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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1228.PDF
496 FLIGHT MAY 13TH, 1943 Impression of a future flying wing trans- port of approximately 120ft. span. Four (or more) submerged turbine-compressor units are proposed, two driving counter- rotating airscrews, the outboard pair producing propulsive jets. Ducts for the respective airstreams are formed in the leading edge of the wing and the pro- pulsion nozzles in the trailing edge. TURBINES and the FLYING WING AIRCRAFT MAY BE REVOLUTIONISED BY APPLICATION OF THE GAS TURBINE : SOME POSSIBILITIES DISCUSSED By G. GEOFFREY SMITH, M.B.E. IN the summary of advantages of turbine-compressorcombinations for jet propulsion* it was mentioned thattheir convenient shape enabled the units to be com- pletely enclosed fin the fuselage or wholly submerged in the wings. The desire to eliminate the extended fuselage and tail has been the aim of designers for many years, new aircraft of such a character having been introduced from time to time since 1910, when Junkers patented the TragfLdchen (literally carrying surface), from which arises the designations "all wing" or "flying wing." In those days less was known about stability, the most critical factor in tailless design. Col. J. W. Dunne was one of the pioneers who realised the advantages and disadvantages of the tail- less type—not to be confused with the modern conception of a flying wing, that is a deep-section all-wing design which provides accommodation internally for all the motive units as well as the passengers, crew and cargo. He fore; saw that to ensure longitudinal stability it was necessary to sweep back the wings sharply so as to get the wing tip control surfaces (usually both elevators and ailerons) well aft of the centre of mass, thus giving them a reasonable " lever arm " to work upon His experiments were made in the period 1910-1912 with monoplanes vee-formed in plan and having downward swept wings tips. About 1921 Lippisch experimented with models of tail- *Flieht October 9U1, 1941. less aircraft and his work was assisted by Hermann K6hl. Together from 1928 they produced five tailless monoplanes named the Delta, the last two having dihedral wings, the tips of which were (like the English Dunne design) turned sharply downward to impiove stability. Lippisch designs employed a thin fabric-covered wing with a central engine and control cabin. 30 h.p. Bristol and Fafnir engines were used with tractor airscrews. In support of his origina! layout he said that against the originally accepted theo- retical conceptions, it is possible to achieve the necessary dynamic stability without any major difficulty. Early British Types Also during the years between the wars, Capt. Geoffrey Hill revived interest in the tailless type with his "Ptero- dactyls" which were demonstrated at British flying dis- plays. In them the sweep-back was rather less pronounced than in the Dunne, but still fairly considerable. Flying wings, by virtue of their reduced " wetted area " and freedom from protuberances, promise greatly in- creased efficiency, particularly if submerged power units are employed. With the rapid increase in the size 01 aircraft'being built and projected (100 tons all-up weight and wing spans of 200 feet are now common talk) a modern trend aiming to reduce aerodyuamic drag is completely to enclose the power units inside the wing. So desirable is this feature regarded by certain designers that horn"1''
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