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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0694.PDF
692 Cabin layout for 70 passengers (upper) and mixed cargo/passenger loads (lower). Shaded areas from front to rear are forward baggage compartment, w.c.s, coat-hanging space and rear baggage compartment. THE CARAVELLE... It is intended, at least in principle, that the flight crew shouldbe two pilots only, but here the designers are up against the stated resolve of the airline pilots not to work two-man crews,and allowance is therefore made for a flight-crew of three. Caravelle production is to be undertaken jointly by S.N.C.A.S.E.and S.N.C.A.S.O., with the latter company making the wings and the former in charge of assembly. The first cost of a Caravelleis estimated at 425 million francs (£439,000 approximately). The company is not prepared to make any estimate of operating cost,because of the great variety of conditions which influence such estimates. There are, however, a number of factors which willmake for low costs—particularly the twin-engined layout, which decreases the fuel, maintenance and spares expenses. The crewis, moreover, small; it would normally consist of four, either two piiots and two stewards, or three flight crew and one steward. The turn-round has been specially studied and simplified,particularly in regard to the equipment required. An important profit-making consideration is that maximum use should be madeon all flights of the aircraft's freight capacity, and S.E. point out that, since the whole fuselage floor is strengthened for freight,the full payload can always be made up in this way. The volu- metric capacity is equal to that of a DC-6. Cockpit layout has been carefully prepared and, in so far as BoooiooQooQoflo the basic systems are concerned, is virtually finalized. Radioinstallations and interior furnishing of the cabin are, however, being left entirely to the operator. A suggested radio installationwould include Standard Telephones and Cables STR 18B H.F./R.T. and STR 12D V.H.F.; American Sperry C2A gyro-compass (its English Sperry equivalent was described in Flight on April 2nd, 1954); Lear L-5 autopilot (of which develop-ments were described in Flight, February 18th); Marconi AD 7092D Radio-magnetic Indicator; Collins 51 R3 V.O.R.and I.L.S. localizer receiver and 51V2 glide-path receiver; Bendix MN 53B marker beacon receiver. All this equipment wouldnaturally be duplicated. • Structure: Fuselage The fuselage is a stressed skin structure 103ft 4in long, includinga cylindrical section of 51ft 8in with a diameter of 12ft 6in. The pressurized section measures 83ft 6in and has a volume of6,003.8 cu ft. The passenger/freight cabin is 44ft 4in long, with a floor area of 430.5 sq ft and a maximum height of 6ft 8in. Thereare 28 windows, 11 of which are inward-opening escape hatches. Normal accommodation is for 70 passengers seated five abreast,but a high-density version could hold 91. There are two under- floor freight compartments, one measuring 21ft 4in by 2ft 3in, theother 18ft by 2ft; their combined capacity is 434.3 cu ft. In addition, there is baggage space forward of and behind the pas-senger cabin. Entry is by retractable stairway under the tail with an inward-opening door through the flat rear pressure-bulkhead,and freight can be loaded, without interfering with routine turn- round operations, through a freight hatch, measuring 6ft 6in by5ft llin high, on the port side of the forward fuselage. A small sliding door is inset. There are 75 frames in the fuselage, of which 15 are reinforced.No. 7 marks the junction, immediately behind the windscreen, of the Comet nose-section with the S.E. fuselage. No. 13 picksup the nosewheel mounting and marks the forward edge of the freight door, whose rear edge is reinforced by frame 19. Nos. 31,35 and 41 mark the wing/fuselage pick-up and Nos. 48, 51, 53 and 56 are frames braced by square-tube girders for engine andnacelle mountings. No. 60 is the flat cabin rear bulkhead, and Nos. 63, 65 and 69 pick up the spars of the fin. No. 73 marksthe beginning of the tail-cone and holds the tunnel for the 22.4ft ribbon tail-braking parachute. The fuselage is built in three sections: nose, tail-cone, andcylindrical centre section. The nose is built on a vertical jig, from stringers pre-shaped on a rotatable plaster forme, and with pre-formed skin sections. For production aircraft, these will be stretch-formed. The fuselage centre section is built up of anumber of smaller components assembled in the main fuselage jig. The actual engine-mountings depend from frames 53 and 56,from which bridge structures pass over the top of the engines to pick up the mounting points. This leaves the lower half ofthe engine cowling structure free of main supports, and the forward section hinges downwards on its outer edge to provide access forservicing. The rearward portion under the tail-pipe is detachable by means of quick releases. The rear pressure bulkhead is locatedlevel with the engine effluxes and consists of two diaphragms heavily reinforced with radial webs to the rectangular door frame.The forward face holds cabin pressure and the rear face is liberally perforated with flanged lightening holes. On this rear face aremounted the blue and green hydraulic reservoirs; and on the sloping tunnel, which accommodates the steps when retracted,are mounted the heat-exchangers with their rectangular ducts leading downwards from the fin-root intakes. The main rudderhinge (and the beam, on which the rudder Servodyne is supported) depends from rib 69, which is reinforced by a built-up webstructure. At continuous level, the cabin floor is built up on transversebeams integral with each frame, supported by tube struts or, in areas of stress concentration, by square-tube girders. Two A.D.F.serial compartments are buried in the roof of the forward cylindrical fuselage section.
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