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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 1265.PDF
MAY 5, 1938. FLIGHT g More Famous Designers on— COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT of the FUTUREImportance of Low Cost —in Purchase and Maintenance is stressed by Mr. Geo R. Volkert, F.R.Ae.S., Handley Page,Ltd. A NY attempt to forecast the design of commercial air- /\ craft of the near future must take into account those ^^* new conditions which have arisen in the past few • years as a result of the enormous output of military aircraft in so many countries. As soon as even a part of the vast production facilities which will shortly be avail- able for military aircraft is released for the construction of commercial types, the lessons learnt in the mass pro- duction of military designs are bound to have their effect. The large civil prototype has already become a highly costly production, and in view of the intense competition between the many elaborately equipped manufacturing plants, a purely private venture is going to be very much of a gamble. The problem is not going to be to design an efficient commercial type so much as to foster conditions such as will create a demand for a very much larger output of commercial machines than has hitherto been justified. With modern methods of construction, the useful life of an aircraft is no longer determined by structural deteriora- tion, but purely by obsolescence, and even to-day we have many notable examples of machines seven or eight years old which are still operating safely and economically. Quite a small number of aircraft suffice to carry the whole of our mails, so that we must rely upon passenger and freight carrying as the main purpose for civil types. To increase the demand, primary considerations must be cheapness and reliability. Cheapness both in first cost and in maintenance are essential, as well as economy in operation. For these reasons I do not look to a cruising speed exceeding 200 m.p.h. for normal services, or 250 m.p.h. for mail or "transcontinental" stratosphere work. Expenditure on larger aerodromes will enable smaller and more economical aircraft to do the same work, whilst the claims of the diesel engine will have to be carefully con- sidered. Power units will be completely self-contained, with cooling losses reduced and eventually entirely eliminated. The aircraft itself is likely to retain the classic low-wing formula for some years, but one looks to a great improve- ment in means for lateral control, and to an extended use Continuation of a Notable Feature of Last Week's Issue : Some Eminently Sound Prophesying of irreversible control mechanism. Further refinement will take place in the external form and finish, particularly of bodies and power unit, all the elements of which will comply with carefully generated aerodynamic shapes correctly related. As regards the size of future commercial aircraft, whilst very large types will be built, we must remember that the Queen Mary type " never really pays, and that we must rely upon machines of reasonable size which are comfort- able and which can economically operate a very frequent service—machines of the capacity- of the Empire boat, the H.P.42 or even the D.C.3. The great need is to effect such substantial reduction in manufacturing and operating cost that air travel may become the normal means of transport. We must first of all tap the highly lucrative passenger traffic, which is car- ried to-day by steamship, such as to Madeira or the West Indies during the winter months, as well as the entire winter sports and Riviera traffic. This change will not take place until it is cheaper as well as quicker to travel by air. Secondly, we must get the man-in-the-street to become travel-conscious as well as air-minded, to realise that he can easily include a visit to far-distant lands within his fortnight's annual holiday. When the proper demand is there, the right machines will be available. Small Size —advocated by Mr. J. Lloyd, of Armstrong Whitworth WE will begin by assuming that everything has beendone to reduce skin friction and interference dra-to their lowest possible values. For a given weight" the aircraft must be as srnall as possible, in order to reduce the wetted er surface to a mini- mum. This has the obvious advantage of reducing the drag and structure weight, enabling the aircraft to fly faster and carry more load. The wing sur- face can be reduced by using high wing loadings up to 45 lb. per sq. ft., at which loading the aircraft can comfort- ably take off, given sufficient horse- power. The limiting fac- tor is landing speed, and in normal cir- cumstances the land- ing is at the end of the intended journey, when most of the fuel is used. The wing loading would then be about 35 lb./sq. ft., which I do not consider excessive.
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