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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1330.PDF
•h Twenty-third of the Series FLIGHT JUNE 12TH, 1941. FRIEND or FOE? Two Familiar British Trainers : Tiger Moth and Miles Magister D.H. Tiger Moth. Biplane, equal span, staggered, paralleledges, straight tips. In-line air-cooled engine, small spinner. Open tandem cockpits. Leading edge of tailplane curves backto small rounded tips, straight taper to trailing-edge with large " bite '' between elevators. Large curved fin and rudder.Fixed divided-axle undercarriage. HERE are two very familiar little ab initio trainerswhich have done (and continue to do) such admir-able service that they could not well be omitted in any series of articles dealing with current service types. Both the Tiger Moth—development of a ubiquitous globe- trotter—and the Magister, affectionately known as the " Maggie," were adopted by the R.A.F. for the simple and sufficient'reason that they had proved themselves to be excellent little aircraft in which to give elementary training. Constructionally they differ in that the Tiger has a fuselage of steel tubes with welded joints, and is fabric covered, whereas that of the Magister is of spruce and plywood. Wings of both machines are of spruce, those of the Tiger being fabric covered and those of the Magister plywood covered. Tail units are of wood and fabric in both cases. About the only difference in appearance between the Tiger Moth and its long line of ancestors is that the wings are backswept and staggered, the upper wings having been moved forward so that all the centre-section struts are anchored to the fuselage forward of the front cockpit and the inter-plane struts of the single-bay lay-out having an attractive rake. The same engine, the De Havilland Gipsy Major, is fitted to both machines and the shape of the nose is, not un- naturally, almost identi- cal. Being of the inverted type (4-cyl., air-cooled, in-line), the airscrew hub, complete with neat spin- ner, projects from the top of the nose, and when either machine is seen ap- proaching head-on, the oblong cooling aperture in the cowling will be seen below the spinner and off- set on the port side. A short exhaust pipe pro- trudes immediately be- neath the nose. Seen in plan, the wings TIGER MOTH Miles Magister. Low-wing, slight taper to both edges,rounded tips with larger radius from trailing-edge. Large fillets at roots, dihedral from centre-section. In-line air-cooled engine, small spinner. Open tandem cockpits. Rectangular tailplane. Tall tapered fin and rudder withsmall round apex. Fixed undercarriage legs ; spats. of the Tiger, which are equal in span and chord, have parallel edges and straight tips, the corners of which are slightly rounded. The fuselage is particularly narrow for its length, a characteristic which is further emphasised because, being a biplane, the span only exceeds the length by some 5ft. to provide a total wing area of 239 sq. ft., compared with the 176 sq. ft. of the Maggie for a span greater by 4ft. 6in. The tailplane of the Tiger is a par- ticularly graceful shape. Its leading-edge makes a uniform curve back to small rounded tips, the elevators having a straight taper and a generous '' bite '' for rudder clear- ance. Fin and rudder are large, with a slight curve to the sloping leading-edge and a well rounded apex and trail- ing-edge. The fixed undercarriage is of the divided axle type. On the Magister, fixed undercarriage legs, with wheel spats, are attached at the extremities of the flat, parallel edged centre-section and the outer wing panels, which have a moderate dihedral, taper slightly on both edges, that on the trailing-edgc being the more obvious. The tips are nicely rounded, the curve making a greater radius with the trailing edge -: than with the leading- edge. Generous fillets at the trailing-edge of the wing roots tend to give the fuselage a short appear- ance, especially as the wings are set rather well back from the nose, and this impression is further increased, when the machine is seen in plan, by the rectangular shape of the low aspect-ratio tailplane. Fin and rudder are rather tall and have straight tapered edges and a small, rounded apex. A hood for blind flying in- struction will be seen fitted to the aft cockpit. Next week: The Boston and the Flying Fortress. MILES MAGISTER
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