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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0683.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 5, 1934 smaller the " Gipsy Major " of the same general design,but having only 4 cylinders and a power output of 130 h p The former had only been got to the Display, so to speak!" by the skin of its teeth,"' arrti was not a specially finished show model, so visitors were able to see the excellence of thestandard finish. Apart from these engines, the stand was decorated with a large number of photographs, mostlytaken^ by FLIGHT, showing De Havilland aircraft poweredwith "Gipsy" engines of various sizes and mostly flying. The " Gipsy Major " was sectioned so that the engineeringconstruction and working could be seen. D. Napier & Sons, Ltd.—Napier's stand was mostdistinctive, all the engines shown being specially finished for the Display with green-painted crank-cases matchingthe green carpet of the stand. Plating and careful atten- tion to other details completed what was undoubtedly anextremely attractive display. There was naturally a great deal of interest shown in the new Halford " Dagger," whichwas briefly described in FLIGHT last week. This is a24-cylinder air-cooled engine built on the " H " principle, so that it has four banks of six cylinders, two of which areupright and two of which are inverted. Two crankshafts are utilised and geared to the airscrew hub. The ratedpower of the " Dagger" is 705 h.p. at 12,000 ft. It is a high-speed engine with 4,000 as the maximum r.p.m. Thedry weight is 1,280 lb. It was seen at the Display flying in a Hawker " Hart." The " Rapier II " is a 16-cylinderversion of the same engine giving 305 h.p. at 10,000 ft. The other engine on the stand was the " Javelin," a six-cylinder inverted engine giving 160 h.p. at sea level, and veri- similar in its general construction and operation to onebank of the well-tried Napier " Lion," except that it is air-cooled instead of being water-cooled. Apart from theseengines, there was an interesting display of component parts like cylinders, connecting rods, pistons, and so on Rolls Royce, Ltd.—This firm confined themselves toa single engine on a stand near the centre of the display hangar. It was a " Kestrel " VI, which is one of the latestversions of this 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine. The power output is 600 at 11,000 ft. The dry weight is 944 lb. Inthis form it differs somewhat from the previous " Kestrel " models and also from the " Goshawk " ; the former werewater-cooled and the latter is steam-cooled, but the " Kestrel VI " is cooled by a composite system employing both steamcondenser and a water radiator. " Kestrel " engines are fitted in a very large proportion of the high-speed aircraftnow in service with the Royal Air Force. The Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Co., Ltd.— Hung on the wall along the back of this stand was a wing ofthe " Segrave " light two-engined monoplane built with the Duncanson single spar. This spar, which has been dealtwith at length in FLIGHT, is of tubular section tapering to thewing tips, and having its central portion used as tankage for the fuel. One of the advantages of this form of single-sparconstruction is a considerable saving in weight. For example, substituting this wing for the twin-spar wooden wing whichwas formerly fitted to the " Segrave," has resulted in a decrease of structural weight of 42 per cent., and an increaseof pay load of 52 per cent. The wing is constructed entirely of metal, and is similar to that which will be used for a wholeseries of commercial aircraft which the Blackburn Co. are designing. A model of one of these types which will usetwo Napier " Rapier" engines was on show. Another model was of a projected six-engined civil flying boat. The British Thomson Houston Co.—Situated in a prominent position in the centre of the Display, a glass casecovered a range of B.T.H. aircraft magnetos suitable for 4, 7, 9, 12, and 14 cylinders. There were also two types ofthe B.T.H. single-stage air compressor. Magnetos of both the rotating armature and polar inductor types are manufac-tured. They have been used in a number of record flights and played their part in Schneider Trophy Contests. The Brooke Tool Manufacturing Co., Ltd.— This company showed not only a great variety of structuralaircraft fittings, but also tools like milling cutters, reamers, and twist drills of the types used for manufacturing purposes.A company like this, which specialises in machine work for aircraft construction naturally deals with such a large varietyof fittings that it would be impossible to display them all. In size alone they have dealt with articles ranging from largeoleo under-carriage legs at one end of the scale down to small eve bolts at the other. Brown Bros., Ltd.—It would be impossible in a smallspace to describe all the aircraft parts supplied by Brown Bros. Every kind of component is available from theirstock, and a very large assortment of these were shown on their stand. Bolts, nuts, fork joints, pins and such like,not only in mild or stainless steel, but also in duralumin and brass ; switches, cable fittings, thimbles, clamps, cleates,unions, tank fittings, fuel cocks, pipe couplings and so on, all come under the things listed by them. They do not evenfinish at metal units, as their stand also included examples Accles & Pollock, Ltd.—Steel tubing is the specialityof this pioneer firm, and on their stand were arranged examples of the many kinds of tube used in aircraft con-struction. There were tubes for spars, streamline tubes for axles and struts, special tapered axle tubes, and a largevariety of tubes of special section and tubes which had undergone various manipulations. In keeping with thedemand in modern aircraft construction, the majority of the tubes shown were of stainless steel. Edgar Allen & Co., Ltd.—Now that high-tension steels are so widely used for machined parts of aircraft, it is not surprising to find a company like Edgar Allen specialising in tools for working this kind of material. Their display consisted of a large variety of these. They also had on their stand a range of manganese-steel skid shoes for aeroplane tail skids, and a variety of permanent magnets for use in aeroplane wireless apparatus. Apart from the tools already mentioned, this company were displaying smaller, but' not less important tools, like files, reamers, saws, and so on. Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Ltd.— A wide range of fuselage joints of the kind used in the Armstrong-Whitworth aircraft factory for the construction of their aircraft were shown. There was also a series of specimens of seamed tubing, as well as specimens of riveting and of the special riveting tools used by the company. Photographs of the " Atalanta " and others of the company s aircraft formed a background to the stand. WITH SLEEVE VALVES : The Bristol " Perseus " engine in the Bristol " Bulldog IV." The exhaust collector ring is faired into the engine cowl. (FLIGHT Photo.) 685
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