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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1708.PDF
JUNE I, 1939 ff® ®m 563 A NEW MULTI-GUN FIGHTER Dagger-engined Martin-Baker Demonstrated : Unique Structural Features. EASE of production is, perhaps, the chief recommenda tion of a new single-seater multi-gun fighter mono plane demonstrated by The Martin-Baker Aircraft Co., Ltd., of Higher Denham, at Heston last Friday. It is claimed that all parts can, if necessary, be fabricated in small workshops throughout the country and be sent to a central factory for final assembly. According to. Mr. J. Martin, chairman and chief designer, twenty machines a week could be turned out by a factory employing 2,000 people. The Martin-Baker monoplane is unique among British fighters in that its length is greater than its span, its wings measuring 34ft. and its fuselage 34ft. 6in. With the exception of the wing covering the machine is entirely of steel construction which, according to the designer, is an important point when there is such a big demand for duralumin. Quickly detachable panels are fitted round the fuselage, which is of tubular construction. The cockpit en closure is unique in that the main portion hinges back toward the starboard side, allowing not only easy entry and exit but access to the front and back of the instrument panel. Oil coolers are fitted in the undercarriage leg on the port side, and the cooling air for the Napier Dagger 24-cylinder, 1,000 h.p. engine is exhausted through a controlled outlet on the underside of the fuselage. Only external inspections were permitted at the demonstra tion, but one noted the masking plates over the elevator and rudder gaps and the jacking points on the underside of the wings to enable the machine to be raised should -it be necessary to change a tyre. Capt. V. H. Baker, who has done all the contractors' test flying on the machine, took it up to 10,000 ft. and put it into what appeared to be a vertical dive with engine off, reach ing at least 400 m.p.h. when the A.S.I, needle went "off the clock." Particularly impressive was the tightness of the turns due, no doubt, to the comparatively short span of the machine. Originally no fin was fitted, the machine depending for directional stability on the side area of the fuselage, but the tail is now more or less of orthodox design. " Flight " photograph The square-cut appearance of the new Martin-Baker multi- gun fighter is accentuated by the lines of the nose cowl over the Napier Dagger engine. There is an electrically operated "crash post " which is normally housed within the cockpit enclosure. " Flight " photograph Perhaps the most remarkable feature of Capt. Baker's demonstration was the tightness of his turns near the ground. " Flight " photograph*. The men behind it (left to right) : Capt. V. H. Baker, Mr. J. Martin and Mr. Francis Francis (Martin-Baker Aircraft) ; Sir Harold Snagge (chairman of Napiers), Maj. F. B. Halford (designer of the engine), Mr. A. E. Hagg and Mr. W. P. Savage, of Napiers.
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