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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0456.PDF
FEBRUARY 2OTH, 1941. The float shop at Hayes in 1927. A great deal of research and development work was done, both on materials and hydrodynamic forms. why Fairey aircraft have always had an excellent reputation. The firm has never shirked the expense of under- taking research and experiment. Con- sequently, before any new type of air- craft has gone into production, the materials of which it is built have been thoroughly tested, and have been util- ised in the most advantageous way. And let it not be overlooked that the firm has pioneered a good many de- velopments. In a large way this was demonstrated when Mr. Fairey broke away completely from tradition and produced the Fox, which definitely set up new standards for aeroplanes of the biplane type. But in smaller ways also the Fairey Aviation Company has broken much new ground. Since the advent of the variable- camber gear, which was invented by Mr. C. R. Fairey and incorporated on the firm's aircraft in the early days of aviation, the company has always been keenly interested in improve- ments of this invention, and has con- centrated a great deal of effort on the development of high-lift devices and flap arrangements. Considerable re- search and development have been carried out and is still progressing. Reference has already been made to the trailing edge flap which was fitted to a Fairey machine as early in the series as the Hamble Baby. It is only fair to recall the fact in these days, when all modern aircraft have flaps of one sort or another. Nor has the Fairey Company stood still in the matter of flaps, and in recent years the firm has introduced the auxiliary wing type of flap, which can be set at a negative angle to act as an air brake, without change in lift and pitching moment. This type of flap was to have been incorporated on the F.C.i commercial aeroplane, which had to be " shelved " when war broke out. The Spool Joint Joints have ever been a problem in aircraft structures (there are so many of them), and as early as 1920, when the firm first began to use tubular metal construction for fuselages, a patented type of joint was introduced. This took the form of a steel " spool," which formed the anchorage for a large number of members meeting at one point. Apart from welding, the Fairey The Fairey spool joint provided a very neat assembly of many members meeting in one point. spool is probably the neatest type of joint ever used in tubular construction Mention of welding reminds us that this was one of the fields investigated by the Fairey Company. This form of construction had attained a good deal A REAL FAIREY STORY (Continued) of success on the Continent, notably in Holland, where the Fokker works made rather a speciality of it. The Fairey works made extensive tests on welded structures and welding methods in 1924-25. Following this work, the company investigated elec- tric welding of light alloys, and was one of the first in this country to pro- duce a spot-welded wing in light alloy. A small item, but one which in irs, way has done much to improve theW^ lines of aircraft, was the Fairey cowl- ing turnbutton. This made possible the attachment without unsightly and drag-producing excrescences of engine ' cowls to a skeleton framework, and at the same time the cowls could be removed in an instant to give access to the engine. More recently an im- proved type of fastener has been introduced. By 1924 the Fairey Aviation Com- pany turned its attention to armament equipment. What really gave rise to this was the introduction of the Fox. Its speed was so great that the type of gun mounting which had been used previously was no longer satisfactory, and a new type was developed by the company. This became known as the Fairey high-speed gun mounting, and was fitted on a number of Service aircraft. The close connection of the firm with seaplane production brought it into early contact with corrosion problems, • and much testing- and research work ; was undertaken at Hamble in order to discover the behaviour of different metals in a humid, salt-laden atmo- sphere, or in actual sea water > This • work began with steels, and when light alloy construction '' came in " it was extended to aluminium and other alloys. ,j> Realising the very close connectionW.- between aerodynamic efficiency and ^ engine-cooling drag, the Fairey com- Pre-power turret days. A Fairey high-speed gun mounting in action. Thk servedwell until modern times.
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