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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1160.PDF
APRIL 20, 1939 FLIGHT. 8 The Short S.38 showed Farman influence, but differed in having a nacelle and a front elevator. The engine was a Gnome rotary. In this picture Oswald Short is in the pilot's seat and Eustace is the passenger. of the period but with many detail differences. By a process of development this '' box kite ' type of Short was refined and improved, until it was quite a strong flier. Characteristic features were the nacelle, which protected the pilot from draught, and the small front elevator. It is, perhaps, doubtful whether this elevator added much to the power of the rear elevator, but it formed a useful datum line for the pilot if it did nothing else. Frank McClean bought several versions of this particular type of machine, and had some of them fitted with floats. On one he flew under Tower Bridge, and another he took to Egypt, where he did a lot of flying above the Nile. Horace Short was ever a great believer in engine power. At a time when most other designers were rather frightened of very powerful engines he was looking around for all the power he could get, realising that in a good power reserve lay the greatest safety. The present Editor of Flight remembers discussing this question with him in 1911 or 19*2, and the very convincing arguments Horace used in making out his case for power and still more power. "There is," he said, "no limit to what an aeroplane can do if you give it enough power." At that time he had found one solution of the problem, although many years were to elapse before the real solution was found. First Twin-engined Aeroplane Briefly, Horace Short argued that if he could not get single power plants of the required output, he must use more than one engine. One machine, again built for Frank McClean, became known as the "tandem twin." It had two Gnome rotary engines, one driving a tractor and one a pusher airscrew. The pilot sat between the two. Yet another variation on the same theme was built in 1911 and became known as the "triple twin." These were almost certainly the first twin-engined aeroplanes in the world. In 1912 a monoplane with two 70 h.p. Gnome engines in tandem was built for the Navy. Its nickname (probably justified) was the "Double-dirty." By 1911 the Short brothers realised that in spite of its many advantages the box-kite type of biplane was not ideal, and particularly that it suffered from rather exces sive drag. A tractor design was put in hand for Cecil Grace, but was put in abeyance when he was lost in the Channel. Once more Frank McClean came to the rescue, and the 70 h.p. Short tractor biplane was completed in November of 1911. It was first produced as a landplane, but was later fitted with a single central float and out- The Short " Double Twin " of 1911 had two rotary engines, with the pilot placed between them. board wing floats and was flown successfully as a seaplane. The seaplane version was bought by the Admiralty, and may, perhaps, be said to have marked the beginning of Shorts as primarily a marine aircraft firm. With their experience in multi-engined aircraft it was natural that when Short brothers had ascertained the ad vantages of the fuselage type they should apply to it the twin-engined principle. The first machine of this type, produced in 1912, was the S.47. It was fitted with two 50 h.p. Gnome engines, one mounted in the nose and the other a short distance behind it. The front engine had direct drive, while the rear had chain drive to two tractor airscrews placed out on the wings. Towards the end of 1911 the Short S.41 was designed and was finished early in 1912. At first fitted with a wheel undercarriage, it afterwards had twin floats sub stituted, and in this form it did much good flying, piloted by Commander Samson. It was gradually developed and improved, and of the seven Short machines which carried out the raid on Cuxhaven on Christmas Day, 1914, three were improved S.41 types. As water-cooled engines of greater power than the 100 h.p. Gnome rotary of the proto type became available they were in stalled, with corresponding improve ment in performance. It was in 1912 that Short Brothers began to give proof of the ability of aircraft to operate from warships. In January of that year Commander Samson flew a Short pusher biplane off a staging erected on the deck of H.M.S. Africa. The machine was fitted with air bags so that it would float if it should be forced to alight on the water. The first take-off was successfully made while the vessel was at anchor in Sheerness harbour. Later the feat was repeated from a platform on the deck of The " Triple Twin " (upper picture) had two rotary engines and three airscrews. Search for better efficiency led to the first Short tractor biplane (70 h.p. Gnome rotary).
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