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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1861.PDF
356 FLIGHT, 14 September 1951 SLING KY Structure and Equipment of the New British Sailplane that has Successfully Challenged the Weihe BAROGRAPHSTOWAGE RVf ATTl THE recent National Gliding Contests are generallyagreed to have shown conclusively that the glidingmovement in this country now has a high-performance sailplane of all-British design which will stand up to com- petition from the best foreign types. The prototype of this aircraft, the Slingsby Sky, first flew almost exactly a year ago. It is designed as a high-performance contest sailplane, and from the start the makers have intended that it should outfly any foreign machines of a similar class. That their object has been achieved is shown by the Contest results, in which the two Skys took first and second place, followed—seventy points behind, -by German Weihe sailplanes in third and fourth places. For several years past, both the British Nationals, and the International Gliding contests have been won by Weihes, which have come to be regarded as the standard by which any high-performance sailplane may be judged. The appearance of the Sky marked the virtual fulfilment of Slingsby Sailplanes' post-war design programme, and it is interesting to note the many points of similarity between this and other types produced by the firm. The Sky is a direct development of the Gull IV and Kite II, both sailplanes designed by the firm since the war. The Gull IV, of fifteen- metre span, was developed for the 1948 International Glid- ing Contests. In so far as it went, the machine was con- sidered to be a success, but after the 1948 event it was obvious that a sailplane which was required to stand up to the competition of the larger foreign craft would have to be of at least eighteen-metre span. It was, therefore, decided to The flying controls are con- ventional. Rudder pedals are adjustable by a central lever. To port is the dive- brake lever; to starboard, the elevator trim. De- picted is a typical instru- ment array, with A.S.I., Pioneer compass, turn-and- slip indicator, variometer and sensitive altimeter. BIRCH-PLY SKIN TO MAIN AND DIAGONAL SPAR. FABRIC AFT • AEROFOIL SECTION GOTTINGEN 549 AT ROOT TOMODIFIEDNA.CA.aRI2 AT TIP - OXYGEN BOTTLE AND ECONOMISER . COCKPIT 1. ELEVATOR TRIM 2. DIVE-BRAKE CONTROL 3. RUDDER PEDAL ADJUSTMENT 4. CANOPY HINGE-LINE DAYLIGHT APERTUR1 TO INSTRUMENTS VARIOMETER FLASK RUBBER-SPRUNG i SKID PRESSURE TUBE TO A.S.I. (STATIC OPEN TO COCKPIT) FRONT <AERO) AND REAR (WINCH) TOWING POINTS (5. CABLES TO QUICK-RELEASE) develop the Gull into an eighteen-metre sailplane; the sound- ness of this decision was soon to be demonstrated by the results obtained. Apart from the increased span, the resultant increase in aspect ratio, and an 18-in increase in the length of the rear fuselage, the Sky can be said to be aerodynamically identical with the Gull IV. The wing sections are exactly as on the Gull. The increase in span was obtained by adding two extra rib bays to the parallel part of the wing on each side of the fuselage, and by increasing the rib spacing over the tapered portion by two inches for each bay. The ailerons, also, had to be increased in size accordingly. It is on the structural side that the main differences be- tween the Sky and Gull IV are to be found. The structure of the Sky is designed to meet the Air Registration Board's semi-aerobatic category. This calls for overall reserve factors of 1.5 when the machine is subject to positive acceleration of \
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