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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0098.PDF
FLIGHT, ig Janunry 1950 MIGNET the UNDAUNTED Unconventional-aircraft Designer, Now in South America, Sings a New "Song of the Flea" For hangarage at home : the new H.M. 300 three-seater with wings folded. BOUT sixteen years ago a French amatefcj^designer of ultra-light aircraft, M. Henri MigneT'! cUUSPll enormous interest by evolving an unconventional aircraft named Pou-du-Ciel (i.e., "sky-louse"—politely mistranslated in England as "flying flea"). It was of ex- tremely unconventional de- sign, having a variable-incidence wing, without ailerons, to act as elevator; and it was of very primitive construction. Its de- signer semi-seriously claimed that anybody who could nail a box together could construct it, and that anybody could teach himself to fly it. Aerodynamically, this remark- able vehicle could have rbeen described as a virtually tailless aircraft with the wing divided by a wide slot-gap into front and aft surfaces of about equal size. The peculiar arrangement could equally well be called a '' close tandem '' aircraft, or a biplane with abnormal forward stagger and small gap. It was, in fact, a "flying slot" as long as a slot effect was present, and a tandem or " tailplaneless" when the flow through the slot gap was no longer effective. The original Pou-du-Ciel, the H.M. 14, caused a veritable sensation among those enthusiasts who believed in flying for fun but could not afford it. All over the world it started a popular-flying movement. Hundreds of these little aircraft were built and many, but not all, took the air. Home construction by amateurs was promoted by Mignet with the eager assistance of M. Georges Houard. editor of* the French journal Les AUes In thi^rountrv the Air League^e^Great"TBrltaW, juite^^tfe enthusiastic "itudwuhip ufTur Commodore "Sir Adrian Chamier, achieved the considerable feat of getting the Pou and all other ultra-light aircraft liberated from airworthiness regulations and given permanent "Permits to Fly" against adequate third-party insurance. The movement, however, came to grief after a number of fatal crashes had proved beyond doubt that the type was deficient in safe-flying qualities. All the accidents showed an identical symptom—a nose-dive from which the pilot could not recover, ^--moreover, the majority of the victims were skilled and capable pilots. It took much effort and time to discover the exact cause of the trouble, which was undoubtedly aerodynamical. Mignet himself, on the basis of daring and skilful experi- " Able designer and skilled pilot" —M. Henri Mignet. This view of the H.M. 300 explains tne niCKname •• wHu Beast." Eyes and mouth are design-features, and only a few suitably artistic touches with a paint-brush were added. M. Mignet in the original H.M. 14 Pcu-du-Ciel at Orly in 1935. ment in the air, lost no time in discovering a quick and satisfactory remedy. But when he came forward with it and offered proof that the Pou was now safe, he met scepticism and even open animosity. Heated arguments for and against Mignet's formula and ai^s had caused so much nervousness that the Pou-du-Ciel was condemned once and for all. Looking back, one feels that both the official mind and the public opinion were gravely in error, and that ultra-light aeronautics suffered unfairly as a result. Engineering progress should not be mixed up with unsub- stantiated prejudices. It is true to say that M. . signet himself was not entirely without fault in the matter: likeable as he is in person, he is a genius and typically French, besides being an artist in temperament (by profession, he is a research engineer who has acquired great merit in the development of radio valv.e«). To be a genius means to be misunderstood, and Mignet preferred to play the r61e of an aeronautical jester; * The author is a member of the executive commule'e ol the Ultra LightAircraft Association. V
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