FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1946
1946 - 1851.PDF
SEPTEMBER 19TH, 1946 RESEARCH The AW 52Gtailless glider being towed toheight for an experimentedflight. photograph 295 AIRCRAFT Raising the Mach Number : Tailless and Tail-first : Variable-Incidence f • ^HE metamorphosis in aircraft design, occasioned I by new forms of power plant and the approach "*- to sonic speed, has led to the construction of air- craft for pure research. Without exception these types, examples of which will be described, are of great technical interest and foreshadow airframe developments which should enable Great Britain to consolidate the ground gained by her rapid perfection of high-output gas turbine units. Designed as a flying model of a large powered aircraft, the Armstrong-Whitworth A.W. 52G tailless glider carries a crew of two. It is towed to a height of about 16,oooft by a Whitley tug and released, measurements being taken by automatic recorders during the subsequent glide. The glider is of wooden construction, covered with metal-faced plywood, and is fitted with a fixed tricycle undercarriage. Longitudinal and lateral control are achieved by one sur- face (known as the controller) which has two forms of balance, by a shrouded forward surface and by a combined geared- and spring-tab. The controller is carried behind a power-operated surface best described as a corrector, the main function of which is to provide a powerful trimming device without impairing the lightness of the mechanically operated small-chord control surfaces. Directional control is obtained by two outboard fins and rudders,, the latter operating differentially to provide a greater angle for the surface which moves outboard. A second British tailless machine, the Handley Page Manx, is powered by two Gipsy Major engines driving pusher airscrews through extension shafts. It has a span of 40ft and weighs 4,000 1b. Geoffrey de Havilland flying the D.H. 108. T~~) Since May 15th this year tes^s have been in progresswith the De Havilland Type 108 high-speed research air- craft, a type which reflects German technique in wingdesign but which uses a fuselaga similar to that of the Vampire. The D.H. 108 was designed and built solelyfor the purpose of studying control and stability problems in aircraft with swept-back wings. Not in any sense a" flying wing," it has no tailplane or elevator, the ailerons performing also the function of elevators. The fin andrudder are retained and are of high-aspect ratio, with pro- nounced sweep-back. In its initial form the D.H. 108 hasfixed slots covering half the wing span inboard of the tips. The faired protuberances at*»** the tips parry emergency- control parachutes. Although in its ultimateform the D.H. 108 will doubt- less prove outstandingly fast,its performance might have been entirely overshadowedby the Miles M.52, designed for a speed of 1,000 m.p.h.but which was abandoned '' for reasons of economy '' A three-quarter rear view ofthe Handley Page Manx.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
