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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 0367.PDF
MARCH I8TH, 1948 FLIGHT 307 Being bi-elemental the Duck looks as much at home when water-borne as when flying. door threshold. The load water line is about 8in below the GOODYEAR DUCKS Metal Three-seat Amphibian with Pleasant All-round Handling Characteristics THE Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, of America,numbered among their wartime activities the manufac-ture of Corsair naval fighters, and, in addition to this, produced parts for many other types. With the coming ofpeace, the company's design staff turned their attention to the light aircraft field and, as a result of these efforts, the DuckAmphibian was hatched. Fifteen of these very pleasant machines have been built, and a total of 4,500 flying hours hasbeen amassed with the type. During the recent preview of Spring, we were given theopportunity of sampling the only Duck so far to have visited Europe, and a most attractive little aircraft we found it.James A. Goodson, who is ex-R.C.A.F., R.A.F. Eagle Squadron and U.S. Eighth Air Force, and was officiallycredited with destroying thirty-two enemy machines, has brought the Duck over fromAmerica and is planning to under- take a European tour with the air-craft in the very near future. Smewhat naturally, Goodyear'sequipped the Duck with their swivelling wheels and single-dischydraulic brakes, and the writer can testify to the merit of each. Thesingle-disc brake permits an unob- structed hub centre so that theswivelling mechanism can be built inside the wheel itself. Free direc-tional movement within an included angle of 50 deg is allowed, so that alanding 25 deg out of wind can be made without involving side load onthe undercarriage structure, or any tendency to ground-loop. As beforenoted in Flight, the principle of a freely" castering undercarriage is notnew; Bleriot employed it and much later, McLaren evolved amethod for the same purpose, although the desired angle waspre-set in this latter design. Good- year's lay no claim to havinginvented anything new, but they must be given the credit for recog-nizing the inherent value of such a device and being prepared to footthe bill of developing it to the stature of an accepted normal com-ponent. The American company Fitted w'dh castering wheels and single-disc brakes the undercarriage is retracted by screw jacks which wind back the head of the radius strut and lift the wheel up into its well. has already developed a swivelling undercarriage for aircraftof DC-3 size and this is, at present, fitted to a Dakota and is being intensively flight-tested. The English division of thecompany at Wolverhampton is undertaking the manufacture of castering wheels of 6.00-6 size suitable for aircraft up toabout 3,000 lb, but the intention is to make the development available in any size for which a demand is evident. Thesingle-disc brake, incidentally, has already been developed in this country for aircraft of the 80,000 lb all-up weight category.To return to the Duck, the layout of the machine is conven- tional, with the exception that the Franklin 150 h.p. flat-sixengine is pedestal-mounted and employed to drive a pusher airscrew. To get over cooling difficulties, an extractor fan' isfitted immediately behind the Aeromatic propeller, and this absorbs approximately 5 h.p. at take-off conditions. The hull is a simple, monocoque structurebut the wings, although having a metal skeleton, are fabric-covered. Ailerons and elevators are metal surfaces but the rudder,like the wings, is finished in fabric. The cabin conforms to theAmerican light aircraft tradition of tasteful appointment and smackssomewhat of the motor car, although there is a gratifyingabsence of over-decoration. Dual control is provided for the frontside-by-side seats—toe plates for actuation of the wheel brakes arefitted to the rudder pedals on the port side—and the third seat isplaced centrally at the rear between bastions which are, in fact, sidewells for retraction of the main wheels. A baggage compartment of11 cu ft capacity is arranged behind the rear seat. Electric screw-jacksare employed for undercarriage actuation and "up" and "down"tell-tale lights are furnished on the automobile-type instrument panel.Flying instruments are confined to an artificial horizon, airspeedindicator and altimeter, and thf bare essentials of r.p.m., oil tem-perature and oil pressure constitute engine instrumentation; a radicselector panel is fitted at the star
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