FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1941
1941 - 2419.PDF
OCTOBER I6TH, 1941. FLIGHT a- Eighth of the Series FRIEND or FOE ? Two Four - Engined Bombers With Single Tads IT is a curious reflection on the fluidstate of tail-unit design "that whilemany medium-sized machines are apparently deemed by their designers to require twin fins and rudders, some of the very biggest bombers yet pro- duced manage very nicely with single vertical surfaces. This is not peculiar to any particular nationality ; we can set the Hudson against the giant B-19 in America, the Dorniers 17 and 215 against the Kurier in Germany and the Hampden against the Stirling in Britain. This week the tails of the Stirling and the Kurier are taken as typical examples- of their type in the four- engined class. In the matter of arrangement, they both belong to the same style in that both tailplanes are of cantilever con- struction and approximately bisect the tail of the fuselage, and their rudders sit wholly above the fuselage. There, however, the similarity ends. A somewhat loose, but nevertheless apt way of describing the rear portions of a Stirling for the spotter's benefit is to describe it as having a Whitley fuselage with a Wellington fin and rudder; its tail plane, too, is distinctly "Wellington" in plan, being well tapered and of high aspect-ratio, while the gun turret in the rear extremity completes the superficial resemblance. There are not likely to be many occa- sions when it will be impossible to see the number of engines fitted, but if at any time this should be so, and the machine to be identified is at such a distance or in such an attitude that its size cannot be estimated with any- thing like certainty, then there is still sufficient difference between the ver- tical surfaces of a Stirling and a Wel- • FOCKE-WULF KURIER. Largesquare fin and rudder, moderately tapered tailplane with blunt tipscarrying elevator mass balances. Tailwheel visible when retracted.No rear turret. STIRLING I KURIER SHORT STIRLING. Highnn and rudder and high aspect - ratio tapered tail-plane very similar to Wellington, Rear turretand fully retractable tailwheel. lington to enable the spotter to tell which of these machines it is. The Wellington fin and rudder is more symmetrical and has a much sharper apex than that of the Stirling. The leading-edge of the latter's fin slopes much more than does the trail- ing-edge of its rudder, and the radius of its broader apex diminishes some- what abruptly where it joins the top of the trailing-edge ; the net result is to impart an impression that the ver- tical members of the tail-unit incline backwards. The tail of the Focke-Wulf Kurier is, of course, quite different from that of the Stirling and so affords a ready means of differentiating between these two opposing four-engined bombers. Its tailplane is of lower aspect-ratio and on its blunt, almost square-cut,- tips are mounted the mass-balance of the elevators. Having no rear turret in the tail of the fuselage, the latter terminates in a point and the large fin and rudder have such a broad, flat apex and taper so little that the aspect-ratio of these vertical surfaces is reduced almost to unity. Yet another point of difference is to be found in the arrangement of the re spective tail wheels ; that of the Stir ling retracts completely into the fuse lage, the aperture being then sealed by a pair of folding plates (like miniature bomb-doors) whereas that of the Kurier remains visible from beneath when in the retracted position. Next Week:—Halifax and Junkers Ju 90.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
