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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1433.PDF
August zSth, 1947 FLIGHT 221 MERCHANMitel Four-engined Pantechnicon with Two-ton Payload : Robust Simplicity THE wide success enjoyed during the past two yearsby the Miles Aerovan is to some extent an earnestof the reception which almost certainly awaits its larger descendant, the Merchantman. Miles Aircraft, Limited, when surveying the post-war commercial aviation potential, very logically came to the conclusion that the transport of goods by air called for specialist aircraft. The Aerovan was designed to meet the several requirements peculiar to that type of traffic. That the formula was right is now established beyond question, and it is but natural that a larger machine intended to cater for loads beyond Aerovan capacity should be laid down on similar lines. Thus came the Merchantman, in effect an all-metal1 ' plussed-up'' Aerovan with more than double the pay- load and over three times the power—this latter being spread among four engines. Probably one of the most valuable features of the Merchantman is its sheer simplicity. It has been designed from the inception to be a " production job " in the fullest sense of the term—simpler even than its smaller prototype, and that is saying a good deal. In view of the pressing —even vital-1—need for the maximum production of British aircraft for export to world markets none can well depre- ciate the value of design for rapid manufacture. In this particular instance, of course, the physical shape of the Merchantman, whilst being ordained by the purely functional ends to be served, is such that considerations for easy production are greatly simplified. In essence the aircraft can be regarded as being divisible into two fundamental units: a wing carrying the engines, which with the tail boom and empennage form the '' flight'' unit, and, hang from this, a fuselage in the shape of a large-volume container which forms the '' utilitarian '' unit. Just how well the latter appellation is deserved is indi- cated by the fact that, for the relatively modest all-up weight of 13,000 lb, the Merchantman provides a useful cubic capa- city of 780 cu ft for the carriage of no less than 5,000 lb of freight. There are few air- craft, of any class, in existence which have a tare/gross ratio of ,38.4 per cent. Such is the value of specialist design. Like the Aerovan, this large machine has a rear loading door, but the threshold is • hooding door end integral ramp.
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