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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0355.PDF
FLIGHT, APRIL 15, 1982 WING CONSTRUCTION (Concluded from page 336.) Mr. Schofield (who is test pilot to the General Aircraft Company) said that perhaps he could most usefully deal with those questions which dealt with the experimental flights. With the fabric slacked by dope remover, he had dived the machine at 178 m.p.h. uncorrected airspeed. Probably the corrected speed would not be far short of 200 m.p.h. He did not think the tierods taken out had been selected by a personal enemy, but they were selected by a representative of another firm! Mr. Spencer (of the R.A.E.) said that they Lad carried out tests on a Junkers wing to determine what effect the corrugated wing covering had in stabilising the tubular spars inside it, and it was found that when the skin was removed, the spar booms supported a load not much more than one-half of that carried while the skin was in place. Fabric covering got old, and then contributed little to the torsional stiffness of a wing. Mr. Bramson said that several times that evening Mr. Stieger had been called bold and daring. He thought they all ought to know that any boldness that might be apparent was due to the extremely prudent manner in which Mr. Stieger had gone on step by step in developing his wing. Mr. Stieger said that he would prefer to answer most of the questions in writing, but he replied to a few. He did not agree with Mr. Duncanson in adopting the German system of 3£ deg. deflection maximum. Machines differed so much that the time was not ripe yet for laying down hard and fast rules. He pointed out that the single spar of the wing built for the Fokker weighed exactly the same as the front spar of the Fokker. The speed range over which the small machine was flown was approximately from 38 m.p.h. to 200 m.p.h. IN THE AIR IT looks as if the coming season is to be one devoted to record breaking. Few plans have yet been made public, but it is fairly certain that the rumours of the aircraft which the Detroit Aircraft Corp. pro pose to send over here are founded on firm fact. It is said that one of their first attempts will be to lower the Cape and Australian records and that for this purpose both an " Altaire " and a new open cockpit low-wing monoplane will be used. Before these, however, the Ford Co. are apparently- hoping to establish a Cape and back record on their three- Wasp-engined 5 AT.G-ABHF, which has been flying over here for some time, the extra fuel supply being obtained from two 126-gall. tanks in the fuselage, giving a capacity by which it is hoped to make 9-hr. flights. Anglo-African Airways will, we imagine, look to this flight to justify their plans for a service to the Cape via the West Coast route. Wednesday, April 20, is believed to be the starting date. In September, however, Mr. Valereaux Isherwood, son of Sir Joseph Isherwood, is planning to uphold British prestige and counteract this American invasion by flying to the Cape in three days solo. He will probably use an aircraft similar to that which has been entered by Lt. Com. E. W. B. Leake, R.N., for the King's Cup and which will be flown by Capt. E. W. Percival—not to be confused with the Mr. Percival who is flying Ford on the above record attempt. Several of these aircraft are understood to be under construction at the B.A.C. works at Maidstone, and through careful cleaning up their estimated perform ance is very considerably more than their prototype the Hendy 302. Inverted engines should account for some extra speed, as should redesigned undercarriages and de creased wing area. Mr. Isherwood will probably use an improved " Hermes IIB," while Lt. Com. Leake's machine may have the improved " Hermes " or " Gipsy III," according to which engine is ready for the race. The latter, it is rumoured, is to be installed in at least one of the " Fox " or " Puss Moths " in the King's Cup, so that race may be a try-out for the latest engines of both our premier air-cooled in-line light aircraft engine makers. Yet another forthcoming record attempt is announced and— MR. OSCAR GARDEN, known in South Africa as " the sundowner of the skies," from his habit of dropping in on his friends, from enormous distances, is preparing to break the record for the flight from South Africa to England on a " Spartan " aeroplane fitted with a Cirrus Hermes Mark II engine. He will travel via Cape Town, Cairo, along the northern coastline to Tunis, and thence to Mar seilles, Lyons, Paris and Croydon. A specially-built racing propeller is being sent out to him from England, and he is depending on the Vacuum Oil Company for his supplies of Pegasus aviation spirit and Mobiloil. Another Atlantic Flight is also planned and— COL. J. C. FITZMAURICE, a member of the crew of the Junkers monoplane, Bremen, on its Transatlantic flight in 1928, has obtained a machine in which he intends to fly from New York to Dublin, or possibly Croydon, with Bernt Balschen, who flew across the Atlantic with Rear- Admiral Byrd in 1927, during this summer, according to a letter from Col. Fitzmaurice to a friend in Ireland. He adds that he has communicated with the Free State Minister in Washington regarding the possibilities of the issue of a special air-mail stamp for the flight ; from in quiries made in Dublin, however, it is understood that the Irish Government are unlikely to issue such a stamp. This flight will apparently cause the abandonment of the joint flight of Col. Fitzmaurice and Capt. J. P. Saul, navigator of the Southern Cross on the Portmarnock-New York flight in 1930, which was arranged during the latter's visit to America last year. Capt. Saul is at present waiting for the return of Mr. J. A. Mollison in order to complete details of their proposed New York and back flight which was tentatively planned to start next month. A NEW FORD TYPE • The 14-A is of unusual design and equipped for carrying passengers by night as well as by dav The central engine is a Hispano-Suiza rated at 1,100 h.p., while the wing engines, of the same make, are of 715'h n each The wing engines are housed in the wing, while the central engine is placed in a streamline tower above the wing The wing span is 110 ft. and the area 1,600 sq. ft. It carries 38 passengers at an estimated cruising K' speed of 150 m.p.h. 331
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