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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 0404.PDF
The first machine h FLIGHT. February iglh, 1942. ENGLAND'S "FOURS produced the Ensign (A.W. XXVII) commercial monoplane. It was fitted with four Armstrong Siddeley Tiger engines of 800 h.p. each, and had a maximum speed of over 200 m.p.h. appeared early in 1937 anc* had a gross weight of slightly more than 20 tons. A Record-breaker Brief mention might be made here of the very daring scheme for getting a small, highly-loaded aircraft into the air by carrying it on the back of a large, lightly loaded machine. The Short-Mayo composite, which appeared in 1937, consisted of a lower component (the Maia) rather similar to the Empire flying boats, on the wing of which was mounted a small twin-float seaplane, the Mercury. The latter was a very clean machine, with four Napier Rapier, engines of 350 h.p. each, and had a cruising speed of about 190 m.p.h. The gross weight was 2i,ooolb., and the still-air range about 4,000 miles with a pay load of i.ooolb. There is no doubt that a landplane with retract able undercarriage would have done even better, but Imperial Airways required the machine to be a seaplane. Even as a seaplane the machine did remarkably well. Its laurels included a non-stop flight from Foynes, in Ireland, to Montreal, Canada, and a world's record flight from Dun- A model of the Short 14/38 high-altitude commercial mono plane. Work had to be dropped when war broke out. The machine was to have four Bristol Hercules engines. dee, Scotland, to Orange River, South Africa. The latter distance was 6,045 miles. On that occasion the machine did not, of course, carry any payload. In May of 1937 appeared a landplane of quite unusual interest, the De Havilland D.H.91. This was a very clean four-engined landplane powered by four De Havilland Gipsy-Twelve engines, each giving 530 h.p. for the take-off. The maximum speed was 225 m.p.h. at 8,750ft., at a gross weight of 29,5001b. A long-range mailplane version, weighed 32,5001b. gross and had a slightly lower speed, 222 m.p.h. The first machine of the class was named Alba tross, and the type was probably the cleanest landplane ever produced, certainly in the four-engined class. Mention of the Short Sunderland was made in the refer ence to the G-class commercial flying boats. The machine made its first appearance in the early part of 1938. It was fitted with four Bristol Pegasus engines which gave about 1,000 h.p. each for the take-off. The normal gross weight was 45,7001b., and the maximum over load gross weight 49,8701b. The maximum speed was 210 m.p.h. at 6,250ft. The type, with minor modifications as to engine series, is still in service and doing excellent work. Foreseeing that high-altitude flying might be the next step in commercial de velopment, the British Government placed orders, some time before the outbreak of war, with two British aircraft firms for landplanes with pressure cabins and fully supercharged engines. One order was en- The Fairey F.C.i (left) was to have been another high-altitude machine with pres sure cabin. The engines were to be Bristol Taurus of 1,000 h.p. each. The Saunders-Roe Saro 37 (below) was a flying scale model of a much larger boat. It had four 90 h.p. Pobjoy Niagara engines. The full-size boat was built but did not go into production. " Flight " photographs. ' v^t**
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