keep thetorce required to traverse approximately constant. *nc Runner's seat has a tall backrest, tall enough toreach to head level and enable the gunner to rest his , ad '"Tuly against it. A projection of the deck fairingthe cockpits acts as a wind-screen for the rear and relieves his head and neck of most of the'•ure. The whole arrangement of the rear cock-pit 'r ingenious, but the " rocker mounting " would:o be just a little complicated. lhe T-.47 wh-ch is fitted w.th a Bristo] .. jupiter " VII gunne is KM supercharged engine, has a length of 8.55 m. (28 ft. 1 in.).The wing span is 12.4 m. (40 ft. 8 in.) and the wing area 22.8 sq. m. (245.5 sq. ft.), the tare weight is 1,050 kg.(2,310 1b.) and the gross weight 1,635 kg. (3,600 lb.). When fitted with the Bristol " Jupiter " VII super-charged engine, the K.47 has a maximum speed at 3.500 m. (11,500 ft.) of 290 km./h. (180 m.p.h.). At5,000 m. (16,400 ft.) the speed is 280 km./h. (174 m.p.h.). The speed at ground level is 245 km./h. (152 m.p.h.). Thelanding speed is about 100 km./h. (62 m.p.h.). The climb to 3,000 m. (10,000 ft.) occupies 6 minutes, and the ser-vice ceiling of 8,500 m. (28,000 ft.) is reached in about 35 minutes. The tankage is sufficient for 2 hours at fullthrottle and 16,400 ft. altitude. Svenska Aero A.B. show a single-seater fighter " Jakt-falk " with " Jupiter " engine. This machine, first pro- duced in 1929, was originally designed for the ArmstrongSiddeley " Jaguar," with which the first machine was fitted. The example shown has been slightly altered, butis substantially the same as the original machine. We were never able, during our stay at the exhibition, to findanyone in charge on the stand, and so have not been able to collect data of the machine. As briefly recorded last week, the A.B. Svenska Jarn-vagsverkstaderna Aviation Department exhibit the first machine produced since the Swedish Railway Works ofLinkoping established an aviation department. The machine has a strong resemblance to such British machinesas the " Puss Moth " and the Desoutter monoplane. The machine was finished a few days before the opening of theStockholm Aero Show, and so has not been flown yet, nor are photographs of it available. It is a high-wing three-seater cabin monoplane of mixed construction, the fuselage being of welded-steel tube and the wing mainly of woodconstruction. The wings, braced by steel tube vees. are designed to fold as in British machines. The cabin isarranged with a single seat in front for the pilot, and a sofa seat for two behind him. There is a large luggagespace behind the sofa seat. The undercarriage has telescopic legs with oil-dampedsprings, and wheel brakes are fitted. Float and ski type undercarriages can be substituted. The engine is an in-verted Cirrus-Hermes. As a landplane the machine has a disposable load of 385 kg. (850 lb.), and as a seaplane thedisposable load is 300 kg. (660 lb.). It is estimated that the maximum speed will be about 175 km./h. (109 m.p.h.).while the estimated cruising speed is 150 km./h. (93 m.p.h.). At this speed the cruising range should be about800 km. (500 miles). For a first attempt the " Viking " is a very creditable effort, and we hope to publish fullerdetails when the machine has been flown and thoroughly tested. H 475
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