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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0131.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 20, 1933 INTERIOR VIEWS : These were taken before the machine was finished. On the left, the wireless compartment, looking forward. On the right, a view into the front gunner's compartment, taken before the nose cap was put on. Note the firing steps and the piano stool " seat. (FLIGHT Photos.) the interior of the fuselage is so arranged that members of the crew can walk from the retractable gun turret aft of the wings to the cockpit in the nose, communication between members of the crew is rendered much easier. The placing of the offensive armament is also different in the " Heyford." All the large bombs are carried in the centre section of the lower plane, where they are out ot the airstream and thus do not add to the drag, or at least only add to it to the extent that the centre section which houses them is rather thicker than the rest of the wings, I he resulting " cleanness " is reflected in a con siderably enhanced performance (the " Heyford " cruises at something like 115 m.p.h.), which is further helped by careful streamlining of the engine nacelles and by large " spats " over the wheels of the undercarriage. The two Rolls-Royce " Kestrel " engines are, as already mentioned, close under the upper wing. The petrol tanks are situated behind the engines and so shaped as to form a tail fairing for the engine housings. The high placing renders the engines somewhat inaccessible, but light ladders of tubular construction hook on to fittings on the top front spar and are strutted at their lower ends into " keyhole " plates on the lower leading edge. The ladders can be placed in position in a few seconds, and the sides of the engine housing fold down to form platforms on which the engineers can stand while working on the engines. The landing wheels (Palmer wheels with brakes) are, as mentioned in our first article, carried on forks, and are partly en closed in fairings. In the upper rear part of each wheel fairing is a small door which gives access to the Ki-gass starter, starter magneto switch, and fuel and oil points. The machine is fuelled by attaching the tube from the pump to the fuel point in the wheel fairing. Ordinary filler caps are also provided in the tanks, on the left side of each engine, between the exhaust pipe and the upper wing. On top of each wheel fairing are supports for the vertical and horizontal shafts of the hand turning gear. These are not, of course, permanently attached, but can be shipped and unshipped in a few moments, and carried from one engine to the other. The interior of the fuselage of the '' Hey ford " is reached via a small trap door in the floor, above the trailing edge of the lower centre section. On the vee struts which support the fuselage from the lower THE PILLAR BOX : This is raised, lowered and rotated by the gunner himself. (FLIGHT Photo.) 719 B
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