FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1937
1937 - 0845.PDF
APRIL I, 1937- FLIGHT. 321 with a sliding door. The interior of the tail may De reached, ior purposes ot inspection, through the rearmost bulkhead. Apart from the normal fresh-air ventilators, which can be adjusted by- each passenger, an exhaust-heated ventilation system is under the control of the steward. Tins system is described elsewhere. In the European class of A.W.27 forty-two passengers are carried. Obviously it would not be possible to accommodate them all in the three main compartments, and in the case of this type the forward freight compart ment becomes a "cardroom," where four passengers are comfortably en sconced. In addition, there are twelve seats in the forward cabin and twelve and fourteen, respectively, in the two rear compartments. The cabin windows are of Perspex made up by the Triplex Company, the pilots' windows are of Splintex safety glass, and various inspection panels are covered with Rhodoid. Generally speaking, the instrument layout is similar to that in the Short boats—not unnaturally, since this lay out was the subject of a very great deal of thought and because the boat pilots may occasionally be expected to take over these landplanes at short notice. In the centre of the dashboard is the Sperry automatic pilot panel, while above this are the engine switches and a master switch controlling the under carriage and flap indicators; until this master switch is moved to the " on " position the engine switches them selves are inoperative and the captain, therefore, cannot possibly take off without first checking the positions of the flaps and undercarriage. Above the screen, in the centre, are the four engine starter and two windscreen wiper switches. On the left of the Sperry panel are all the essentia] navigational instruments, including the usual Sperry horizon and gyro, a sensi tive altimeter, a rate-of- climb indicator, and so forth. Beside the captain, on his left, are levers con trolling the oil relief valve (permitting a heavy circula tion of oil during the warm ing-up process) and the slow-running cut-outs for the four Tiger engines. Far ther aft on the same side are the fuel tap controls. The central throttle bank column carries, in addition to and alongside the four throttle levers, the v.p. air screw control on the left, and the mixture control on the right. Ahead of the gates, on either side of the column, there are two other levers ; that on the left con trols the valves for the undercarriage retraction pumps, and that on the right controls the flap- Literally " man's size," the Lock heed hydraulic undercarriage jacks, of which there are four, measure 54111. in their closed position and 84m. extended. The striking proportions of the A.W.27 are revealed in these scale drawings. operation valves. The pilot has merely to move one or other of the levers into its new position and the engine- driven pumps do the rest. On the face of this central column is a small lever which can be moved up, down, or sideways. This little affair controls the entire Dunlop pneumatic braking system. Movement in the fore- and-aft plane applies or releases the brakes, while sideways movement brings the differential operation into play for manoeuvring on the ground. On the left of the column and at the level of the brake control lever is the usual Sperry pilot cut-out lever. A useful feature which is not often to be seen on British transport machines is a direct-reading drift-sight, which is arranged on the floor of the cabin between the two pilots. Each pilot, of course, has his own compass. The Ensign type can not only be trimmed in the fore and aft and directional planes, but has tabs on each of the ailerons, so that any slight lateral trim differences may be cor rected while in flight. This aileron trimming wheel is mounted on the roof above the chief pilot's seat, while the elevator and rudder trimming wheels lie, one behind the other, on the right- hand side of his seat, so that they may be reached by either pilot. An inter esting comfort detail concerns the first officer's chair, which not only slides backwards and for wards, but also swivels in order to simplify movements in and about the cabin. Entrance is normally effected through a trap-door in the floor behind the "bridge," though there is, of course, a door leading to the front compartment. An emergency exit is provided. Behind the pilot's "plat form '' is the radio operator, who sits facing starboard, on which side are his Mar coni transmitters and receivers. In the case of the European type these will have the normal medium- wave tuning range, while the Empire class will, in addition, have short-wave equipment. Additionally, D/F. equipment is installed ; this may be used either for ob taining direct bearings or, with the loop in a fixed position, for "homing." An indicator lies in front of the captain, immediately below his more important navigational instruments. The loop is not of the re tractable type. On the port side of the operator's compartment is a small petrol motor, simi lar to that used in the Empire boat equipment, which is permanently coupled to a generator. Thus, in case of a long wait on the ground with, per haps, the radio and lighting in action, the main battery system may be replenished
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
