FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0354.PDF
FLIGHT, AUGUST 17, 1933 the Chairman of the Club, expressed a welcome to the guests ; in a very few words—he is not as fluent on occasions like these as he is during the ordinary course of .-a flying meeting—he said that the Club was very glad indeed to have their guests there that evening, and he asked Mr. Ivor McClure to reply for them. Mr. McClure 'is fluent, and he had much to say. We wish that we could, with words, paint a true conception of his forceful yet graceful delivery. He impressed on those present that ,Newcastle ought to develop the new aerodrome as soon as A NOVEL AIR DRIVE SYSTEM FOR TENDERS F( By EDWIN P. A. HEINZE kOR the servicing of flying boats and float seaplanes, easily-manoeuvrable motor boats, with as small draught as possible to enable them to come right up to the shore, are exceedingly useful. Boats with normal water-screw propulsion cannot in all cases meet the requirements, so, for instance, not on some African lakes with weeded shores. Propulsion by means of airscrews is being used here and there on African and American rivers, but it has grave drawbacks and is entirely unsuitable for aircraft tenders, as the open propeller is a source of danger to men and material. Ropes, overhanging branches, etc., can cause-damage to the propeller, the flying bits of which can injure people. A new propeller-drive system evolved in Germany is, therefore, of some interest, as it does away with the disadvantages of the normal propeller drive and is yet of great simplicity. The invention is patented in all countries and has already been thoroughly tried out. Several units are in constant service, although not as aircraft tenders. Plans for a number of boats to be used by a Government in Asia for patrolling rivers are being prepared, and it also looks as if the new drive system is going to play an important role in the upper reaches of American rivers. The invention merely consists of a horizontal propeller revolving inside a jet ring and driven by an air-cooled petrol engine underneath it. The air is drawn in from below and blown perpendicularly up through deflector blades. Above the propeller is arranged a series of parallel blades lying athwart the boat in a frame. These blades are interconnected and pivoted so they can be turned together by a single lever to any angle in relation to the propeller slipstream, so the latter is deflected by them. Thereby a pressure is exerted on the blades, which is communicated as propulsive force through their framework to the boat. By various angular settings of the blades, the speed of the boat can be regulated, and a great advantage of the system is that it provides ex ceedingly simple and instantly effective control, as one can change from full ahead to full reverse by just one pull of the lever controlling the deflector blades. When these stand upright, no propulsive force is generated, as then the propeller stream just passes upward between the blades into the atmosphere. A similar set of de flection blades can be fitted below the propeller—that is, on its suction side—and also coupled with the control lever. Not only fore-and-aft motion can be thus controlled, but also the steering by fitting one or several rudder surfaces above the top deflection blades in the longi tudinal direction of the boat. The lateral inclination of these rudders deflects the air current coming up through the deflection blades to the one or other side and causes the boat to swerve round. The boat can actually be S S 3 For Fast Touring Those who are desirous of obtaining an aeroplane which will get them about the country at high speed, but which will still enable them to land at a comparatively low speed, will be interested to hear of the latest pro duction of that well-known designer, Mr. B. B. Hender son. His " 302," when it first came out of the workshops of the Hendy Aircraft Co. at Shoreham-by-Sea, was ad mittedly the fastest of its type ; since that time others have been built which have reached the same performance, but, if Mr. Henderson's figures are substantiated when his new machine comes out. and they usually are, he will again be producing the fastest cabin aircraft in this country. His " 3308," as the new machine is called, will be a two- seater tandem cabin aeroplane, and will, we understand, possible, and made the same points about it as those to which we have already referred. McClure can, besides being forceful, also be very humorous, and we suggest that as an item for a flying meeting—one which might relieve the tedium of flying events—he ought to be induced to have a microphone debate with, say, Mr. Phillip Wills. On a subject like the abolition of landing fees on Government aerodromes for private owners they ought to be well worth hearing. We put the suggestion forward for what it is worth. made to turn on the spot, and the control lever for the rudder can be united with that for the deflection blades, forming a kind of joy-stick, the lateral movement of which controls steering, while the fore and aft move ment controls speed forward, stop and reverse. During no phase of manoeuvring need the engine controls be touched. A number of portable units have been constructed and are being used for propelling heavy utility craft, as, for instance, prams employed for weeding shallow water ways and lakes. A unit with a small 16-h.p. two-stroke engine supplies a propulsive force of 130 to 155 lb- aiw a 22-ft. boat equipped with it temporarily easily towed a 24-ton pram Another unit, with a 27-b.h.p. engine, supplies a propulsive force of 250 to 280 lb. The actual loss through the deflection of the propeller slipsteam lies between 5 and 10 per cent., and is therefore negligj0^ in consideration of the advantages offered by the system with its wholly-enclosed propeller, its low build an simple control. , t The patrol boat illustrated in the drawing has a draugni of 11J in. and is 25 it. long, with a beam of 8.2 «. It is to be fitted with a 60-h.p. air-cooled Krupp Ftr°f engine, which will drive a four-bladed propel)?: 7.38 ft. diameter and give a thrust of 500 to 550 lb. S S S . follow the same general lines as the " 302,"_ which it be remembered was a low-wing job. It will kave a -ej. tractable undercarriage, and, powered with the *Pj " Javelin " engine, is estimated to have a maximum sp ^ of 190 m.p.h. At ground level, with a landing sp1^ , 55 m.p.h. and a cruising speed of 165 m.p.h. Thei no ^ range will be 825 miles and the rate of climb 1,100 fi j The first of the type is already under construction, is being built to the order of Mr. Whitney Straight. «n exploits on the Brooklands track have brought nun the limelight. It is perhaps not so well known that ne flies. He finds that he needs something faster tha^endy machine he at present uses ; hence this new " 3308." The Aircraft, Exchange & Mart, 7, Park^ London, W.l, will be the sole agents for the new type- 824
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
