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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0144.PDF
8o FLIGHT THE DESFORD TRAINER Reid, D.F.C. Mr. Charles Bower, the chief designer of the Reid and Sigrist company, has produced a promising aircraft into which he has incorporated many interest- ing features. Basically, the Desford is a low-wing monoplane ot wooden construction and, following the modern tendency amongst light aircraft, it has twin fins and rudders. The power is derived from two D.H. Gipsy Major, Series I engines, but it is intended that, in due course, the Des- ford should also be available fitted with either Gipsy Major series 10 or series 30 engines if increased perform- ance is required. These engines were described in the issue of Flight for December 27th, 1945. The fuselage is a plywood-covered structure of oval section. Its frames are carried on four spruce longerons, the top two being unbroken throughout the length of the aircraft. These members are interspaced with parallel stringers, and at the rear end there is additional ply stiffening. Small sections of both nose and tail are detachable for.inspection purposes. The two-spar cantilever wings are also of all-wood Laminated wood, cantilever engine bearers are used tor theGipsy Major engines and in conjunction with the hori- zontally-divided cowlings which require no supportingframework, they provide an unusually accessible engine installation. The twenty-two gallon "crash-proof" tanks are attachedto and fold out with doors in the lower wing surfaces. construction. In plan, they have a marked trailing-edge taper, the taper being straight from root to tip. In section, the wing thickness is constant from root to engine nacelle and then tapers evenly to the tip. '' Automatic '' Flap Control An'unusual feature of the wing assembly is that the ailerons and flaps are both mounted on extended hinges behind and below the trailing edges. The flaps cover t?ie full available trailing edge and are continued below the fuselage. They are operated by a vacuum-controlled ram, the engine induction system supplying the neces-' sary suction. Four flap settings are provided: neutral, climb, approach and touch-down. Flaps and throttle controls are interconnected in such a way that if the flaps are set in the fully down position, and the throttles are opened (as in the case of an overshoot) the flap con- trol is automatically moved from the down position to the 10-deg. take-off setting, thus ensuring maximum lift, inKnediate reduction of drag and avoiding the risk of sinking-in as a result of bringing the flaps too far up. The clean cockpit enclosure and fuselage lines are apparent, with the compact engine installation in this photograph.
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