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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0026.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 6, 1933 \ FUSELAGE DETAILS : Above, built-up longeron, metal skin and channel formers of the monocoque portion. On the right, joints in the single-bay portion in way of the wings. Several sleeve joints are shown. The transverse bracing is arranged to pro vide a doorway to the rear gunner's cockpit. Below, typical joints in the rear fuselage portion. CFLIGHT Sketches.) riveted to the skin and to the vertical formers. The deck and bottom of the monocoque are of a construction similar to that of the sides. Two half-bulkheads divide the monocoque into .three compartments. The bulkheads are composed of vertical channels from floor to roof, double walls attached to the side skin by L-section strips, and internal channel stiffeners. The front bulkhead, which forms the forward wall of the pilot's cockpit, has a two-fold door which, when closed, keeps the draught from the forward gunner's cockpit from entering the pilot's compartment. Aft of the monocoque is the single-bay fuselage portion which carries the wings. This has steel tubular longerons and diagonal struts in the side panels, while the top horizontal panel is braced by swaged rods and the floor panel by streamline wires. The rear fuselage main portion, which is really typical of the general construction, has steel tube longerons and struts, with tie rod cross bracing. The joints combine weld ing, bolting and riveting in a somewhat unusual manner. Welding is used solely as a means of locating the strut fittings on the longerons. Two flat plates have their edges welded to the longeron, or to a sleeve over the longeron, and between the free edges of these plates are inserted the strut ends, secured to the plates by tubular rivets. Extensive use is made of sleeve joints for struts and longerons. The ends of struts or longerons are inserted in the sleeve, at the other end of which may be another tube or a fitting. In either case the attachment is by thin studs through tube and sleeve, a large number of studs being used, radially disposed to clear each other. If a damaged strut or longeron is to be replaced, all that has to be done is to undo the nuts of these " spoke studs," when the sleeve can be slid along and the tube removed from the structure. The Wings Owing to the unusual arrangement of the fuselage, engines and bombs, the wing structure of the " Heyford " shows local variations in the type of structure used. The top centre section, upper and lower end portions, are, generally speaking, of one type, while the bottom centre section is of quite different construction owing to the need for accommodating the bomb load. Duralumin is the material used in the main wing spars and ribs. The spars are of built-up box section, as shown in our sketches. The ribs are of tubular construction, joints being made by flat plates and tubular rivets. The compression or drag struts are of a section similar to that of the spars, but of slightly smaller overall dimensions. In the bottom centre section the spars have bulb-section booms joined by a single thin flat web, reinforced by channel-section stiffeners on front and back. Both booms of the front spar, and the upper boom of the rear spar, are of heavy gauge, and are formed on the draw-bench. The bottom boom on the rear spar is of much lighter gauge, and has its free edges curved for stiffness. 668
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