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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 0342.PDF
170 FLIGHT. FEBRUARY 14, 193*5, when the limiting position has been reached the wheel is buried in a recess in the wing, leaving only the telescopic leg and radius rod exposed. Readers of Flight are familiar .with certain American military biplanes in which the wheels retract into the Euselage. The type of undercarriage used has been de veloped from the Grumman gear originally employed on amphibians. In the gear as originally patented a devia tion from a true parallelogram provides " toe-in " for the wheels. The shock-absorber strut has the hinge offset so that when under compression the eccentricity tends to keep the strut from buckling. For retraction, cables turn a sheave, or wheel, attached to the upper end of the shock-absorber member which turns inward, thereby " breaking " the strut. It is a curious fact that in this country, which is notoriously '' pro-biplane,'' we have not yet fitted a retrac tile undercarriage to a land plane of this type. ICE FORMATION in CARBURETTERS An Interesting Problem : A Summary of an R.Ae.S. Lecture by Mr. W. E. Clothier, M.Sc. TN England the formation of ice in carburetters has not, perhaps, received the amount of public attention it has in America. This would appear to he due to the fact that, in the United States, fuels of very high volatility are in more common use than over here, and this fact, coupled with the possibility of a higher general humidity, with low tempera tures of the atmosphere, seems more conducive to the forma tion of ice than do our own conditions. Troubles appear to occur most frequently when the humidity of the atmosphere is high and the intake-air temperature between plus 18 deg. C. and minus 10 deg. C. This is accord ing to the investigations of Mr. W. C. Clothier, M.Sc., of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, who read a paper on the subject before the Royal Aeronautical Society last Friday. Mr. Clothier's work at the R.A.E. led him to the conclu sion that the methods best calculated to overcome ice forma tion, with its consequences of a falling off in power and possible stopping of the engine," were three in number: first, the use of alcohol; second, heating the carburetter by means of a jacket; and third, heating of the intake air. The first method has the advantage that there is no loss of power due to intake heat and that there is no necessity for awkward heating jackets. Addition of alcohol to the fuel is, however, not without difficulties as it is liable to cause corro sion of tanks and fittings, and to separate from the fuel. Mr. Clothier's suggestion was the use of a small de-icing device which, by means of small tubes having unequal aper tures opening into the throttle barrel, causes unequal pressure to be created in a small valve chamber when ice starts to form; this opens a valve and admits alcohol from a separate tank. During the discussion Mr. Fedden, designer of Bristol engines, suggested that if the Air Ministry allowed the use of alcohol for this purpose they might be induced to allow it for increasing the power output for taking-off. To revert to the lecture, Mr. Clothier showed how heating the carburetter jacket can be achieved by the use of oil circula tion, electrical means or possibly a hot water system worked from the exhaust heat. The chief point about this method is the intricacy of the casting involved in designing a jacket and the difficulty in arranging for an adequate but vital supply of heat to the throttle butterfly itself. In a super charged engine heat might also have to be extended to the blower vanes and casing as well. If the temperature of the intake air—the third method ol preventing ice formation—can be raised 15 deg, C.and liquid water excluded from the intake, there is little probability ol ice formation. A rise of 25 deg. C. should cover even the saturated air condition. Heating the intake air may, how ever, in some engines cause a loss of power, and this will have to be prevented by providing a cold air intake for full throttl- work. A comparison of our own and the apparently much more severe American conditions is obtained from the fact that on the U.S. commercial air lines a temperature rise of 50 deg. C. is ordered; and Mr. H. P. Taylor, in the discussion, explained how, in the testing of Curtiss engines, lumps of ice had been known to break off the carburetter walls and to pass right through the engine and out of the exhaust! Jubilee Review of the R.A.F, The date now decided upon for the R.A.F. fly-past before His Majesty the King is Saturday, July 6, which, incidentally, is the anniversary of Their Majesties' wedding. Mildenhall and Duxford are likely venues. This will be the King's first review, on a large scale, of his youngest fighting Service. Melbourne Race in Retrospect The Duke and Duchess of York attended a lecture given by Mr. C. W. A. Scott at the Queen's Hall on February 7, wherein he described his preparation for, and experiences during, the England-Australia Air Race. The lecture was preceded by an interesting film showing various incidents of the race. Mr. Scott is a fluent speaker, and he held his audience while he told them about his anxieties before the start, how he and Mr. Tom Campbell Black found Kirkuk by luck, about 'heir rather terrifying crossing of the Bay of Bengal, their •anding at Darwin after a crossing on one engine, and their inal arrival ahead of all other competitors at Melbourne. Lord Wakefield, who presided, announced that Mr. Scott was giving half the proceeds of the lecture to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. Among the many distinguished guests present were Lord and Lady Londonderry, Lord and Lady Trenchard, the Rt. Hon. S. M. Bruce and Mrs. Bruce, Air Chief Marshal Sir Brooke-Popham, and Air Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding. " The Lighting of Airways and Aerodromes" A joint lecture meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Illuminating Society has been arranged for Tuesday, March 12, on " Recent Developments in the Lighting of Air ways and Aerodromes." The meeting will be held, at 6.30 p.m., in the Lecture Theatre of the Institution of Mech anical Engineers. Storey's Gate, St. James's Park, Westminster. A Pioneer Passes WITH the regrettable death of Mr. W. E. McArdle, of Bournemouth, which took place on Friday at the age of sixty, memories of some very interesting incidents of the early days of flying are recalled. McArdle was a true pioneer, contributing much towards the develop- ment of flying.. though well out of the limelight. The flving school, which with the financial help of Armstrong Drexel—a wealthy American enthusiast and amateur pito*- he formed in 1910 at Beaulieu, in the Me* Forest, was remark able in its complete ness and efficiency- it war, run on dif ferent lines from tne majority of schools ot that period, and was, in fact, much iwre like those in op W. E. McArdle, photographed at the time of his fame as a pioneer. tion manv yeafj later. Tfa«e «e workshops and ref1' shops, and of the seven Bleriots in use three were built ° the spot." One could also rent a shed for £50 per y^'^n, the free use of the excellent 500-acre flying groutid ! McA' flew about the country as if it was the usual method of tra - port, and frequently turned up at meetings in hi-s ^!fL0t complete with luggage. He learned to fly at the B school at Chalons, in 1909.
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