FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1937
1937 - 1979.PDF
JULY ig-, 1937J FLIGHT. 7i ATLANTIC AIDS : The control cabin of Clipper III. In the centre can be seen the Sperry panel, automatic pilot controls and r.p.m. indicators, while on either side are identical panels mounting the essential flying instruments. Below the centre panel can be seen the new Sperry Gyro-Mag compass and the engine con trols are mounted in the roof. Across the centre is the rubber band for aileron parking. (Flight photograph.) It is unfortunate, perhaps, that American and British "last words" should appear at alternate intervals; but, nevertheless, this Sikorsky has a general performance which is not far short of that of our newest boats. The fact that in the matter of '' struttage '' and lines it is appar ently far from clean should give designers more to think about. At a cursory glance this Sikorsky suggests that what the eye does not see—in the way of interference drag and so forth—is even more important than we imagined. Since the Pacific service is being operated with Martin boats we have been inclined to forget the Sikorsky and its good work. It was one of the 42s which actually made the original' Pacific survey. A 42B has been used for experimental flights over the South Pacific to New Zealand, and the type is in regular use on P.A.A.'s services. . Clipper HI is, like Caledonia and Cambria, a standard service boat with a bit of extra tankage. When we saw it in Southampton Water and looked at the chairs and bunks thereon, it was not difficult to imagine that someone at Miami had said, "Here, this ship is not wanted right now on its regular run; just put in some more fuel and fly it across to Ireland." In fact, of course, the tankage arrangements are special, though these extra tanks are so neatly and unobtrusively arranged on either side of the central gangway beneath the centre section that a casual visitor would not notice anything extraordinary. Other- Wise, the machine is unaltered, save for the addition of a chart table and sundry navigational oddments on the port side, aft of the kitchen and tank areas. The control cabin layout is quite the most beautifully symmetrical and tidy one that we have ever set eyes on. Controls and instruments are completely duplicated for the pilot and co-pilot—there are even two separate fore and aft trimming wheels. The centre instrument board is largely taken .up with a Sperry automatic pilot panel and the necessary controls and gauges. On either side of this are two entirely self-contained and identical panels with six essential flying instruments grouped and mounted for easy attention. The instruments are arranged in two rows of three, comprising, from left to right, a bowl-type compass and an A.S.I., a directional gyro (with lateral level) and a turn indicator, and a sensitive altimeter with a rate-of-climb indicator. In order that the lower part of the cabin shall be unencumbered, the throttles, mixture controls, and airscrew pitch levers are all suspended from the roof, but within very easy reach. Mounted below the centre panel, and on the left, in this particular machine is an instrument which we had not seen before—a Sperry Gyro-Mag compass. It has been in experimental use on American lines and on K.L.M. for some time, and is likely to go into production fairly soon. Its name is self-explanatory; it is a magnetically controlled directional gyro. In other words, it is a directional gyro which provides actual rather than pre-set bearings, and employs the advantages of each type of instrument. A magnetic compass remains, after all, the basis of all navi gation. On the port side, behind the captain's seat in a small alcove, is the engineer's department. Before him are all the not-immediately-essential engine instruments, includ ing a large temperature gauge which, by suitable switch operation, indicates the temperatures of such things as
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
