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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0378.PDF
FLIGHT, APRIL 19, 1934 FUSELAGE DETAILS : In these sketches our artist brings out very clearly the constructional details of the centralportion of the fuselage. On the right, the lever which raises and lowers the undercarriage. (FLIGHT Sketches.) will disappear. The flutter occurred at high speed only, and modern theory indicates that in nearly all cases a tendency to flutter can be cured by mass balances. Since January, 1930, when we were able to publish the first full description of the Comper " Swift," which at that time was fitted with the A.B.C. " Scorpion /7~ engine, a great deal of development has taken place. As our photographs show, subsequent development was the pro- duction of a "Swift " with a Pobjoy engine, then a " Swift " with a " Gipsy Major " engine, and more recently a low-wing high-performance monoplane called COMPER "STREAK" Special •« Gipsy Major " Engine, 146 h.p. at 2,400 r.p.m. DIMENSIONS Span of wing .. .... . . . . 23 Height overall Length overall Wheel track Mean chord Aspect ratio Incidence Dihedral Aerofoil section in.6 90 2 m(7,16) (1,75)(5,49) (1,57) AREAS Main plane with ailerons Ailerons, total Tail plane and elevators Fin Rudder , . „„ sq. ft. 80-0 9'9 150 2-9 33 WEIGHTS ; : : ''. ib. Tare weight ..; . • .. . ; 880 Pilot .. ., 170 Fuel 46 gall. (209,11 I) 354 Oil .. .. ,, V. 2 -5 gall. (11,361) 25 Gross weight . . . . .. . . . . . . 1,429 Maximum permissible weight . . . . . • 1,500 LOADINGS Wing loading Power loading 18-75 lb./sq. ft. (91,54 kg/m*) 9-73 lb./h.p. ( 5,76 kg I h.p. FUEL CONSUMPTION 11 -5 gall./hr. (52,27 l\h) at 2,400 r.p.m. PERFORMANCE No performance figures yet available. the "Mouse" (see FLIGHT for September 28, 1933). Fit. Lt. Comper, with his Technical Assistant, Mr. A. A. Fletcher, have by their experience with this latter machine, been able to produce the " Streak," and this machine is in effect a modified " Swift " fuselage put on to a scaled-down " Mouse " wing. The result is a very up-to-date high-performance machine, which may equally well be used for racing or for the fast transport of things like Press photographs. Points which will immediately be noticed, besides the general clean lines, are the retract- able undercarriage and the modification of the top decking of the fuselage behind the " Gipsy " engine, to new curved lines. As in the " Mouse," the wheels of the undercarriage are stowed slightly below the bottom of the wing when the undercarriage is re- tracted, forming an excellent safety device in the case of forced landings on soft or bad ground. The " Mouse " has already been landed with the wheels retracted with- out any damage whatsoever other than bending the airscrew tips, and even that may be avoided if the airscrew is so mounted that it stops in the horizontal position. Landing the machine like this, while it is true it may result in slight damage to the bottom of the fuselage, does remove any possibility gf the machine turning over and damaging the occupants, a matter of no small importance in the case of the " Streak," which has a wing loading as high as 18.75 lb./sq. ft. (91,54 kg./m2). Structurally the fuselage differs in its main essentials very little indeed from the " Swift." It consists of spruce longerons, rigidly braced by spruce struts in W form with three-ply gussets of ample size, and the whole is fabric covered. Modifica- tions have, of course, been made to the bottom longerons in the centre portion of the fuselage, where it is placed over the wing. The fairing over the rear part of the fuselage is of doped fabric over a light framework of spruce stringers. Between the fireproof bulkhead and the pilot's wind- screen a sheet aluminium cover over the main fuel tank forms the top front decking and continues an excellent line back from the engine fairing. The wing is made up as a complete unit with box-section plywood and spruce spars; an ingenious joint allows the webs to be continuous, although the centre portion of the spar is horizontal and the outer 5 18 5 3 8-75 (1,13) 5-8 to 1 l-5deg. 5 deg. R.A.F. 34. TO2 (7,43) (0,92) (1,39) (0,27) (0,31) kg(399,16) ( 77,11) (160,57) ( 11,34) (648,18) (680,39) 378
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