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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0760.PDF
4*4 FLIGHT APRIL igTH, 1945 FA I REY FIREFLY ATTACHMENT POINTS Flap, catapult-spool retraction, throttle, engine r.p.m., deck hook, undercarriage and trimming controls are all on the left- hand side of the cockpit. Engine-priming and starting., hood control, seat adjustment, harness and head-rest adjustment, and emergency hydraulic hand-pump are all on the right. The instrument layout is similarly grouped, that is, with the r.p.m. indicator (which is of the two-needle type), boost indicator, ignition switches, brake power supply indicator, and under- carriage position indicator placed to the left of the central blind- flying panel. Also on the left of the instrument panel is the fuel selector with the appropriate tank gauges alongside. Faireys must be complimented on this; it is of great importance to the pilot to have the whole fuel system flow selection at one control and this placed in front of him on the instrument panel. To the right of the blind-flying panel are grouped the wind- screen de-icing control, engine starter and magazine control, radiator temperature gauge, Kigass injector, oil pressure and temperature gauges, oxygen supply gauges and control, and the air temperature gauge. As is current practice the instru- ments are illuminated by ultra-violet light which vivifies the phosphorescent paint and affords no glare to the pilot's eyes. The compass is set centrally beneath the instrument panel on a shelf, in which position it can be seen fairly easily, but a DR. compass indicating in both cockpits would probably serve a better purpose. The control column, unusually enough in this type of aircraft, is a plain stick with spade grip on which are mounted the camera and gun buttons and the wheel-brake trip lever. Rudder pedals are on a yoke fitted with a central screw adjust- ment for leDgth of the pilot's legs. Another unusual point about the pilot's "office" is the crank handle which winds the hood backward and forward. Armour plate protection for the pilot is fitted in the back of his seat, with a further slab across the rear bulkhead between the top of the seat and the headrest. This last is adjustable, being capable of projection forward for catapult launching, and release to the normal position for ordinary flight work. Near the C.G. The location of the main fuel tank in the fuselage between the two cockpits is undoubtedly a good one in the light of the aircraft's need of fighter manoeuvrability, carrier take-off and landing, and weight position of the fuel capacity for extended range. The tank is self-sealing. The fuel system comprises the main tank and two smaller tanks fitted in the leading edges of the centre section; additional fuel can be carried in drop tanks under the outer wing panels. Each of the normal tanks is fitted with an electrically-driven immersed pump feeding fuel, via the filter, to the main pump mounted on the engine. , The fuel in the drop tanks, however, when these are carried, is driven into the main tank by air pressure supplied by the blow-off from the vacuum pump on the gear box. As this "positive" exhaust from vacuum pump is ordinarily vented to atmosphere, the unusual employment of it for useful work in the Firefly is further proof of trie care and ingenuity of the aircraft's designer. The floor of the observer's cockpit is a separate built-up unit with a grid supporting framework of beams underneath incorporating a cruciform bracing to take the bell-shaped pedestal on which the seat rotates. A rotatable seat was found necessary to allow the observer access to those items in his charge which are so conveniently stowed in the after From this front view it is obvious why the Youngman flaps are also very effective air brakes. PlN REAR ATTACHMENTS. RUDDER HINGE BRACKETS The fuselage tailstructure is a tubular braced frameworkhousing the tail wheel and carrying pick-uplugs for tailplane and fin attachments. part of his cockpit. When taking off by catapult or accelera-tor, the observer, having no headrest, faces either forward or aft (preferably the former) and holds his head in his arms, anattitude that must be uncomfortable but is, nevertheless, apparently effective. Running aft behind the observer's cockpit the. struts of the"deck arrester hook are normally housed in recesses in the underside of the fuselage. A point worthy of mention is thepossibility of the hook bouncing on the deck and getting into period with the spacing of the wires so that it goes hopping overthem. To preclude this the anchorages are linked to an oleo- pneumatic snubber which keeps the hook groping along thedeck. At the rear of the observer's cockpit the fuselage is strength- ened by a heavy built-up double-walled frame, at the bottom of which are attachments for the rear catapult spools. These are normally carried in the tool-box, but when a catapult launch is being made, the rear spools are inserted and left projecting during flight; the front spools are, as mentioned, retracted by the pilot after take off. On each side of the fuselage is fitted a telescopic jury strut, housed neatly in a recess and provided with a press-button which releases it. The struts are anchored in universal joints of limited movement, and, when extended, pick-up into re- tractable bell-mouth attachments in the wings, when folded, to hold them secuie. The remaining portion of the fuselage, that is the extreme tail, is a bolted, tubular framework of modified Warren-girder design, which picks-up through expanding-bush bolts into forgings bolted to the ends of the four main longerons, the normal monocoque fuselage structure finishing in a bulkhead at this point. Inside the tail structures the tail wheel and retracting mechanism are housed, together with the final-drive control-linkage for the elevators and rudder. Attachment of the fin to the tailplane and this to the fuselage tail structure is by expanding bush bolts in four lug pick-ups on each unit. At the rearmost extreme of the tail structure, the framework is strutted underneath to pro- vide a jacking point, which also can serve as a skid point in the event of tail-wheel failure due to a very heavy laijtJS ing—something which can easily occur -when touching-deft n on a carrier. Eetracting mechanism for the tail wheel comprises a compound breaker strut, the lower half of
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