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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1134.PDF
FLIGHT International supplement, 25 April 1963 Air-Cushion Vehicles In the picture on the right the craft is seen with its designer, Under-Officer D. R. Green. Below, on the left, is a close-up of the 500 c.c. BSA engine and the chain drive to the lift fan. The third picture shows King Hussein inspecting the partly constructed craft during a visit to Cranwell The Cranwell Craft BY COURTESY of Sqn Ldr F. G. Rice, managing editor of The Royal Air Force College Journal, and with the co operation of the designer, Under- Officer D. R. Green, we are able to present on this page the first details and pictures of a small ACV which, as these words appear, should have been completed at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, Lines. When our information was received the engine, transmission and impeller had all been satisfactorily tested under operating conditions. Construction was started by a group of cadets late in 1961, and prior to this there had been close liaison with Saunders-Roe, Vickers-Armstrongs, Britten-Norman and the RAE, Farn- borough. The craft is designed to carry one person at a hover height of 6in, and to have provision for control and forward propulsion. The air curtain has a jet angle of 45° and jet thickness of lin. The buoyancy chamber and ducting are made of expanded polystyrene (Shell and Flamingo Foam) covered with paints and glasscloth by Atlas Preservatives Ltd. Welded tubular steel, provided by Accles & Pollock, is used for the frame, and the impeller is a Dowty/Rotol radial-flow "bicycle wheel" of 2ft lOin diameter, operating at about 1,500 r.p.m. The BSA 500 c.c. A7 engine develops 30 b.h.p. at 5,250 r.p.m. The craft is 12ft long, 7ft in the beam, and has an estimated empty weight of 5001b. We hope to print test results in an early issue. 65
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