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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0075.PDF
JANUARY 8TH, 1942 FLIGHT Twentieth of the Second Series FRIEND or FOE? A British and Italian Contrast : Miles Master II and Fiat G.50 The Miles Master II differs from its predecessor by hav ing a Bristol radial in place of the vee Rolls-Royce en gine. The disappearance of the radiator has made a big difference in the outline. THE Miles Master II, which is a standard advanced trainer for R.A.F. fighter pilots, is, in its general appearance, not unlike the Fiat G.50, which is one of the standard fighters of the Regia Aeronautica. The resemblance, such as it is, lies chiefly in their radial engines and their cranked wings, but there could hardly be any chance of confusing their re spective tail assemblies, and on this the spotter will mainly depend for identification. In the first place, the vertical sur faces belong to two distinct types. Those of the Master adhere to the typically British principle in which the rudder is attached to both the fin and the extremity of the fuselage ; its lower edge lines up with the bottom line of the fuselage, and it projects well clear of the trailing-edge of the elevators. The rudder of the G.50, however, is attached solely to the fin and is thus set wholly above the fuselage tail, the pointed extremity of which projects slightly beyond its trailing-edge. This layout also finds considerable favour with American designers (especially on larger, multi-engined types), but it is, as a rule, only adopted by British designers when a single tail is com bined with a rear gun-turret; the Wel lington is a good example of this. There are also exceptions, of course, such as the Skua and Roc. So far as outline goes, the chief characteristic of the Master's fin and rudder is its low aspect ratio. There is a generous slope to both leading- and trailing-edges, and the rounded apex is distinctly broad, as will be seen by the accompanying illustrations. The tailplane of the Miles Master, however, has a fairly high aspect ratio. Its leading- and trailing-edges are both straight and parallel, and the tips are rounded with a varying radius that sharpens towards the front. The tail- plane is mounted level with the base of the fin and the elevators do not encroach upon the arc swept by the A standard Italian fighter, the Fiat G.50, is in service in Italy, Libya and on the southern Russian front. It also appeared over the English Channel for a very brief while. In this view the elliptical tailplane emphasised. rudder; nevertheless, the inner edges of the elevators are sloped off slightly. Turning now to the tail unit of the Italian machine, the vertical surfaces are of fairly high aspect ratio. There is a moderate slope to the straight leading-edge of the fin and, on the latest editions to go into service, the trailing-edge of the rudder is, to all intents and purposes, vertical. Some earlier editions of the G.50, however, show a slight inclination of the trailing- edge, though it is very doubtful if it is sufficient to be detected under normal spotting conditions. The apex of fin and rudder is evenly rounded and small compared with that of the Master. The tailplane is elliptical in plan and is well back so that the trailing-edge is faired into the pointed extremity of the fuselage at the roots. By virtue of the rudder design and the setting of the tailplane below the base-line of the vertical surfaces, there is no need to cut away the inner corners of the elevators, and so no "bite" appears in the centre of the tailplane's trailing- edge when seen in plan. Netft week: Ensign and Liberator.
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