FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1936
1936 - 1704.PDF
JUNE 25, 1936. FLIGHT. 689 A PRE-DISPLAY DEMONSTRATION Vickers-Supermarine Firms Shozv Interesting New Types : Fast Fighters and Bombers Three Vickers-Supermarine Flying Boats in Formation : In the lead is the Walrus, on the right is the Stranraer, and on the left the Scapa. (Flight photograph.) NEVER in the history of British aviation has a group of two aircraft firms exhibited just before the R.A.F. Display such an imposing array of new air craft types in production or about to be put into production for the R.A.F. as that to which visitors to the Southampton aerodrome at Eastleigh were treated last Thursday, when the Vickers, Supermarine, Bristol and Rolls-Royce companies had invited some 200 distinguished guests to inspect a number of new Vickers and Supermarine types, fitted with Bristol and Rolls-Royce engines. The party travelled down to Eastleigh by special train, which was run right into the siding, so that the guests merely had to walk on to the aerodrome. Types on view at the aerodrome included the Walrus amphibian flying boat with Bristol Pegasus engine, the Wellesley long-range bomber, also with Pegasus engine, the new Vickers-Supermarine single-seater fighter with Rolls-Royce Merlin, and the new Vickers twin-engined medium bomber with two Pegasus engines. Flying proceedings opened with a fly-past of three Vickers-Supermarine flying boats, the formation being led by a Walrus, which had on one side of it a Scapa and on the other a Stranraer. The three boats were splendidly handled by their pilots, and during the afternoon each was demonstrated singly in very convincing fashion. The manoeuvrability of even the large boats was very impres sive. They are, of course, designed for reconnaissance and bombing, while the Walrus is a Fleet Spotter and Recon naissance type. The Pegasus engine drives a pusher air screw. The first of the landplanes to be demonstrated in flight was the Wellesley. This machine, it will be remembered, incorporates the Wallis type of " geodetic" construction, in which the main structure members run diagonally, and in opposite directions, around the surface of the fuselage and wings. Great strength for low weight and a clear space inside the structure are the features of this type of con struction. The Wellesley was flown past at high speed and at low, and the cleanness of the design was almost startling when the machine was seen "end-on." It looked rather like an overgrown glider. Also incorporating geodetic construction, the Vickers twin-engined bomber was demonstrated next. With two Bristol Pegasus engines and retractable undercarriage, this machine is very nearly as " clean," aerodynamically, as the Wellesley, and the manner in which the doped fabric has been attached to the geodetic members to form a smooth surface is something of a revelation. It is not permissible to publish details, but it is interesting to learn that the method adopted has resulted in the fabric being capable of withstanding loads of close on 1,000 lb. per sq. ft., which is greatly in excess of any pressures met with at speeds attained at the present time. The Vickers twin-engined bomber had been flown but twice before its appearance at Eastleigh, so the pilot very sensibly refrained from extreme manoeuvres, but the machine seemed to handle very well. The take-off was a little unusual in that the front wheels left the ground before the tail wheel, and when landing slowly with flaps down the tail wheel touched before the main wheels.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
