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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0435.PDF
STARCH 8TH, IQ45 A most interesting shot of the rockets and carriers being jettisoned from a Seafire,illustrating the way they fall clear and how the machine's clean surface is unimpaired by drag-making excrescences. < A very important factor in planning a rocket installation for an aircraft is positioning the rockets so that their efflux misses the tailplane, will not reflect from the deck or ground surface on to the tailplane and, with this, are so arranged that their lines of thrust pass as near as possible to the aircraft's centre of gravity in order to produce the smallest offset moment. The effect of shock-waves on the tail surfaces must also be considered, and this combination of circum- stance results in arranging the rockets so that in side elevation they are located at an incidence angle of perhaps 10 or 12 deg. and in plan their thrust lines form a vertex angle of, say, 30 deg. jn • \\ here the thrust in the inciC plane does not actu^Hy-pass thi the e.g., and it doeWso only.-*<Sn Seafire, then a pitching forqtf\is duced about the e.g., the magnitude of which is dependent upon the offset moment. In the case of the Barra- cuda the offset is iiin. below the e.g., and in the Swordfish it is 23m. below; however, the result of this is a ten- dency to lift the nose, which can be considered a bonus provided that the resultant change in trim is small. Swordfish employ only two rockets, each of which is located beneath the outboard ends of the lower plane centre section, and these provide ample thrust to lift the machine from the deck in such condition^ as give this wonderful old aircraft a new and very vigorous lease of life. The offset moment is about the samq._.ior the Swordfish as for the Barracuda, for although the offset on the Swordfish is double that on the Barracuda, the latter employs four rockets against the Swordfish's two. It is inevitable that by adding an CONSTRICTIONCLAMP FIRINC LEADPULL-AWAY PLUCS AND SOCKETS Starboard rocket mounting on Barracuda. When thejettison latch pin is withdrawn the frame pivots on the open-hook lower anchorage and in falling pulls thecross-head free from the socket unit and likewise the firing leeds from their sockets. (Below) Taking offfrom a carrier produces clouds of steam from the wetted d.'ck.
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