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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 0909.PDF
MARCH 31, 1938. FLIGHT. 325 Students at the De Havilland Technical school are busy modifying their T.K.2 monoplane for this year's races. It is to have a Series II Gipsy Major ; the engine shown is a dummy. and improving generally of the T.K.2 for the King's Cup Race. In the place of the high-compression Major it will have a Series II Major. Technical School students have made a good deal of their own equipment, including the engine test-bed equipped with a Heenan and Froude dynamo meter and Amal flowmeter. A small chemical laboratory has been added, and for the physical sec- tion students have made an impact tester, a Brinell hardness-testim, machine and an Ericksen testing machine. They also have a micro- camera. Among the tools made by students are a draw-bench and a wheeling machine. On the engine side a bay is pro- vided for stripping and assembling, and sets cf components are built up and tested, then stripped, inspected and rebuilt in the normal way before being installed in the machine. The new engine-design section is likely to prove as successful as the aircraft section, which has now been operating for over six years. It is considered advisable for students, whether working at Stag Lane (engines and airscrews) or Hatfield (aircraft), to live near their work. Suitable approved accommoda- tion can be arranged in either case. An important aspect which is not overlooked is physical fitness, and one afternoon a week is free for games at the large De Havilland playing-fields near by. The demand for trained personnel assures plenty of openings in the aircraft world for students who have com- pleted their course and do not stay on at Hatfield or Stag Lane. D.H. Technical School students have found their way to posts all over the world. Recently the school has been taking first-year trade apprentices for short, intensive courses. A LEVIATHAN on FLOATS Projected Oceanic Seversky with 43,000/6. Pay- load : 120 Passen- gers : 16,000 h.p. W HAT America mightcall an "all-timehigh" in mammoth, seaplane design must "aairely be reached by the lay- -out of the Seversky Super- 'Clipper, intended to fulfill ;i ,'Pdii-Amorican specification lor ^trans-oceanic aircraft. In spite of its positively Wellsian con- --, ,. ception, the design seems to have progressed a considerable distance beyond the '' figment of an inventor's imagination " stage. • " The Super-Clipper is to carry a pay-load of- 43,0001b. (IQJ tons) and to have a range of over 5,000 miles at a minimum cruising speed of 250 m.p.h., the top speed being over 300 m.p.h. No gross weight is quoted. It is to accommodate 120 passengers, "with all the comforts of a luxury ocean liner," and will be handled-by a crew of sixteen. The luxuries, it appears, will include 'Staterooms, each with its own toilet facilities; a dining saloon to seat 50; an observation deck; and a cocktail lounge. The entire interior will -be "super- charged" so" that an operational height of 20,000ft. may be maintained ."without discomfort. As may! be'deduced from the. illustration of a model, the 250ft.-span*wing houses much of the passenger accommodation, the remainder being in the central nacelle and the twin fuse- lages or tail booms. The under portion of each fuselage, for about two-thirds of its length, consists of a large retractable float. The floats will be extended by hydraulic ram and piston mechanism, which will also act as a shock-absorber when land- ing or riding a rough sea. The wide track will ensure lateral stability. The Seversky Super-Clipper with floats retracted—a model Eight 2,000 h.p. (2,300 for take-off) liquid-cooled engines are' specified, giving a total of iG.ooo h.p., with 18,400 for take-off.'The two nose units and the central one aft will each consist of.two engines driving one airscrew, while the outboard ones will be single engines. The nacelles will, like the rest of the interior, be supercharged, and mechanics will have access to the engines in flight. Shot-welded stainless-steel construction will be used through- out. The fuel tanks Will hold 17,000 gallons. Finally, there is the solemn thought that the Seversky can be "adapted as a super-dreadnought of the air," when it will be able to carry ten 2,ooolb. bombs 12,000 miles at a speed of 300 m.p.h. Phew ! Marcus Langley Makes a Change RECENTLY Mr. Marcus La'ngley resigned from the post ofchief designer to the British Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd., to take up the position of technical manager of Flight Refuelling, Ltd., at Ford aerodrome. The latter firm, under the leadership of Sir Alan J. Cobham, has been carrying out research and development work on refuelling in the air..
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