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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0881.PDF
AUGUST 23, 1934. FLIGHT. 8S3 THE ENGLAND-AUSTRALIA RACE " Comets " Nearly Ready : The Vance " Viking " : More About the "Winnie Mae" : Fokker Disapproves ONE hears that the three "Comets" which have beenentered for the race are nearly completed. The firstmachine should be flying during the first week in Sep- tember, with the others following close on its heels. While no more constructional particulars are available for publication at present, it may be said that some striking colour schemes may be expected. The pilot for the D.H. "Dragon" entered by Mr. Alan Butler has not yet been chosen. The Lockheed "Vega" nominated by Mr. H. S. Miller, which has been at Hanworth lately, has been flown over to the K.L.M. works in Holland for modifications to be made to the "Wasp" engine. It is expected that the machine will return in about a fortnight's time. Mr. Walter T. Varney, who has entered a Lockheed "Orion," is at present in England. The Vance "Viking" Probably the most unorthodox machine entered for the race is the Vance "Viking," or "flying wing." This machine is at present being "groomed" in Southern California by Lt. Murray B. Dilley, who is on leave from the U.S. Army Air Corps. Lt. Dilley obtained the machine and its manu- facturing rights from the estate of the late Claire Vance. It was entered in the Bendix Trophy Race in 1932, but was with- drawn owing to trouble with the petrol system. The machine, for which several startling claims were made, was never given a fair test before Vance's death. VANCE'VIKING" Pratt & Whitney "Wasp" Engine An American " Flying Wing." The appearance of the aircraft may be seen in the accom- panying illustrations. Fuel and cargo is carried within the wing itself. Outriggers, or booms, are bolted to the rear main spar of the centre section and carry the tail surfaces. Two tail planes are fitted, the lower being fixed and carrying the elevator and the upper being adjustable from the pilot s cock- pit. A chrome molybdenum tubing structure covered with sheet duralumin is used for the centre section, and the outer portions of the wings use woode-n box type spars, the covering being iin. plywood. . . . ,, According to a report in Aero Digest, the engine originally fitted was a supercharged Pratt and Whitney " Wasp with a blower ratio of 12 : 1 and a gear ratio of 6: 1. At 2,200 r.p.m. the maximum power is 660 h.p. A Hamilton Standard vari- able pitch airscrew is employed. Originally designed as a high- speed, high-altitude freight carrier, the machine is a single- seater. At present the petrol system connecting the fourteen wing tanks, capable of carrying about 1,000 gallons of fuel, is being checked, and all connections replaced. An automatic pilot is being installed. The theoretical ceiling is said to be 35,000ft., and the cruising speed at sea level 160 m.p.h. This latter figure will increase with altitude. Lt. Dilley intends to undertake a " round " non-stop flight between Los Angeles and New York, and to follow this up with an attempt on the long-distance record, and the solo endurance record. Keith Rider's Entry It is reported in Western Flying that Keith Rider is workingat Santa Monica on his MacRobertson entry, which will have a metal fuselage embodying the Douglas type of constructionand cantilever plywood-covered wings. A retractable under- carriage and Pratt and Whitney "Wasp Junior" engine willbe fitted. More "Winnie Mac" Details Mr. Carl Squier, vice-president and sales manager of theLockheed Aircraft Co., in writing of Wiley Post's Winnie Mae states that Post expects his " Wasp " engine to develop its fullrated 450 h.p. up to an estimated altitude of 30,000ft. As the air resistance at this height is but a fraction of that at sealevel. Post expects a top speed of at least 275 m.p.h. at heights of more than 25,000ft., and looks forward to satisfactorycruising performance at between 30,000 and 38,000ft. Mechanical losses constitute an indeterminate factor, which canbe revealed only by actual test. One of the superchargers mentioned in our article last weekis of conventional design with a blower gear ratio of 10:1, which compresses the air about one and a half times. Thereal innovation is the installation of a special Bendix-Eclipse supercharger with a 11 : 1 blower gear, which boosts the pres-sure about twice. Post should secure more than 4 Jb. manifold pressure at 50,000ft., providing the mechanical losses are nottoo great. The first and largest of the superchargers is mounted behind cylinder No. 1 (top), and is driven by a new set ofgears mounted in place of the old generator gears of the original " Wasp" C. An air intake 6fin. in diameter projects throughthe top of the N.A.C.A. cowling, and points directly forward. At the mouth of this intake is a shutter which controls theflow of air into the supercharger. From the first supercharger air is taken through two pipesto the front of the engine and down through two coolers in front of cylinders No. 3, 4, 7, and 8. Air is carried from thecoolers to the back of the engine and into the bottom of the carburetter and second supercharger. Despite the low tem-peratures at high altitudes, the air from the first supercharger is so heated during compression that cooling is necessary.The compression in the first supercharger raises the tempera- ture between 60 and 100 deg., making it necessary to cool the •air before it passes into the carburetter and second super- charger. If the first supercharger is not required the air isby-passed directly into the carburetter and second super- charger. Carburation and ignition systems are airtight, andwill be maintained under pressure. A special Smith con- trollable pitch airscrew with a pitch range of 12 to 40 deg. hasbeen installed. An airtight bakelite connection block in the helmet provides receptacles for plugging in the earphone leadsfrom the radio, the earphones being mounted on the inside of the helmet. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Apparently, when Sir Charles Kingsford Smith went to America to buy his "Altair," contingents of representatives from aircraft firms, reporters, and news-reel men awaited him on the quayside at Los Angeles. One member of this self- styled "reception committee" actually obtained permission from Washington to board Kingsford Smith's steamship with the quarantine officers. However, "Smithy" had apparently already arranged with the Lockheed Co. for the building of his machine. Actually, Kingsford Smith's "Altair" is a
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