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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0444.PDF
3C)R TLIGHT. 1 M.-,rrh tg50 THE HOME-BUILT AIRCRAFT Us History at Home and Abroad: the Discouraging Position To-day By A R. Weyl, F.R.Ae.S. THE author, who is a well-known designei of light aircraft and sailplanes, and a member of the executive committee of the Ultra Light Aircraft Association, reviews some notable constructional achievements by amateurs in the past. But in Britain to-day, he says, the amateur builder is aviation's Cinderella IN view of the sorry state of private flying in Britain,the construction of aircraft by enthusiastic amateursis frequently discussed. The following notes form a brief survey of experience and evidence collected in past years, and one from which, it is hoped, the reader may form his own opinion as to whether such amateur activities are desirable. Those who are personally interested in con- struction are referred to the Ultra Light Aircraft Associa- tion* which exists to promote and assist amateur aircraft- construction on a sound technical basis. Many people to-day overlook the fact that aeronautics began with the work of pure amateurs. However learned and professional the present activities of the Royal Aero- nautical Society may be, for instance, this ancient institu- tion was founded by amateurs and sustained by them for half a century or so; all these amateurs, moreover, were "cranks" in the eyes of their non-flying con- temporaries. Before one goes deeper into the matter, the term "amateur" needs clarifying. In the first place, it means anyone who is not a professional, however trained or instructed he may be; beyond that, the term implies that the person concerned pursues the activity for its own sake, i.e., not in expectation of remuneration. The name, therefore, does not necessarily imply that the enthu- siast in question is ignorant of the matter he has elected to deal with, or that he is incapable of doing so properly. It is such implications which logically lead to the off-hand judgments that are so often passed upon amateur aircraft. Technical understanding and manual skill are to-day more widely possessed than they were 40-odd years ago. For example, knowledge of the functioning of a four-stroke I.C. engine is no longer restricted to engineering circles, and good craftsmanship is often found among people who earn their living in quite a different way. We are in an age of engineering. The design of aircraft, admittedly, has meanwhile become a refined procedure which calls for a rather high standard of specialized engineering know- ledge. The position, in brief, is that whilst the design of an aircraft will generally be beyond the scope of an amateur, the construction of a simple machine from suit- able drawings can be undertaken by genuine amateurs or groups of enthusiasts. The better the design and the building instructions are suited to a low standard of tech- nical knowledge and manual skill, the wider is the circle of potential amateur constructors. The extent to which the amateur can be helped lies, therefore, in the hands of the professional. Obviously it is necessary to provide special designs for the purpose, and it would be wise to restrict the activities of genuine amateurs to specific types. Such aircraft will, of course, be within the "ultra-light" category; with engines of under 75 h.p.; with a stalling speed of under 40 m.p.h.; and with all-up weight not greater than 1,200 lb. Ease and simplicity of construction are of para- mount importance. One important group of amateur constructors is in an intermediate category between the genuine amateur enthu- siast and the professional. To it belong technical schools, aeronautical colleges, constructing groups attached to air- craft firms, club workshops formed at Service establish ments, etc. The spade work done by these semi-amateur groups cannot be overestimated. We recall the Cranwell 'U.L.A.A. headquarters are at 24, St. George's Square, London S.W.I— En light aircraft to N. Comper's design, and the various novel types built by the de Havilland and Miles Aircraft tech- nical schools, by the R.A.E., by the Halton apprentices. In fairness, however, it must be said that these efforts were more professional than amateur; nor are the activi- ties of this group restricted to the ultra-light category. To assist appreciation of the specific requirements, former serious attempts in amateur construction may be critically surveyed. Though not intended for enthusiastic home producers, the ultra-light monoplanes of Santos Dumont and of Hans Grade were among the earliest that attracted the hobbyists; both were small and light, had engines of between 16 and 24 h.p. only, looked immensely simple to construct, and both types impressed one as very easy to fly. The majority of pre-1914 pilots in Ger- ———————— many learned to fly on the Grade parasol, usually by solo training; and there were only two fatal crashes, in spite of a highly temperamental two- stroke engine and a single-lever con- trol system. Numerous (unlicensed) replicas were built, more or less "im- proved '' to the taste of the enthu- siast ; most of them flew nicely, as long as the engine permitted. The first design specifically intended for amateur constructors seems to have been a neat-looking single-seat biplane designed by C. M. Poulsen, the former editor of Flight. The construc- tion, with all necessary calculations, was described in a series of twelve well-illustrated articles published during the first half of 1916. The engine was the 30 h.p. Anzani A three-cylinder (then easily available). The wings, of equal span, had Raf 6 aerofoil section and single-bay bracing. The fuselage was of octagonal cross-section and was well faired. There is, however, no record of an actual construction, doubtless because war-time was hardly propitious. Home-constructed gliders have been common since the early days of aviation. Hundreds were made to instruc- tions made available by Flight and other technical jour- nals. A mighty impetus to amateur construction came with the development of soaring flight in Germany. There, up to about 1932, amateur-built motorless aircraft were the rule rather than the exception. Long before Hitler came to power, such activity had been organized rather well. The first stage was a primitive training glider (i" Zoegling "); a somewhat refined training glider followed (," Pruefling"), and finally a real, but simple and robust training sailplane (•" Grunau Baby") was constructed. Excellent drawings and instructions were available. The amateur's ultimate achievement was the construction (and perhaps even the design) of a high-performance sailplane for competition flying. Supervision and assistance were given by a central organization of soaring clubs. On the whole the scheme worked amazingly well. Motor gliders and auxiliary-powered sailplanes were natural offsprings of these purely amateurish activities (which, it must be said in fairness, had no military impli cations before the arrival of Hitler). Likewise, in this country Lowe-Wylde's Drone was originally the effort of a genuine amateur glider-constructor. Very soon, wide interest was shown in light aircraft oi tow cost and simple upkeep. Ways soon parted along two distinct directions: the power-assisted sailplane (or motor glider) and the ultra-light aeroplane. In France, the enthusiastic De Pischoff proved with his Avionnette and Estaffette that aircraft could be kept
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