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Aviation History
1937
1937 - 1936.PDF
56 FLIGHT. JULY 8, 1937. harmonised controls—each being of the same weight and effici ency. The three controls of the Wicko are quite unlike one another, yet one would not care to have them altered. The machine can be flown indefinitely on the light and effective rudder (hands are more useful than feet when there are other jobs to be done), the unused ailerons are' on the heavy side but are fully effective right down to the stall, and the elevators are effective but not too light. Curiously enough, there is very little change of trim between the full and closed positions of the throttle, and cruising trim can be adjusted really accurately by throttle action. Approaches Up to any reasonable angle the ailerons need not t>e used in a turn and the machine takes up its own bank as soon as a little rudder is applied. Only in steeper turns is it necessary to apply a light pressure on the stick to hold the nose up. Although no form of air brake is fitted to the prototype, one is soon accustomed to the flat angle of approach, for the machine's sideslip is so virile and controllable that there should be no question of overshooting. Three approaches were made without previous experience of the machine and no difficulty was experienced in adjusting any one of them so that a landing could De made within fifty yards or so of the boun dary. The great thing is to get one's speed down to 60 m.p.h. in the early stages of the approach. A sideslip, whether steep or flat, can be held at 60 m.p.h. or less while using about half the rudder's range of movement, and the machine is almost uncannily stable during the process; there is no tendency for the machine to demand more and more rudder and aileron, or to "build up " in such a way that a change of bank is necessary. Landing is a very simple business. At the stall the Wicko appears to be without vice, though no doubt it would be possible to spin it with due provocation. The machine can be held up at an indicated 40 m.p.h. without dropping either its nose or a wing, though the sink is, of course, necessarily pronounced. When stalled with the engine on or off the nose drops below the horizon as soon as the stick is released and the machine automatically picks up its cruising or gliding angle if left to itself. Altogether, the stalling characteristics provide interesting possibilities in the way of approach technique, though it would hardly be safe to carry the sink much below 500ft. in anything but fairly calm conditions. It would not be useful to discuss the machine from the occupant's point of view, since the production machine will be considerably modified m detail, but even now the standards of view, silence and general comfort are reasonably good—and they improve with acquaintance. A Carburettor "Shadow Factory" IT is announced that H. M. Hobson (Aircraft and Motor) Components, Ltd., acting on behalf of the Air Ministry, have been entrusted with the equipment and management of the carburettor "shadow factory" at Woodstock Mill, Old ham, Lanes. Production of Hobson master control units, comprising Claudel-Hobson carburettor, Hobson induction pressure (boost) control, and Hobson-Penn automatic mixture control, is being started forthwith. SOME time ago we published details and a few impressions of a cabin monoplane which had been flying quite suc cessfully with a converted Ford Vee-Eight engine. Although the Ford-engined model still remains as an interesting possibility, the Wicko monoplane is now in serious production with the 90 h.p. Cirrus Minor engine, which gives it a useful performance coupled with a very reasonable degree of economy and full cabin comfort for two people and their luggage. The machine actually cruises at something rather better than 100 m.p.h. while using a matter of four and a quarter gallons of fuel in the hour. The Foster Wikner Aircraft Company, who are making the machine, have now settled down in their Southampton Airport quarters and the first production machine should be out within the next month or two. This will probably be fitted with a Cirrus Major engine and it seems, if rumour is to be believed, that it will fly in the King's Cup race next September. The prototype Wicko has a number of features which, in the light of experience, will be modified in the production model, and one's impressions must necessarily be confined to those of flying characteristics—which are interesting enough. THE WICKO CABIN MONOPLANE 90 h.p. Cirrus Minor Engine Span 31ft. (Sin. Length 23ft. Sin. Weight emptv "38 lb. Useful load..' 562 1b. Payload 220 1b. Maximum speed 120 m.p.h. Cruising speed 103 m.p.h. Landing speed ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 40 m.p.h. ' Cruising range ... . ... .. .. .450 miles. Price £650 Makers: Foster Wikner Aircraft Co., Ltd., Southampton Airport. The production machine, for instance, will be an entirely ply-covered structure, while the prototype has fabric-covered wings. Again, the cabin will be five inches wider, the roof window area will be increased, there will be two doors of ample width and an oil-damped undercarriage. The structure will be of a straightforward type, designed for easy production and maintenance, consisting of a " box "-type fuselage and two-spar strut-braced wing. Inspection doors are provided in the skin of the wing so that the control and attachment points may be reached without difficulty, and Mr. Wikner has evolved a simple method of building up the fuselage without the use of expensive jigs or of later readjustment. Both the sides and the upper and lower surfaces are jigged up complete with split longerons, and the four ready-made surfaces can be erected very simply, each split longeron becoming, in the prt>cess, a laminated whole. However, apart from the lack of the normal trailing-edge flaps which will be found on later models, the prototype may be taken as possessing exactly the same flying characteristics. The slight extra weight involved in the ply construction should be balanced in the matter of performance by the greater cleanliness of the design, and the flaps should both bring landing speed down and improve the take-off—which is already quite convincing. It is customary for pilots to demand what are known as
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