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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 2041.PDF
JULY 14. J938- FLIGHT. 49- MODELS Wakefield Selection : Scale- model Performance : Tail-less Record : Airflow Study By M. R. KNIGHT In the heading picture is seen Mr. S. R. Crow's flying scale-model Leopard Moth. Choosing the Wakefield Team OVER 200 modellists competed for a place in the team which is to represent Great Britain in the contest for the Wakefield Cup, to be flown at Guyancourt, Paris, on July 31. Mr. E. Chasteneuf, of the Blackheath Model Flying Club, secured first place, and the F. R. Barnard Cup, with an average of 247.483 sec. on three rise-off-ground flights. He flew an im proved version of the tapered shoulder-wing monoplane (with elliptical multi-stringer fuselage) with which he secured first place in last year's trials. He was also responsible for a flight of 8 min. 35 sec, the best effort of the day. With a somewhat similar machine, Mr. R. N. Bullock (Blackheath M.F.C.) obtained second place by averaging 231 sec. An earlier version came second in the 1937 contest proper. Third and fourth places went to Messrs. F. J. Almond and R. Smith, of the North Kent M.A.S., who averaged respec tively 190.6 sec. and 184 sec. with high-wing monoplanes having slightly backswept constant-chord wings and flat-sided fuselages. A constant-chord parasol with diamond-section fuselage, built by Mr. H. White (Luton D.M.A.C.), averaged 178.76 sec, and Mr. L. Stott (Halifax M.A.C.) scored 167.6 sec. with a shoulder-wing model having slightly tapered wings and elliptical multi-stringer fuselage. None, of these models employed a geared motor. Gala in a Gale THE sixth annual gala meeting held at Fairey's Great West Aerodrome on June rg might be described, in the words of a spectator, as the Northern Heights Club's gale day. Nevertheless, models, modellists and cars turned up in large numbers, and over 300 competitors participated in the nine contests which were successfully concluded. Only the contest for the Coronation Cup was postponed, the organisers not caring to ask owners of the "super-streamlined modern free- Mr. Howard Boys' successful tail-less model described on this page. The snapshot hardly does the machine justice. lance types" to risk them under such conditions. They in cluded a twin-motor low-wing with very hush-hush airscrew- drive by Mr. C. Rujjert Moore, and another twin-motor low- wing by Mr. H. E. White. The Flight Challenge Trophy for flying scale models with wings in the true scale position was won by Mr. S. R. Crow (Blackheath M.F.C.). His fine Leopard Moth holds the hand- launched and rise-off-ground type records of 61.5 and ro9.39 sec. The scale is iin. to ift., and the only variations from the prototype are a slightly larger airscrew and 10 per cent, in crease in tail area. A single skein of rubber is employed, and the total weight of the model is only 3J0Z. A photograph appears on this page. Second place went to Mr. R. T. S. Gillett (Park Model Aircraft League), who flew another fine Leopard Moth. The herculean organising efforts of Mr. C. A. Rippon and the Northern Heights Club were deserving of better weather. Tail-less Record THE tail-less record of 90 sec, established by Mr. F. B. Baggs in the dark ages of 1932 or 1933, has at last been broken. The figure was recently raised to 125.75 sec- by Mr. Howard Boys, of the Northants M.A.C., using a model with a lip-to-tip span of 5oin., a constant-chord of 5in., and a total weight of 5! oz. The machine has been flown as a pusher and as a tractor, the former arrangement being employed in estab lishing the record. There are 30 ribs in the wing, which is in two parts, and has an area of 240 sq. in. There is a slight dihedral angle, and a sweep-back of 36 deg. The section is Gottingen 436. The incidence decreases by 2 deg. in the first three-quarter span, and by a further 6 deg. at the tips. No separate controllers are fitted. A fin on the rear of the fuselage has since given place to wing-tip fins. The fuselage length is 28in. An air screw 15m. in diameter and pitch is turned by 2 oz. of rubber arranged in a single skein of eight strands. Observing the Airflow WITCH-DOCTORING" was the caustic term with which a scientifically minded enthusiast recently castigated the somewhat hit-or-miss design methods prevalent in model aeronautics. In defence, it may be pointed out, information on slow-speed aerodynamics was until recently almost entirely non-existent. Sundry modellists have now '' gone all wind- tunnel," while very great interest has been aroused by a machine for the visual demonstration of low-speed aero dynamics, which has been introduced into this country from Germany (where it is in use throughout the aeronautical schools) by Mr. H. York, of Model Aircraft Supplies, Ltd. By means of this apparatus the flow over discs, spheres, wing-piofiles, and bodies of various shapes can be experi mented with and clearly observed. The object selected is immersed in a special fluid, which is set in motion by a 220- volt screw-action turbine, and filtered into straight lines by honeycomb tubing before passing across a glass-fronted >anel lit by diffused light. Particles of oak-dust are used to enable the flow to be observed at various angles of incidence. There is a device for varying the rate of flow from 12 to 20 m.p.h. scale speed. A recent experiment indicated that a suitably shaped cabin will improve the airflow over the fuselage, while another idea is to use a sectional model of a particular flying-ground to ascertain the probable behaviour of air-currents. Model flying clubs are. invited to arrange pilgrimages to this shrine of model aerodynamics.
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