tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14770562376981679672024-03-24T23:10:14.660-07:00R J Mitchell and Supermarinejohn sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-10461186993744658382017-08-31T03:35:00.000-07:002017-09-24T07:06:18.505-07:00Problems with Early Seafires.<style>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap_qUMh7I3oCbrxCb_h5qROs-iMx6Ut00v63qPHq63ogc5dCBEBT56sFGBSDDSVLblmJT070ebagimZgEcth8i-EzKZZBIORzho2wuJD2Ea5-RGiZo2KDlNUmhXOp8MFILFbhDbMznDkX/s1600/unicorn6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="364" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap_qUMh7I3oCbrxCb_h5qROs-iMx6Ut00v63qPHq63ogc5dCBEBT56sFGBSDDSVLblmJT070ebagimZgEcth8i-EzKZZBIORzho2wuJD2Ea5-RGiZo2KDlNUmhXOp8MFILFbhDbMznDkX/s320/unicorn6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seafire on <i>H.M.S. Unicorn</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="unindented">
I mentioned in my blog of 12.8.17 (<a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/spitfires-for-malta.html">Spitfires to Malta</a>) the
improvisation necessary to get the required half flap setting for taking off
from <i>HMS Eagle</i>.</div>
<div class="unindented">
This reminded me of another improvisation mentioned in my
recent book in response to deck landings with the early Seafires. Capt. George
C. Baldwin, who flew Seafires throughout the war, gave the following
perspective on problems associated with aircraft-carrier landings with the
early conversions: “‘pecking’ was a phenomenon caused by the tail being thrown
up as the aircraft caught the arrester-wire and the propeller touching the
flight deck and, if it was a wooden propeller, pieces flew off in every
direction. Believe it or not, that was cured by just taking a sharp knife and cutting
three inches off the end of each blade with no noticeable loss of performance
whatever.” [There were also problems with pintles in the undercarriage being
easily damaged and with hard contacts of the tail with the flight deck causing
the fuselage to bend just in front to the empennage.]</div>
<div class="unindented">
<br /></div>
<div class="unindented">
A more chilling scenario may not be noticed in my Appendix
One, where FAA pilot Henry Adlam describes a detail of the Salerno operation
(September, 1943) with the early Seafire types: </div>
<div class="blockQINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">For the
Seafire to land on the small deck of an Escort Carrier, even under ideal
conditions, calls for considerable skill and experience on the part of the
pilot. But at Salerno, the wind conditions were no better than a zephyr breeze
and almost a dead calm, conditions entirely to have been expected at that time
of the year. Thus the Seafires had to operate with a total wind speed over the
deck of only sixteen knots, being the maximum speed of the Escort Carriers,
whereas they needed a total wind speed over the deck of at least twenty-eight
knots. These were desperately difficult landing conditions for the Seafire
pilots; conditions which surely should have been anticipated at the outset when
the whole Salerno operation was being planned by Rear Admiral Vian who, despite
never having flown an aircraft or having served in an Aircraft Carrier, had
been put in charge of this, the first multi Carrier Fleet* of the Royal Navy…
After two days the four Escort Carriers had virtually run out of Seafires, no
less than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">forty-eight</i> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">[my
italics] </span>of which had
been written off as the pilots attempted to land in windless conditions.</span></div>
<div class="blockQINDENTED">
<br /></div>
<div class="blockQINDENTED" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.0pt;">* The fleet in question
was composed of the four escort carriers and a support/depot ship, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">H.M.S. Unicorn</i>, also configured as an
aircraft carrier – see illustration below.</span></div>
<div class="blockQINDENTED" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUZPukLsP14QWJn-0ss3V2CPuG9ln3oILuA_YoYZ4m1Rb71BsyFQjK2ASF9watxwZc_pGhf5NuQljICiiJt5jtE_XS5Ug-FwtkqRFdjHkiUu_Co2YKHMsU3BPRAOpmeV3c052FDQ1f8gK/s1600/HMS+Unicorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="333" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUZPukLsP14QWJn-0ss3V2CPuG9ln3oILuA_YoYZ4m1Rb71BsyFQjK2ASF9watxwZc_pGhf5NuQljICiiJt5jtE_XS5Ug-FwtkqRFdjHkiUu_Co2YKHMsU3BPRAOpmeV3c052FDQ1f8gK/s320/HMS+Unicorn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="blockQINDENTED" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span>
<br />
<div class="blockQINDENTED">
<br /></div>
<div class="blockQINDENTED" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.0pt;">[Notwithstanding Adlam’s
views, the enigmatic Vian, conclued his 40 year service with promotion
to Admiral of the Fleet.</span></div>
<div class="unindented">
<br /></div>
<div class="unindented">
By 1944, the problems with the Seafire had been
resolved: Adlam <span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">again</span>, with
reference to the Seafire XV: ‘An absolute thoroughbred of an aircraft requiring
only the most delicate pressures on the controls for it to respond immediately
and perfectly… On a runway with plenty of space, the simplest of aircraft to
land’.]<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * *</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<b><u>Source Material and References</u></b>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
</div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-72723404650552100722017-08-14T12:00:00.001-07:002017-09-24T07:07:07.736-07:00R.J. Mitchell: Steam Revisited<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicw-B6wLnPRx71bxhejZnRiQGHPOmq-xtgo555GcPqIuZisTfWE_GkKFFHZ4zrxlchc8yhS9JbM3ZmI8fu74TwRZspJZ834-MPi-VFeE3ykkQj-2Am5ZhVzE9ehQXip2aL3kcVvDxFKAQH/s1600/Loco+Six.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="844" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicw-B6wLnPRx71bxhejZnRiQGHPOmq-xtgo555GcPqIuZisTfWE_GkKFFHZ4zrxlchc8yhS9JbM3ZmI8fu74TwRZspJZ834-MPi-VFeE3ykkQj-2Am5ZhVzE9ehQXip2aL3kcVvDxFKAQH/s320/Loco+Six.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Locomotive No.6 at Calshot, 1921 -1945</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In my recent book I wrote that Mitchell’s Type 224 design was powered by a Rolls-Royce Goshawk evaporatively cooled
engine – using a new system, whereby the water in the engine was kept under pressure by pumps, allowing it to heat to 150 Celsius and then
the superheated water was released to turn to steam in a suitable container,
with sides exposed to the airflow – where it would condense, to be
returned to the engine. Type 224 first flew in 1934 but it was found that the returning
coolant water would often turn into steam again, the pump would cease to operate,
and plumes of steam would be seen escaping from wing tip vents.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This no doubt produced unwelcome memories in Mitchell of his apprenticeship at the locomotive works of Kerr, Stuart and Co. but
at least he must have had other, earlier memories (though possibly not nostalgic ones– see my Chapter One) of
his time at the Fenton works during his frequent visits to
the naval flying boat base at Calshot: there, a narrow gauge loco ran between
the base and the Eaglehurst
camp, built to accommodate the ground staff and aircraft crews who worked at RNAS
Calshot. (See photo above). It was not one of at least fifty Wren
class engines built at Fenton whilst he was an apprentice there: <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgkPP3j9ZVKKmBbbmp68VfczJfDrJ1ceJ0Sby5B865xf69hXOUjOOQ2siMO0bmlzRWxcb97wBm5pkW2nqjLCL0ATzIN1TEhSct3YsC9yw5ZUaKtiONBoY1WkTNa0k2M-lmdmVMqZxpwX8/s1600/Wren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="576" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgkPP3j9ZVKKmBbbmp68VfczJfDrJ1ceJ0Sby5B865xf69hXOUjOOQ2siMO0bmlzRWxcb97wBm5pkW2nqjLCL0ATzIN1TEhSct3YsC9yw5ZUaKtiONBoY1WkTNa0k2M-lmdmVMqZxpwX8/s400/Wren.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wren class locomotive - Kerr,Stuart and Co.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
but was built by Andrew Barclay & Co. Ltd., Kilmarnock to a very similar pattern. The photo below, courtesy of Talyllyn Railway Archives, gives a
more close-up view of the Calshot locomotive in its earlier days.</div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBBdhKdFX4nUt_cm0IyaNXqaC6TItAWstF8mtKsaMk7vdAgWjT0tdzWPiFjgyNwzkJ81tAwqUbBV4czbeK9BQOpgxA8pjE2gt2tS7uKBv_IPyuwrTGBTDkbjsqzAk6YcHh3i4K9Bslhis/s1600/Loco+6+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="432" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBBdhKdFX4nUt_cm0IyaNXqaC6TItAWstF8mtKsaMk7vdAgWjT0tdzWPiFjgyNwzkJ81tAwqUbBV4czbeK9BQOpgxA8pjE2gt2tS7uKBv_IPyuwrTGBTDkbjsqzAk6YcHh3i4K9Bslhis/s320/Loco+6+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * *</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<b><u>Source Material and References</u></b>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-44802165068349535602017-08-12T03:38:00.000-07:002017-09-24T07:07:26.493-07:00Spitfires for Malta<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65G20A3NXSxt34ln0mN7eLkm8Tja9hTkOX0wL9s-0MO-RHP4Ez5JcPsqxaOKVo9BBDAoHkrjeRqibUrRKtG0GiaDtOn3BtXR_8wN0ry4_BLiLluqMAPu-MB2Z0mspvRFsrfdVbVrx1ay2/s1600/HMS+Eagle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="701" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65G20A3NXSxt34ln0mN7eLkm8Tja9hTkOX0wL9s-0MO-RHP4Ez5JcPsqxaOKVo9BBDAoHkrjeRqibUrRKtG0GiaDtOn3BtXR_8wN0ry4_BLiLluqMAPu-MB2Z0mspvRFsrfdVbVrx1ay2/s400/HMS+Eagle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HMS <i>Eagle</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In my recent book I wrote that the reputation of Mitchell’s fighter was further enhanced by the eventual lifting of the siege of Malta. In early 1941, the Luftwaffe had had to take over the action from the Italians and so reinforcements of Spitfires had to be flown in from H.M.S. <i>Eagle</i> (they did not have the range to go directly from Gibraltar). Eventually, sufficient numbers of Spitfires, better organized ground support and the deployment of many experienced pilots, led by the October of 1942 to the lifting of the siege and even to a developing offensive strategy from the island. The Spitfire was once again seen as the significant factor in another British ‘backs-to-the-wall’ campaign.<br />
<br />
Since completing this book, I have come across the following anecdote which gives an insight into the sort of desperate measures that wartime emergencies often required and which lay behind the successful lifting of the seige of Malta:<br />
<br />
“Ronnie [Fl Lt Ronnie West DFC & bar] had arrived on Malta after flying off with the first batch of Spitfires, from the carrier HMS Eagle, joining 249 Squadron. He told us that as the Spitfires only had flaps which were either fully up or fully down – no half or partial flaps as with bombers – they had to overcome the problem of really needing partial flap when taking off from a carrier. They achieved this by selecting flaps ‘down’ prior to take-off, then inserting bits of wood which were held in position whilst flaps were selected ‘up’. Thus partial flap was achieved. Once height was made, flaps were selected ‘down’, which released the bits of wood, then ‘up’ again before flying on to Malta.”
(From <i>Spitfire Offensive</i> by Wing Commander R.W.F. Sampson, OBE, DFC & bar and N.Franks).<br />
<br />
<div class="Normalunindented">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[On 11 Aug, 1942, <i>Eagle</i> was hit by four torpedoes from U-73 while escorting a convoy to Malta; 169 crew were lost; 927 were rescued]
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* * * * *</div>
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<br /></div>
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<b><u>Source Material and References</u></b>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. <br /><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> </span></i></div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-39613112554147067372017-03-28T11:55:00.000-07:002017-09-24T07:07:48.212-07:00R. J. Mitchell – no Flash in the Pan<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">The
slightest reflection would
suggest that the design of the Spitfire had been preceded by considerable experience of high
speed flight and the winning of the Schneider Trophy four times. However, a listing of his most significant
contributions to aviation reveals promise even as early as the 1920s: </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">his Commercial
Amphibian of 1920 won an enhanced award at the Air Ministry competition for
commercial, amphibian, flying-boats. This aircraft was his first independent
design and, although it came second to the Vickers Viking, the second prize of £4000 was doubled
in recognition of the promise that the aircraft had shown;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">his modification and
up-rating of an earlier company machine, the Sea Lion II, won the Schneider
Trophy competition for Britain in 1922;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">his small fleet of
Sea Eagle flying-boats constituted the first British scheduled flying-boat
service, operating between Southampton and the Channel Isles between 1923 and
1928;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">his Swan (1924), a
larger scale development of the Commercial Amphibian and which joined the Sea Eagle
fleet, was claimed by Supermarine to be the world’s first multi-engined
amphibian passenger-carrying machine;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">the above
flying-boat service was incorporated into the newly formed Imperial Airways
Ltd. in 1924;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">his Scarab (also
1924) equipped the Royal Spanish Air Force with an aircraft which, for its time, represented a formidable amphibious bomber
gun-ship. This order represented a significant step towards establishing
Supermarine as a prosperous aircraft company;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">in 1925, </span>his Southampton
flying-boat, a military development of the Swan, was ordered (unusually) straight
off the drawing-board and became the standard RAF coastal reconnaissance
aircraft, replacing the less satisfactory machines of World War I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pilots reported that they were trouble free
and ‘a joy to fly’ and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jane’s</i>
described the design as ‘one of the most notable successes in post-war design’.
A total of twenty-four Mk.Is were built and marked real stability and
prosperity for Supermarine. Its trend-setting
upswept rear hull attracted the comment that it had ‘certainly the most
beautiful hull ever built;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">in the same year, Mitchell
also produced his S.4 Schneider Trophy racer which revolutionized the design of
virtually all successive competition entries: he moved, in one bold step, from
wire braced biplanes to a cantilever monoplane. Compared with the top
speed of 175 mph claimed for his Sea Lion in 1923, the S.4 gained the World
Speed Record for Seaplanes and the outright British Speed Record for all types
with 226.75 mph two years later;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">in 1926 Mitchell
appointed one of the first metallurgists to the aircraft industry and his
metal-hulled Southampton II led the way towards all-metal aircraft
construction. A total of 79 metal-hulled machines were produced as well as
numerous hulls for retro-fitting to the wooden-hulled Mark I, even further
enhancing the prosperity and status of Supermarine;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">the increased
efficiency of the Mk.II Southampton led the RAF to create a special Far East
Flight of four machines which completed a 27,000 mile cruise between October
1927 and February 1928 to Singapore and around Australia (which had only been
visited by aircraft on four previous occasions and only circumnavigated by one
earlier machine). The 62 time-tabled stages were completed by all the aircraft
– as Supermarine publicity said, ‘108,000 machine miles giving no trouble of any
consequence’ and as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Daily Mail</i>
said: the flight will rank as one of the greatest feats in the history of
aviation’;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">In 1930, Supermarine
were awarded a contract (later cancelled for economic reasons by the Government) to build the
largest flying-boat in the world – with a greater wingspan than the famous
Dornier Do.X and only to be surpassed by the Hughes H-4 Hercules of 1947;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">by this time,
Mitchell had designed his next two Schneider Trophy racers, the S.5 and S.6
which, respectively, won the 1927 and 1929 contests. In the following event of
1931, his uprated S.6B won the trophy outright and later went on the set a new
Absolute Air Speed Record of 407.5 mph. This last machine was now of entirely
metal, stressed skin, construction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">Mitchell was now
described in Supermarine publicity as ‘one of the leading flying-boat,
amphibian and high-speed seaplane designers in the country, had been invited to
give a talk on the B.B.C., had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical
Society and awarded the C.B.E. (aged 36);</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">in 1934, the last of
his medium-sized amphibians, the Walrus, was ordered by the Royal Australian
Air Force and, in the following year, by the Royal Air Force; eventually a total
of 746 were built. It became the standard fleet-spotter<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and provided the armed forces with their
slowest aircraft<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>–as well as the fastest
which, of course, was the Spitfire;</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">· </span>The prototype Spitfire of 1936 marked a dramatic
increase of over 100 mph over the most recent RAF fighter in service and Supermarine received an
even more dramatic initial order of 310, three months later. Mitchell died,
aged 42, without seeing the fighter go into squadron service and without
knowing that nearly 23,000 examples were built and in a multitude of main
variants.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * *<br />
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: Ayuthaya;">For details of the aircraft mentioned, see my other blogposts.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<b><u>Source Material and References</u></b>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /> </b></span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="Quotationbelowspaceindented">
<br /></div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-79693581017270271972017-03-27T06:39:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:46:10.864-07:00R .J. Mitchell’s Early Modifications (1919 to 1921).<style>
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</span><br />
<div class="i-mainheading">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">Whilst
Mitchell was busy with his first medium-sized, slow-flying designs (the
Commercial Amphibian and, later, the Seal/Seagull II development), his firm was
still interested in the possibility of selling the concept of a small naval
“scout” to the Navy and Mitchell was involved with the various modifications to
this fast seaplane type.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"> The
company’s interest in the fast interceptor had begun with an Air Ministry
requirement, N.1B, for a fast manœuvrable single-seat seaplane or flying-boat
fighter with a speed of 95 kt at 10,000 ft and a ceiling of at least 20,000
feet. The resultant Baby had been designed by F. J. Hargreaves, who was in
charge of the drawing and technical offices at Pemberton Billing and who
continued for a little while after the company became “Supermarine”.
Hargreaves’ close liaison with the Admiralty Air Department produced an
aircraft with what appeared to be a dangerously small fin and rudder, typical
of aircraft drawn up by this design team but the Baby was, in other respects, a
more ‘in house’ response to the ambitious N.1B specification.</span></div>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQYdFKTf3JNXaRQYRWYOB4sN5SQspmvOwcqIaNmkfWAMJT0XG9d2NW9CGkKpBvFVOUatXESt8V3U5B4D01RQ27IErYIqbPbUWSXEzYVQQ0gG5HXHrjU-xU0KAIwA_iD8Y7PDKbhAVosaL/s1600/NIB+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQYdFKTf3JNXaRQYRWYOB4sN5SQspmvOwcqIaNmkfWAMJT0XG9d2NW9CGkKpBvFVOUatXESt8V3U5B4D01RQ27IErYIqbPbUWSXEzYVQQ0gG5HXHrjU-xU0KAIwA_iD8Y7PDKbhAVosaL/s320/NIB+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>N.1B </i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">However,
this machine did not go into production because of the ending of World War I
but, as Mitchell had joined the firm in 1916 and had then been involved at
least with the Nighthawk (see my Blogpost: '<b><a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/what-was-r-j-mitchells-first-design.html">What was R.J. Mitchell's First Design</a></b>?'), it is entirely
likely that he had had some design input in the three N.IB airframes that were
built: by the time of the Armistice, N59 (see photo above) had been completed
and was being evaluated by the Navy and N60 was largely complete. The third,
N61, was under construction and was most probably (in view of its extensive
departures from the N59 design) the one bought back from the Air Ministry for
entry in the 1919 Schneider Trophy competition, in the hope thereby to gain
some very useful publicity. The modifications were such that it was
re-named the Sea Lion I. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="b-indentedspace">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="j-chaptersubhead" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Sea Lion I. </span></b></span></div>
<div class="k-picture">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1c9_YGJYfvnQ8OoPwu2XJaKPfMx5-FU1a-DXVJ_HqxOvosPzHv0SXLPQX2lZm1zO5mBZdZ9Hh7Os5Lc4058IuiAzlxufQy_XH_3o9sdNtbW00GYXQhenYyLJ5LMZ2OKGdE5ZrwC8SvZKN/s1600/Sea+Lion+I+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1c9_YGJYfvnQ8OoPwu2XJaKPfMx5-FU1a-DXVJ_HqxOvosPzHv0SXLPQX2lZm1zO5mBZdZ9Hh7Os5Lc4058IuiAzlxufQy_XH_3o9sdNtbW00GYXQhenYyLJ5LMZ2OKGdE5ZrwC8SvZKN/s320/Sea+Lion+I+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sea Lion I</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="d-unindentedspace">
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">The
particular configuration of this aircraft suggests that the modifications to
the Baby design were largely Hargreaves’. The fin and rudder were enlarged in a
shaping not followed later by Mitchell (see fin sketches below); likewise, the
base of the latter was used as a water rudder, the interplane struts were splayed
outwards, and the wings had balanced ailerons on the top wing only and had an
inverse taper. Also, the hull was decked to keep down spray and so the front of
the fuselage was far less sleek than Mitchell’s later Sea Lion II and Sea King
II:</span></div>
</div>
<div class="c-unindented">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7jOzQ9kttyGTu7ilPhvBkteRjVgnh9qmXo0aVc2l0aj9ZW1foWfhwOPSjkxV4KNJtRzgLKAZrunGyf69eYi2Ozs_QfKVv3t-DTevAt5P3vO_CJ_vZV_gOSmOiEFlBh2rYsmYperofwB_/s1600/nose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7jOzQ9kttyGTu7ilPhvBkteRjVgnh9qmXo0aVc2l0aj9ZW1foWfhwOPSjkxV4KNJtRzgLKAZrunGyf69eYi2Ozs_QfKVv3t-DTevAt5P3vO_CJ_vZV_gOSmOiEFlBh2rYsmYperofwB_/s400/nose.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i>Sea King I (</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">see later</span><span lang="EN-US">)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sea Lion I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sea Lion II</span></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">In
appearance, the aircraft suggested that the man with overall responsibility for
this aircraft seemed to have favoured rugged seaworthiness rather than speed
through the air; as such, it was the Royal Aero Club’s choice over the slightly
faster Avro 539A, for the third entry to the 1919 Schneider Cup competition –
possibly hedging their bets because of the already proven sea-going qualities
of Supermarine machines. But, by the time of the Schneider contest, Hargreaves
had left the company and it was Mitchell who would have assumed last-minute
responsibility for this aircraft.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">However, the
“non-event” of the 1919 Schneider Trophy contest was of no help to Supermarine’s
hopes for this type but the company persisted with their fighter flying-boat
concept with their next two fast flying-boats, the Sea Kings.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="c-unindented">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sea King I. </span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">As
Mitchell’s design inputs began in 1916, it is more than likely that he had also
been involved with the Sea King modifications to the original N.1B Baby design;
however, little is known about his involvement in the N60 version, also bought
back from the Air Ministry, and which, it seems likely, became the Sea King I.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">This
aircraft appeared, largely unmodified, at the 1920 Olympia Aero Show, after
Mitchell’s appointment as Chief Designer, but how long it had been in
existence in this guise before this date is unknown; certainly the direct
repetition of the earlier, apparently inadequate tail configuration looks
backwards rather than to the future:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSitp6rKBsZh5odWXYLtE6t8SGHAi6ZkPMftBjDCgwSUvCOvc_fnWei88jcNlLhdCVrHYLtxdiDH_g8VY_gCvAxZLOLdrd9oBDAbgJR4mjQUf9piFoQt3UAQsZeb6QLUQnRBAPO9jIdelo/s1600/blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSitp6rKBsZh5odWXYLtE6t8SGHAi6ZkPMftBjDCgwSUvCOvc_fnWei88jcNlLhdCVrHYLtxdiDH_g8VY_gCvAxZLOLdrd9oBDAbgJR4mjQUf9piFoQt3UAQsZeb6QLUQnRBAPO9jIdelo/s320/blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="a-indented" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>N.1B Baby and Sea King I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sea Lion I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sea King II<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">see below</span><span lang="EN-US">)</span></i></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">One
speculates that, at this time, the profitable modifications to the A. D. Boats
had so pre-occupied Supermarine that a relatively unmodified N60 Baby was sent
to the Olympia Aero Show essentially as a marker for the company’s continuing
interest in the naval fighter scout concept. There is no record of the aircraft
having flown, thus adding to the speculation surrounding the Sea King I. The
following publicity for this aircraft, apparently re-engined, would seem to
imply that control might not be quite adequate; it also reveals that the
company was hoping to sell to the many private flyers that World War I had
produced, if military orders could not be achieved:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">The ‘Sea
King’ is a small fast single-seater which for general purposes follows the
structural methods of the ‘Channel Type’ boat. With its 160 h.p. Beardmore
engine it puts up a speed of 96 knots, so that it is either a thoroughly
sporting little vehicle for the single or unhappily married man, or is a useful
small fast patrol machine for Naval work along troublesome coasts. Its chief
difference in design from the ‘Channel Type’ lies in the fact that it only has
a monoplane tail of the depressing kind and so takes rather more flying on the
part of the pilot than does the bigger machine.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">Had there
been any sales, perhaps Mitchell might have wished to modify the tail surfaces but, unfortunately, neither the military nor the ‘single or unhappily married
man’ came along to buy one and it had to await the Mark II development by
Mitchell two years later. </span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Sea King
II.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">In response
to the continued Air Ministry interest in a fighter design for shipboard use,
Mitchell now produced an amphibian modification of the Baby/Sea King I machine:
‘designed as a high performance fighting scout, specially adapted for getting
off gun-turret platforms of capital ships, or getting off and landing on the
decks of aircraft carriers. The strength and design of the hull are such that
it can operate on and from the water under any weather conditions in which it
would be possible to operate any other sea craft [boat] of equal size’
(Supermarine publicity). It was produced in 1921 and so its modifications can
be attributed entirely to Mitchell and, indeed, it bore distinct evidence of
his taking over the design department at Supermarine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">The most
obvious revision of the earlier design was the more generous fin and rudder
area (see sketches above) – and it would appear from the Supermarine publicity
quoted below that this had a noticeably beneficial effect). As with his Seal (see my
Blogpost: '<b><a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/precursors-of-walrus_24.html">Precursors of R.J. Mitchell’s Walru</a>s</b>'), the tailplane was now placed
almost midway on the fin and the retracting gear of the Seal was again
utilized. At the same time, Mitchell also devised a very simple method for the
removal of the undercarriage system and a Seal type combined tailskid and sea
rudder was also employed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"> The wing-tip
floats were the same full depth type as employed on the Baby, Sea Lion I and
Sea King I and the tailplane outline was similar to that of the Sea Lion I or
the Seal II but with the lower position of the latter – whose reversed camber
(“of the depressing kind” continued the Baby tradition. The
aerodynamically balanced ailerons and rudder of the Sea King I were again
abandoned in favour of the Baby configuration; the more streamlined Baby/Sea
King I hull was retained. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">The
Supermarine description of this version of the single-seat flying boat fighter
type also draws attention to its flying qualities as well as to the many
practical features now incorporated by the designer (a theme that would become
familiar in the Mitchell story):</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">The
manœuvrability of the ‘Sea King’ Mark II is one of its most important features.
It can be looped, rolled, spun, and stunted in every possible way.
Longitudinally, the machine is neutral, and flying at any speed throughout its
entire range either with engine on, gliding, or climbing, no load is felt on
the control stick. This balance has been obtained entirely on the stabilising
surfaces, and no mechanical adjustment by the pilot is required. . .The engine, a
300 h.p. Hispano Suiza, is mounted in a streamlined nacelle, which contains oil
tank, radiator and shutters, piping, controls, etc. The whole unit is very
accessible and the engine can be replaced very easily.Interchangeability
and ease of upkeep and repair have been carefully studied. The complete wing
structure, including power unit, can be removed from the hull by withdrawing
eight bolts. The wing structure consists of top and bottom centre sections, and
top and bottom planes of equal span. One set of struts are [is] carried on
either side of the centre section. The top planes have a dihedral angle of 1°
and the bottom planes one of 3°. The engine unit is carried on two sets of
inwardly inclined N struts, and can be removed and replaced without interfering
with any wing structure member . . .The amphibian
undercarriage, which can be removed by the undoing of ten bolts in all, folds
up under the wings, and when folded is well clear of the water. It is raised
and lowered by a worm and bevel gear.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">The Sea King
II was designed and built in six months and made its first flight at the end of
1921 but, once more, no orders were received; however, there was some further
development in 1922 and 1923 – see my Blogpost concerning <a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/mitdhells-first-schneider-racers-sea.html">Sea Lions II and III</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">* * * * * </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="c-unindented" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: small;">For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<a href="https://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/so-far-i-haveposted-following-items.html"><b><u>Source Material and References</u></b></a>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="normalUNindented">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-33948292891488588872017-03-27T03:15:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:44:40.900-07:00What Was R. J. Mitchell’s First Design?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Early evidence of Mitchell’s design work is his contribution to the P.B.31E Nighthawk of 1916. He was, no doubt, also involved with Chief Designer Hargreaves’ Sea Lion I and, after the latter left in 1919, was involved in various conversions of the Admiralty designed aircraft, A. D. Boats, which Supermarine bought back from the RAF to be converted for passenger and photographic survey work. However, the first overall design which might be attributed to R. J. was the so-called Commercial Amphibian of 1920.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first aircraft involved in commercial flying after the end of World War I were conversions of military machines – like the Channels - the name given to Supermarine’s conversions of the A. D. Boat. As they were by no means well suited to their new roles, the newly formed Department of Civil Aviation at the Air Ministry announced, in March 1920, two competitions for commercial designs ‘of British Empire origin’ to promote ‘Safety, Comfort and Security’ in air travel. With a view to developing international travel, and bearing in mind that there were few airfields available, one of these competitions was specifically for amphibian seaplanes with a first prize of £10,000 and a second one of £4,000. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was not surprising that Mitchell was asked by Supermarine to design an entry for the seaplane competition, which was to commence on 1 September of that year. By later standards, entry requirements were extremely modest: in the amphibian category, these included seating accommodation for a minimum of two passengers; a range of 350 nautical miles at 1,000 feet at a speed of not less than 70 kt; and a load of 500 lb to include passengers and life belts but not including crew. There was also a requirement of a flight of three minutes at 5,000 ft. to check if the machine would fly itself at this height and with enough height to recover if necessary. Based at the experimental station at Felixstowe, the amphibian competitors should take off from water and fly to the land-based experimental station at Martlesham Heath. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LYk093ke1XwAk3D9xNQcuh8J8uTqSx6BrfiaO1pL0qfAQVQMY5szhwBEIpcF3hqSOVsBTzP0aRww3qfQCaGHvWjjQWWAT0ozrdex928aHEu5Ai4Tcks-z9tQ7Uf56T9OjizvEpvJTVxO/s1600/Com+A+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LYk093ke1XwAk3D9xNQcuh8J8uTqSx6BrfiaO1pL0qfAQVQMY5szhwBEIpcF3hqSOVsBTzP0aRww3qfQCaGHvWjjQWWAT0ozrdex928aHEu5Ai4Tcks-z9tQ7Uf56T9OjizvEpvJTVxO/s400/Com+A+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Commercial Amphibian at Martlesham</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As the Commercial Amphibian can be claimed to be the first comprehensive design by Mitchell, it is surely very understandable that the end-product would be a conservative one. Also, there were only about twenty weeks separating the announcement date of the competition and that of the trials, leaving little time for innovative thinking. Not surprisingly therefore, Supermarine described the new design as ‘practically a "Channel" type boat, with a wheeled undercarriage hinged on each side’ although the comparable side views show considerable changes in the Mitchell design: </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjriZMHnFheDDho-hWkhYYFk56wRFFj73jBRU7Yd6olSv-N-Q8V4c4CJwsOBu12EmMYZ-Ku32GGMgiJmO-znTdCTJzitd-8KNH2hf0qiSSJqmYnzzKWC1UF41PlZw7E4HJzOnRM4k-lWglY/s1600/Ch+II-Comm+Amph+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjriZMHnFheDDho-hWkhYYFk56wRFFj73jBRU7Yd6olSv-N-Q8V4c4CJwsOBu12EmMYZ-Ku32GGMgiJmO-znTdCTJzitd-8KNH2hf0qiSSJqmYnzzKWC1UF41PlZw7E4HJzOnRM4k-lWglY/s400/Ch+II-Comm+Amph+2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Channel II Commercial Amphibian</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As regards the Channel precedent, the Commercial Amphibian had a biplane layout in which similar dimensions of height, and length were adopted and the sea rudder was similarly placed to that of the Channel – vertically below the leading edge of the tailplane – but now converted to act also as a skid for taxiing over land. The wing-tip floats were also of the Channel sort and the oval hull and the general arrangement of its built-on planing surfaces continued the Linton Hope/Channel principle of hull construction [see my Blogpost: '<a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/r-j-mitchells-wooden-hulls-structure.html">Mitchell's Wooden Hulls</a>']. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On the other hand, Mitchell increased the area of the lower wing; he also incorporated features of a much
smaller aircraft, Hargreaves' Sea Lion I: the fin and rudder outlines were similar although a proportional increase in surface area above the tailplane allowed our designer to provide a more symmetrical appearance to the fin. And the Sea Lion's outwardly raked inter-plane struts were repeated in the new, and larger, machine. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Between the Amphibian’s struts there were canvas stabilising screens, full length between the inner pairs and quarter length between the middle ones. These screens were relatively uncommon by the end of the 1914-18 War but survived on several later Supermarine designs as well as on the Channel and Sea Lion, perhaps (in the case of the inner ones, at least) mainly to protect the engine and propeller from spray on take-off or landing. It was the present machine which was most extensively fitted with them and, in this respect, it did not look particularly like an advanced design. As many of the features from the Channel and the Sea Lion I were thereafter abandoned by Mitchell, the present design can be regarded as something of a ‘time capsule’, a summing-up of earlier practices rather than a statement of the way forward.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But, nevertheless, Mitchell showed an early instance of boldness and originality by abandoning the biplane tailplane and twin rudders of the Channels (still evident in the Handley Page H.P.42 of the 1930s) in favour of a single fin and tailplane. It is worth noting that the competition rival Vickers Viking III went through three more variants before the Mark VII, the Vanellus, appeared five years later with a more modern-looking single tailplane and rudder. And Mitchell’s rudder was also a departure from the minimalist approach of previous Admiralty inspired rudders – perhaps his work alongside Hargreaves on the Sea Lion I had had some influence in this respect. Additionally, Mitchell remodelling of the nose with a
prominent boat-like entry to counter spray was to prove successful
in his future Sea Eagle, Scarab and Seagull designs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A further feature was Mitchell’s design for a retracting undercarriage, necessary because the Air Ministry competition was for an amphibian aircraft. At this time, an American landplane, the Dayton-Wright R. B. Racer, had a fully retracting landing gear designed specially for the Gordon Bennett race of 1920; on the other hand, the Air Ministry commercial competition was satisfied with devices which merely lifted the wheels out of the water, in order to facilitate take-off and alighting. Supermarine’s concern for ‘boats which fly’ offered no previous experience of retractable undercarriages for Mitchell to call upon and so it is noteworthy that, for his specially designed mechanism, he chose a geometry which displaced the wheels outwards rather than forwards – thus avoiding any change of trim when the wheels were moved up or down.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One other particular feature of the Commercial Amphibian must also be mentioned: the enclosed passenger cabin [see the opened cabin roof top in the photo above]. The competition’s intention of ascertaining ‘the best type of Float Seaplanes or Boat Seaplanes which will be safe, comfortable and economical’ might have seemed to make an enclosure for passengers inevitable but it should be noted that the other two amphibian entries had open cockpits for the passengers, one seated next to the pilot and the other two side-by-side behind. Open cockpits at this time were the norm and they saved weight, but they were far from ideal for operation over water and in northern climates – Cozens, a contemporary observer, described how previous Channel passengers ‘had an uncomfortable ride on many occasions’ and, although ‘wearing flying coats and helmets they looked wet and miserable as they got into a boat that was rowed out to meet them’.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
No adjustments or replacements to the Mitchell aircraft were required, despite its one-off design and the short notice of the competition, and the Supermarine entry was the only one which completed all the tests that were stipulated and whose landing gear did not give trouble at any time. The judges also noticed with approval an effective tiller arrangement for steering whilst taxiing on water, the equipment for sea use, and the way in which the shape of the forward part of the hull kept spray off the passengers’ compartment. On the other hand, the novel undercarriage gave rise to criticism for being none too clean, from the mechanical and the maintenance points of view. The lateral control of the Commercial Amphibian was also considered not immediately responsive enough. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unfortunately, the fitting of a Rolls-Royce Eagle engine in order to lift the considerable more loaded Channel design led to a loss of competition points, resulting in its coming second to the Vickers Viking. However, the Air Ministry report on 11 October stated that ‘the results achieved for amphibians show that considerable advance has been attained … and the competing firms deserve congratulations on their enterprises.’ They also recommended a doubling of the second prize money to £8,000 as ‘the proportion of the monetary awards does not adequately represent the relative merits of the first two machines’. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A modest beginning to be sure but, as we shall see later, its general design and its overall performance gave rise to a call from the Air Ministry for a development of this machine which led to the Sea Eagle and the Seagulls between 1923 and 1926.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<a href="https://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/so-far-i-haveposted-following-items.html"><u><b>Source Material and References</b></u></a>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
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john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-89669026680932465072017-03-26T11:34:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:44:29.017-07:00Precursors of R.J. Mitchell's Walrus.<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyF_hkY1TqdwBCx7W5h9Iko5TbaIfrD0jTy0R-XgFzFUAgTuMO7eL7D-2fSA9E5ko_2UzJkOHHf31EVV0z_pb58OYKiJwK1wTMZSkpXhYQScb0Jy-KIqMZS1CJT3Q9XgLWaYi6u7its65b/s1600/Seagull+II++copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyF_hkY1TqdwBCx7W5h9Iko5TbaIfrD0jTy0R-XgFzFUAgTuMO7eL7D-2fSA9E5ko_2UzJkOHHf31EVV0z_pb58OYKiJwK1wTMZSkpXhYQScb0Jy-KIqMZS1CJT3Q9XgLWaYi6u7its65b/s320/Seagull+II++copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Seagull III, Papua (from painting by author).</i></td></tr>
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The first success of Mitchell as Chief Designer was the Commercial Amphibian and this had brought an order from the Air Ministry for a military development of the type as part of its policy to assist the struggling aviation companies to stay in business. This was obviously not a philanthropic gesture but a recognition that British air power needed the support of a healthy aviation industry especially as, by 1920, the RAF had been in action again with the new military tactic of ‘control without occupation’ – a very economical and swift-acting aerial alternative to the employment of large army land forces in the policing of colonial and League of Nations mandated territories – against tribesmen in Mesopotamia, Transjordania, the Sudan, and Somaliland, against the Bolsheviks in Russia, and against the Afghans on the Indian frontier.<br />
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<b>SEAL II</b><br />
In order to fulfill the Air Ministry requirement, Mitchell’s next design was to be a three-seat amphibian for use as a fleet spotter; it would be required to be extremely seaworthy and to have the lowest possible landing speed with good control – in order to land on to aircraft carriers. Mitchell’s response was known as the Seal II, presumably with the Commercial Amphibian being regarded as the Mark I predecessor.<br />
The Seal II had the outwardly-retracting landing wheel geometry first introduced on the Commercial Amphibian but the detail of the Seal’s retracting system shows that something had been learned from the criticisms of the earlier plane’s mechanism: the earlier machine had an undercarriage of two steel tubes, hinged below the lower centre-section join with the lower main planes and the wheels were raised or lowered by sideways pressure from a tube in the hull to the wheel axles; the new undercarriage now had a single strut, suspended from the lower wing and braced by two tubes hinged to points on the hull; it was moved inwards for retraction by means of a worm and bevel gear under the wing. This revised method was utilized on all future Supermarine amphibians up to and including the Sheldrake of 1927. <br />
Of the flying surfaces, only the tailplane followed the previous Hargreaves Sea Lion outlines and, although Mitchell placed the stabiliser lower on the fin, he retained the inverted aerofoil principle. This feature was also continued in aircraft up to the Sheldrake, being necessitated by the high thrust line of the engine which caused increasing nose-down forces as power increased. With the tailplane being ‘of the depressing kind’, as it was described in the publicity for Hargreaves’ earlier Sea King, the need for constant back pressures on the stick was therefore obviated at cruising speeds. <br />
On the other hand, the wing shape was new and this planform was retained by Mitchell for all his subsequent single-seat naval aircraft, up to and including the Sheldrake. But the rearward-folding wing requirement for a shipboard aircraft had not been tackled by the Supermarine company since the Baby of World War I and Mitchell adopted a similar approach – and one which he, again, continued with in military aircraft until the Sheldrake: the forward wing strut at the joint between the wing centre section and the main plane was doubled so that one of these members carried the weight of the leading section of the wing when folded back. The need for wing-folding also required large cut-outs to be made in the trailing edges of the wings, so that they could fold close to the plane’s centre-line to keep storage space to a minimum, and the wings were placed further forward than in the Commercial Amphibian so as not to project behind the trailing edges of the tail assembly when folded.<br />
The wing-tip floats, with their decreased side-area, were less clumsy than before and could be carried on struts to the waterline. The pilot was placed well forward and supplied with a machine gun which could be retracted and shielded during take-off and landing; the wireless operator was just aft of the wings and the rear gunner behind him but with the fuel tanks separating off the pilot from these other two crew members. </div>
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Because two of the crew members were placed behind the wings, a tractor layout had to be chosen for the engine to prevent the centre of gravity moving too far back. In Supermarine’s publicity for the Seal, attention is drawn to this placement, no doubt because of its novelty (at least in single-engined machines):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
the engine is the Napier of 450 h.p. The engine mounting is unusual in that it is of the tractor type. This has been rendered possible by the fact that in this case the greater part of the useful load carried is aft of the wings in the tandem cockpits, and the success of the tractor mounting will allow this type of boat to be arranged either as a tractor in such a case as this or as a pusher in cases where the greatest useful load is concentrated forward. Very great attention has been paid in designing this engine installation to securing accessibility for inspection and adjustment of the engine and its accessories.</blockquote>
One notices the offer of the more conventional pusher layout – presumably in the hope of a civilian version which would not, one might reasonably assume, need a gunner behind the wings. The company publicity also draws attention to the new designer’s typical concern with the practicality of his machines – in this case, the ease of access to the engine.<br />
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As N146, the Seal II first flew in May, 1921 and, in the following year, one machine was sold to Japan who were keen to be kept abreast of Western technological developments. Despite this general lack of orders, the Seal is important in our story as it is the one early Mitchell design which most clearly looks forward to one of his three main aircraft types – the Seagull II to Seagull V/Walrus series of medium sized amphibians.<br />
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Meanwhile, the company had to come to terms with the post-war Anti-Waste League and the resultant Geddes Committee Report which led to a drastic reduction in all Government expenditure. The new Secretary of State for Air, Sir Samuel Hoare, reported that, in 1923, only 371 front line aircraft remained, either in the British Isles or abroad, and assessed the current situation thus: ‘Orders for military planes had almost come to an end and a demand for civil planes did not yet exist … Only two thousand five hundred men and women were left in the industry and the few firms engaged on machines and engines were on the verge of closing down.’<br />
On the other hand, the actions mentioned earlier of ‘control without occupation’ had to be backed up by support for the ailing aircraft industry. Thus it had been decided that, over the next five years, thirty-four new squadrons would be formed, bringing the air defence of Great Britain up to fifty-two squadrons by 1928. [In the event, the total home squadron numbers only rose to thirty-four by the date proposed.]<br />
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<b>SEAGULLS II to IV</b><br />
The first positive result of the new situation was seen when Supermarine received a letter from the Air Ministry which suggested that it ‘might be inexpedient’ to close down the works entirely as Supply and Research were considering an order, ‘the exact amount of which cannot yet be stated, but which might approach 18 machines, spread over the period ending March 31st, 1924’.<br />
In response to this Air Ministry lifeline, Mitchell modified the Seal II machine. A more powerful Napier Lion II engine was fitted – again in a tractor layout – and the fin consequently increased in area and the wingspan reduced. Thereafter, two new aircraft, N158 and N159, were completed by March, 1922, by which time, the wing-tip floats had been redesigned, the wings given a slight sweep back, the ailerons redesigned, and the fin area further enlarged. The number of modifications resulted in these first production Seagulls being designated Mark II. <br />
There was one particular modification of the Seal type which ought to be mentioned: the fuel tanks had now been moved from the fuselage to positions under the top wing centre-section, thus supplying petrol to the engine by gravity feed. [A Supermarine comment on the previous Sea King II design had been that ‘the petrol supply is by pressure, and every effort has been made to reduce the length of piping and eliminate as much as possible the carrying of piping into the hull’.] Perhaps because of the weight distribution of the basic Supermarine flying boat configuration, there appears to have been no undue problems created by the new fuel arrangements and there was also a particular bonus: Supermarine was now able to announce that ‘inter-communication between crew has been considered fully, and a through passage is arranged for this purpose’. [In passing, it should be noted that the constructional methods of the Linton Hope hull that Supermarine had adopted conferred another advantage as there were no internal bracings or structural bulkheads to be weakened by making a passageway between the pilot and the other crew members – see my Blogpost: ‘<a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/r-j-mitchells-wooden-hulls-structure.html"><b>Mitchell’s Wooden Hulls</b>, Structure and Finish</a>’.]<br />
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A competitive test on <i>HMS Argus</i> between the Seagull and the Mark VII version of the Vickers Viking had found in favour of Mitchell’s machine and an order for five Seagulls, N9562 to N9566, was then received in February 1923. This was followed by a requirement for another thirteen (N9642 to N9654), also in 1922. These aircraft equipped No. 440 (RAF) Fleet Reconnaissance Flight and some were placed aboard the aircraft carrier <i>HMS Eagle</i>. An additional machine was again sold to Japan. <br />
Further orders for the Seagull came in when the Australian government decided that their Air Force should assist in the hydrographic survey of the Great Barrier Reef. 101 (Fleet Cooperation) Flight was formed on 1 July 1925 and six Supermarine Seagull III amphibians were ordered (A9-1 to A9-6). These machines were essentially Mk IIs with larger radiators and the first of these was ready by February, 1926 – by which time six of the RAF aircraft had served a tour of duty with <i>HMS Eagle </i>but, thereafter, the type was pronounced as having ‘no potential naval use’.<br />
In sharp contrast, the Australian Seagulls were used more thoroughly, as their survey work extended into 1927 and continued on northwards to include some 10,000 square miles of Papua and one staged flight of 13,000 miles. Interestingly, three RAF Seagulls, engineless, had been acquired at the scrap price of one hundred pounds each and were intended to be used for spares. However, they were found to be in such excellent condition that they were re-erected and quickly put into service.<br />
This traditional Supermarine ruggedness was also evident after the survey work was completed, as the Seagulls were assigned to the newly constructed seaplane tender <i>HMAS Albatross</i>, commissioned in 1929, and continued in carrier use until 1933 when the vessel was placed in reserve. </div>
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The Seagulls had, by this time, lost their appeal for the RAF but, as a result, the Seagull design continued to occupy the minds of Mitchell’s design team even until 1928: fitting hydro-vanes was considered and, because of its porpoising tendencies, various permutations of the hull step position were tried out on N9565 and on N9606. And one aircraft, N9605, was fitted with Handley Page slots and a new tail unit with twin fins and rudders. This aircraft, designated Mark IV, was converted to take five passengers in 1929, when the Supermarine company was looking forward to the old Sea Eagle Southampton–Channel Islands routes being resumed [see my Blogpost: '<a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/rj-mitchells-sea-eagle-fleet.html"><b>R.J. Mitchell's Sea Eagle Fleet</b></a>'] – with a small fleet of Seagull IVs. A pilot service was begun in July by the prototype five-passenger conversion (G-AAIZ) but most of August was void owing to serious damage to the hull caused by its hitting a barely submerged rock. Then, on 2 September, the short-lived business ceased when the aircraft ran into engine trouble.<br />
Two other Seagulls, N9653 and N9654, were converted for civilian use: registered as G-EBXH and G-EBXI respectively they began a coastal service at Shoreham but this also failed, owing to inadequate public response. <br />
However, two other modifications of the Seagull were of great significance to Mitchell’s team. One was concerned with equipping a Seagull to initiate the testing of catapults for launching aircraft and the second was the changing of the usual water-cooled Napier engine to an air-cooled radial engine in a pusher configuration. As we shall see later, when the Seagull V/Walrus appeared, it was an aircraft engined in this particular way and stressed for catapult launching.<br />
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For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/so-far-i-haveposted-following-items.html"><u>Source Material and References</u></a>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
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john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-67653304623713941802017-03-25T09:47:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:44:12.191-07:00R.J. Mitchell's Sea Eagle Fleet.<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="WordSection1" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="U">
In 1922, the Air Ministry gave approval for an air service between
Southampton, Cherbourg and Le Havre. The route, with a subsequent extension to
the Channel Isles, was to be operated by an air service named the British
Marine Air Navigation Company and Hubert Scott-Paine and James Bird of
Supermarine were to be its directors. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The aircraft which Mitchell was to design for this service
was to be powered by the Rolls-Royce Eagle IX engine, hence the chosen name –
“Sea Eagle”. Despite the somewhat aspirational name, Mitchell went back to the
more boat-like hull shape of the larger Channel and Commercial Amphibian
designs and, in fact, the fore section of the Sea Eagle resembled a cabin
cruiser of the time, with its high, pointed prow, enclosed accommodation for passengers,
large windows and grab-rails running the length of the passenger compartment
above the cabin and along the top of the hull. As the two planing steps were
also joined by a continuous hard chine which ran three-quarters of the hull
length, it embodied more than any other Mitchell design the original Pemberton
Billing concept of ‘boats which fly’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Presumably because of a need to consider local hangarage for
the aircraft, wing folding was again adopted. It would seem that width rather
than length was the important consideration because a forward folding
arrangement was again adopted, which also had the structural advantage of
folding at the main spar, although this arrangement necessitated a cut-out in
the leading edge of the wings, which did nothing for aerodynamic efficiency.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mitchell continued the practice of gravity feed for the
engine of this latest flying boat with apparently little qualms about stability
problems, for the fuel tank (and subsequently a second tank) was now attached
to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">top</i> of the centre section. On
28 June, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flight</i> correspondent wrote
that that ‘this machine represents a great step forward in the development of
the seaworthy [commercial] amphibian’ having appreciated the ‘most important
innovation’ that, in place of the usual tank in the hull, ‘the main petrol tank
has been mounted on top of the top plane, so that direct gravity feed, with its
attendant simplicity and freedom from breakdown, can be used’. The writer also
added, ‘the fact that the engine is mounted high above and some distance aft of
the cabin has resulted in reducing the noise audible in the cabin to a minimum,
and as a matter of fact, in the “Sea Eagle” it is possible for the passengers
to converse in ordinary tone of voice, without having to shout to one another’.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1477056237698167967" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>One departure from all previous (and future) practice was
the use of a pronounced stagger of the two wings, as the weight of the forward
passenger cabin and its six passengers necessitated bringing the centre of lift
of the top wing well forward of the engine. (One suspects that Mitchell’s usual
preference was for the simplicity of directly opposed biplane wings.)<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRb_uT2k2_O7z3obrv_zIjUjvbeWuN7j4L2h8fQImAwBDiRe9g66EV0iBoxqebDm0Iw-k-b1TgZSgwO6JUQj57FG6RODIiB1K_NhhpOoUeViWI0RgSS5VWP1nSHAhS4bKA7sOWTZzzfUI/s1600/Sea+E++new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRb_uT2k2_O7z3obrv_zIjUjvbeWuN7j4L2h8fQImAwBDiRe9g66EV0iBoxqebDm0Iw-k-b1TgZSgwO6JUQj57FG6RODIiB1K_NhhpOoUeViWI0RgSS5VWP1nSHAhS4bKA7sOWTZzzfUI/s400/Sea+E++new.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sea Eagle at Woolston</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first of the completed Sea Eagles had made its maiden
flight in June 1923, and received its Certificate of Airworthiness on 11 July.
Two days later, Supermarine entered the new aircraft in the King’s Cup Air Race
that had been initiated by the Air Ministry the year before, also to encourage
aviation development. As it was a handicapped event, the entry of a commercial
flying boat might not seem too strange but the carrying of four passengers must
have had much to do with the Company being mindful of publicity generated by
air races. Unfortunately, circumstances involving a burst tyre and its
replacement led to the aircraft being disqualified.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the 5th of the next month, the Director of Civil Aviation
at the Air Ministry, Sir Sefton Brancker, came to Southampton and was given a
display of the machine’s ability to negotiate the (usually) crowded seaway as
well as a demonstration flight. He announced himself to be well satisfied with
the Sea Eagle’s potential contribution to the development of civil aviation,
both in terms of performance and comfort and, along with other senior members
of his department, had another flight nine days later. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Particular comment was made on the very sensible placing of
the passengers and, in the following publicity, the Company makes reference to
the advantages of this arrangement:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="Q">
The passengers are accommodated in a roomy cabin in the fore part of
the hull. This cabin is very comfortably fitted out. Its position in front of
the engine makes it very quiet and free from engine exhaust, gases, oil, etc. .
. It is very efficiently heated and ventilated, and is fitted with sliding
triplex windows along the two sides for use in the warm weather. </div>
</blockquote>
<div class="U">
One passenger recorded descending into the Sea Eagle and finding ‘a
delightful little room’ that the Company had fitted with ‘reposeful armchairs’.</div>
<div class="U">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Regular daily services between Southampton and Guernsey
began on 25 September, 1923, so constituting the very first British scheduled
flying boat service; it was advertised to leave Woolston at 11.15 a.m. and
return from St Peter Port at 3.30 p.m. (The French section of the service did
not materialise.) The service, often with breaks due to bad weather, continued
with the Sea Eagles for the next five years, even though the single fare to the
Channel Isles was not cheap. Compared with boat transport, however, the normal
flight time of one and a half hours was very attractive although, in adverse
wind conditions, it might be almost an hour more.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nearly four years later, the fleet of three Sea Eagles was
down to one: G-EBFK having crashed on May 21, 1924 (reportedly due to a bird
strike) and G-EBGS was rammed and sunk when moored at St Peter Port on the 10th
of January, 1927 – a reward of £10 for the identity of the culprit was never
claimed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">
In the event, Mitchell’s
machines had not only operated the first scheduled flying boat service in
Britain but they also had the distinction of forming part of the basic fleet of
the organisation which eventually became British Airways – on 31 March, 1924, Imperial Airways Ltd was incorporated as the 'chosen instrument'
of the British Government for developing national commercial air transport on
an economic basis and the British Marine Air Navigation Co. was one of four
companies taken over for this purpose. The two Sea Eagles which were remaining
by that time now had their fuselages painted with prominent ‘Imperial Airways’
lettering and they continued their accustomed service to the Channel Isles
under the control of the new national company from May 1, 1924.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The last of the three Sea Eagles, G-EBGR, was finally
retired in 1928, thus justifying Supermarine’s claims that this type was ‘very
strongly built and very seaworthy’. A photograph from a correspondent to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Aeroplane</i> showed a Sea Eagle hull at
Heston Airport in 1954. It had been presented to BOAC in September 1949 and intended
for restoration and display at the new London Airport; but nothing came of this
proposal and this piece of industrial archaeology was burnt on 13 February, 1954.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
</div>
<div class="U" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="U" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";">For
reference sources, see my Blog: “</span><u><a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/so-far-i-haveposted-following-items.html">Source Material and References</a>.</u><span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";"> " An extended bibliography is
included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine; Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material for wider reading, grouped
according to specific areas of interest. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-58599071644198978322017-03-24T12:10:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:43:56.259-07:00Mitchell's First Schneider Racers – the Sea Lions II and III.<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Mitchell's Sea Lions had
a common ‘ancestry’ in the N.1B Baby design and the Sea Lion I had a limited input
by Mitchell (see my Blog:"<a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/r-j-mitchells-early-modifications-1919.html"><b>R. J. Mitchell's Early Modifications</b></a>"), whereas the quiote different Sea Lion II was entirely his responsibility – as, of course, was
the Sea Lion III which followed. <br />
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="Chaptersubhead" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Sea Lion II </span></b></div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In 1922, the Air Ministry issued Specification N6/22 for a
single-seat fighter capable of operations from aircraft carriers or as a
floatplane. The winner of the contract was the Fairey Flycatcher –
it had a slightly higher top speed than Mitchell's Sea King (133 compared with 125
mph), it was just as aerobatic, its short span allowed it to be struck down to
the hangers without folding wing arrangements, and its extensive
aileron-cum-flap arrangements produced very low minimum take-off and landing
speeds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> With hindsight, it might thus be seen that
the days of a fighter flying-boat were numbered but Scott-Paine, the managing
director of Supermarine, was still determined to continue with the type and decided
to seek publicity for it by entering a version of the aircraft in the
1922 Schneider Trophy contest. Another, more patriotic, reason might have been to
prevent the Italians from winning the Trophy outright with a third win in the forthcoming competition (after the
inconclusive Bournemouth event of 1919, the Italians had had fly-overs in the
following two years). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> Also, the rules had been changed in
1920 to encourage a more practical type of aircraft rather than an out-and-out
racer: 300 kg. of ballast had had to be carried and, although this requirement was dropped the next
year, it was replaced by a watertightness test in which the aircraft had to
remain afloat fully loaded for six hours. These rules tended to suggest
the flying-boat’s suitability for the Trophy contest and it must have been
noted that the recent Italian designs to meet these requirements had, indeed,
been flying-boats.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">Despite the omens favouring flying-boats, the uncertain financial outlook of
the Supermarine company at this time was such that its Managing Director </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">did not feel able to
incur the cost of designing and building an entirely new machine and so the fuselage of the previous Sea
King II was utilized. </span>He also obtained the loan of a Lion engine from the manufacturers, a high speed propeller, petrol and oil from other manufacturers, and a fifty
percent reduction in insurance rates. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> Mitchell, no doubt remembering the sleek
Savoia at Bournemouth, aimed for increased speed by making the entry of the
fuselage, originally shaped to house a gun, somewhat smoother (see also</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">
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--> </style>"<a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/r-j-mitchells-early-modifications-1919.html">R.J. Mitchell's Early Modifications</a>"). And as the Lion engine to be fitted developed 150 hp more than the original Hispano-Suiza engine, he
was able to decrease the area of the wings by reducing their width. Another
modification was necessitated by the test pilot's refusing to test fly it until the
rear fuselage had been stiffened up. Again, in response to the
extra power of the engine, an additional increase in fin area was called for.
Mitchell achieved this with least expenditure of time and money by merely
modifying the vertical surfaces above the tailplane; the leading edge of the
fin was given a pronounced forward curvature which proved to be effective but certainly
won no prizes for elegance.</span></div>
<div class="Normalspace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> The finished machine was named "Sea Lion", thus drawing
attention to the name of the loaned engine. It was also designated a Mark II,
to distinguish it from Hargreaves’ earlier design but, as a result, misleadingly
suggested that it was a direct development of it, contrary to the pedigree
described above.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyRs3o_nTRaB-z0UnItvMBxGYSRnyC64mnoWCdd83a0OJCBXWpC6Nbvttzgy2q8Nz4f0dxWkK1h9RqlsMGAH-HyFUjGaqRzIoHwglsb-0mw_qpbU428a4ypyQHb_Pw00Hj9iMDCeahK14/s1600/Blog+22+sl+ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdyRs3o_nTRaB-z0UnItvMBxGYSRnyC64mnoWCdd83a0OJCBXWpC6Nbvttzgy2q8Nz4f0dxWkK1h9RqlsMGAH-HyFUjGaqRzIoHwglsb-0mw_qpbU428a4ypyQHb_Pw00Hj9iMDCeahK14/s320/Blog+22+sl+ii.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="Caption1">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Supermarine Sea Lion II (from a painting by the author) </span></i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As there have been many accounts of the Supermarine 1922 win,
I will confine myself to the following relatively unknown contemporary Cozens
extract:
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">. . . b</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">ad weather cut down Captain Biard’s chances of getting used
to the Sea Lion, and this was further jeopardised by a forced landing which
began with the engine cutting out over the Dock. However, when he had had a few
more flights he was satisfied and the speed and handling proved very good,
indeed it was faster than any flying boat or seaplane of that time. Then, with
the limited time available, it was doubtful if they could get the Sea Lion to
Naples in time but the General Steam Navigation Co. agreed to take it and it
was hurriedly dismantled, put into a crate and on to a lighter, and one of
Ray's tugs took it down to the Solent and the freighter Philomel lifted it on
board and took it to Naples.</span><br />
<div class="quoteindented">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pre-race spying and counter-spying on both sides was all
part of the event. This atmosphere continued throughout the whole series and it
was the policy of each competitor to arrive at the start of a competition with
a machine that was ahead of its rivals by virtue of some secret and outstanding
advantage which was not revealed until it was too late for anyone to copy. In
the case of the Sea Lion this meant that the wing-span was cut down to an
absolute minimum and as the trials at Woolston had been curtailed even Captain
Biard was not too well practised as to the machine’s behaviour.</span></div>
<div class="quoteindented">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">He kept is speed down in the practice flights but was
quietly getting used to the course and conditions, and his engine fitter, Mr.
Pickett tuned up the engine to the higher temperature of the Bay of Naples, so
that when the race started Biard was reasonably prepared …</span></div>
<div class="quoteindentedspace">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">When Captain Biard and his victorious team came to
the Floating Bridge with the great prize held above their heads no-one bothered
whether it was a Cup or a Trophy – everyone called it a cup, certainly
Scott-Paine. I had parked my bicycle outside the Woolston Picture House and I
saw the Supermarine workers run down to meet them. They had taken the two
swivel chairs from the office and fixed them to poles and they lifted Captain
Biard and Scott-Paine in the chairs shoulder high and carried them round the
works … Fireworks were let off and there was some horn blowing … [One suspects
that Mitchell’s relatively recent arrival in the firm at the time as well as
his temperamental self-effacingness account for there being no mention of him
in the celebrations.]</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
Mitchell’s machine not only won the Schneider Trophy race
for Britain at an average speed of 145.7 mph but also gaining the first F.A.I.
World Records for seaplanes:</div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
(i)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Duration –
1 hr 34 min 51.6 sec</div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
(ii)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Distance
flown – 230 miles</div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
(iii)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fastest
time for 100 km closed circuit – 28 min 41.4 sec (130 mph)</div>
<div class="unindentedspace" style="text-align: justify;">
(iv)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fastest
time for 200 km closed circuit – 57 min 37.4 sec (129.4 mph)</div>
<div class="unindentedspace" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Chaptersubhead" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"> Sea Lion III</span></b></div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As the next Schneider Trophy contest was to be held in
England, it was to be expected that Supermarine would be only too happy to
capitalise on their 1922 publicity by competing, successfully it was hoped,
without the cost of overseas travel and accommodation. Indeed, the new venue decided
on was to be Cowes, less than 20 miles from the Supermarine works at Woolston.<span lang="EN-US"> But only with the large-scale production of the Southampton, which began in 1925,
might Supermarine have felt justified in the cost of designing and building a one-off
specialist racer and, as the top speed of the Sea Lion II was significantly
less than that of the record breaking Savoia S.51, he did not immediately respond to the
challenge. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> When Scott-Paine was persuaded to submit an
entry, he confined himself to asking his Chief Designer to do his best with the 1922 airframe, to which Mitchell fitted an uprated Napier Lion III engine and radiator
into a more streamlined nacelle. The more powerful engine also allowed for a
reduction in the wing span by four feet and he also had fairings made behind the
two hull steps:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOccM1i3RIN02nlnDhwnfWqbuM6suH6Oe4YrCbjIUpp0I5Qu6mOSMt12LFOEamAx7SCWh9z1FklBdF1CDEubKTZ1avvI-Q1Xwb474S7g4H79xES07y5zPruv7ya-48pqu2Sx1OvHIPDp5/s1600/SL+III.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOccM1i3RIN02nlnDhwnfWqbuM6suH6Oe4YrCbjIUpp0I5Qu6mOSMt12LFOEamAx7SCWh9z1FklBdF1CDEubKTZ1avvI-Q1Xwb474S7g4H79xES07y5zPruv7ya-48pqu2Sx1OvHIPDp5/s400/SL+III.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Sea Lion III</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
In addition, he designed new wing-tip floats offering less
frontal area, mounted them on streamlined struts, and added fairings around the
main strut attachment points. Because an extra 75 hp was available from the new
Lion engine, the rudder and fin were increased in area, the resultant
combination looking less improvised than that of the Sea Lion II<i>.</i></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Mitchell’s changes could hardly prevent
the Supermarine entry from showing its, by now, venerable pedigree and one feels
that the rather whimsical sea lion head depicted on the nose and floats of the Supermarine
entry was almost a self-deprecating gesture in face of the expected
serious opposition from America: their Curtiss racers were fitted with of one of the great aero engines in aviation history,
the Curtiss D-12, whose frontal area was about 50% less than the rival Napier
Lion and their winning of the 1922 Pulitzer race was also due to the incorporation
of radiators flush-mounted on the wings and to the use of metal propellers (as tip speeds were now approaching the speed of sound.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNy1Jqc9se-WNPzeISMl3rUQpNUJghNwDIGqNYKBYUla2IdkBLK2qgKyZUyg0vDGRfpEaQpYxFvnDViGJ9TnL4HsVFxDRL_ogZah672h_rkS6ZSM1l1saCZ5O8pWnhX0Obo0QGoTDvYtV/s1600/sl3jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNy1Jqc9se-WNPzeISMl3rUQpNUJghNwDIGqNYKBYUla2IdkBLK2qgKyZUyg0vDGRfpEaQpYxFvnDViGJ9TnL4HsVFxDRL_ogZah672h_rkS6ZSM1l1saCZ5O8pWnhX0Obo0QGoTDvYtV/s400/sl3jpg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Sea Lion III at the competition base.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normalspace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Of the three machines which finished the
competition, these Curtiss CR-3 floatplanes came first, with an average speed
of 177.3 mph, and second, with an average of 173.46 mph. Despite 75 more
horsepower, Biard could only manage an average of 157.17, a poor third.</span></div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> Clearly, the usual European flying-boat formula with an
engine mounted above the hull was no longer likely to be the best approach – apart from the formidable in-line engine and the flush fitted radiators, the Curtiss CR-3 configuration also limited the number
of other drag inducing items to 16 struts, with 20 wires, despite the extra
penalty of floats, whereas the Sea King/Sea Lion I tradition
Mitchell had inherited had required 33 struts and 42 wires as well as a boat-like hull. Afterwards, Scott-Paine praised the Napier engine ‘that would have gone
on for ever’ but said that he needed ‘to apologise to Capt. Biard because we
did not give him a good enough machine’. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
The Sea Lion, which had retained its Mark II registration G-EBAH, was returned as N170 to the Marine Aircraft
Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe with its undercarriage and sea
rudder/skid now restored but its career was short lived, owing to its extremely
lively take-off performance. As Biard had said, ‘It was an interesting
sensation; you switched on the engine, and before you could count 1, 2, 3, 4
fast – she was flying.’ Unfortunately, when Flg Off. E. E. Paull-Smith, took over the
Sea Lion, he apparently did not take sufficient notice of the warning that
the machine tended to lift off before flying speed had been reached. As a
result, he took off, dropped back onto the water, rose to about forty feet,
stalled again, and dived in. Paul-Smith was killed and the machine was too
extensively damaged to be considered worth repairing. </div>
<div class="unindented" style="text-align: justify;">
This incident, on 25 June, 1924, marked the end of
Supermarine’s attempts to interest the Air Ministry in the seaplane scout concept
and also the beginning of Mitchell’s search for a worthy and dedicated
Schneider Trophy competitor (see my Blog: <a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/rj-mitchells-annus-mirabilis-1925-part.html"><b>R.J. Mitchell's Annus Mirabilis, 1925: Part II</b></a>).<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">For
reference sources, see my Blog: “</span><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/so-far-i-haveposted-following-items.html"><b>Source Material and
References.</b></a></span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> " An extended
bibliography is included in my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">R.J.Mitchell
at Supermarine; Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> (see sidebar) which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
</div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-70041064487446947492017-03-23T12:50:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:43:25.718-07:00Mitchell’s Amphibian Bomber and an Enigma; The Scarab and the Sheldrake. <div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6uyJfMsDXwSkgE5mpQVaI7Sy5AF8I0kbM4yM8hdIeGwg9lMAuD2U7gSXRBe9EMyXUP3Tops7vPJk2aa6NGNdSBuDFtIUsjFp28JOjwMs7P_YtylV0ZGJnHwBAKoSyaq1dHHx0d_g3eR8O/s1600/+Sheldrake++copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6uyJfMsDXwSkgE5mpQVaI7Sy5AF8I0kbM4yM8hdIeGwg9lMAuD2U7gSXRBe9EMyXUP3Tops7vPJk2aa6NGNdSBuDFtIUsjFp28JOjwMs7P_YtylV0ZGJnHwBAKoSyaq1dHHx0d_g3eR8O/s1600/+Sheldrake++copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine Sheldrake</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3UORZ-f989dlP9pDzTE7VJ0VodAqeyEdrTi2SkZI8_nJGlvWAAfaasOsZarvzzAehszOu1X9IqPHezNBQMC3pn0uEESd7G-v_Yzt17p0KON4clmkoSSM1I-BmWfVARI2KMazXWRNuRWU/s1600/scarabs+x+4+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3UORZ-f989dlP9pDzTE7VJ0VodAqeyEdrTi2SkZI8_nJGlvWAAfaasOsZarvzzAehszOu1X9IqPHezNBQMC3pn0uEESd7G-v_Yzt17p0KON4clmkoSSM1I-BmWfVARI2KMazXWRNuRWU/s1600/scarabs+x+4+copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine Scarabs</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(from paintings by the author)</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Scarab, which first flew on 21 May, 1924, was a powerful fighting machine for its period and was the only Mitchell design sold exclusively outside the British Empire; the other Supermarine amphibian at this time, the Sheldrake, was an enigma. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b> Sheldrake </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The result of the criticisms of the Supermarine Seagull [see my Blogpost: '<b>Precursors of R.J. Mitchell's Walrus']</b> was that, in 1923, an Air Ministry order was placed for an improved version. The resultant aircraft was the Sheldrake whose flying surfaces were virtually identical to those of the Seagull but which had a more efficient boat-like hull very similar to that of the Sea Eagle . It is surprising that the noisy stabilising screens on either side of the engine were still retained, as was the separation of the pilot from the rest of the crew – which already had been addressed in the Seagull II [see my Blogpost: 'Pre cursors of R.J. Mitchell's Walrus']. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Even more surprising was the apparent inactivity around the Sheldrake – perhaps the first flights of the Sea Eagle and of the Sea Lion
III, the first production batch of the Seagull IIs, and consideration of the
larger flying-boats, the Scylla and the Swan, were important factors here – but, for whatever reasons, its only known public appearance is recorded as late as 1927, at the Hamble Air Pageant, where it could be seen to be an obsolescent type.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b> Scarab</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Meanwhile, a year after the Sheldrake was ordered, the second of our aircraft made its maiden flight – the first of a Spanish order for twelve aircraft. There was no prototype for this aircraft – as it was in a great many respects similar to the Sheldrake, the Air Ministry order for the Sheldrake provided most of the design work.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
King Alfonso of Spain was a regular visitor to the Hendon RAF Air Shows and must have had an early appreciation of the new British ‘control without occupation’ tactics whereby air power, not ground forces, was used to control insurgent tribes in areas of the British Empire or in areas mandated to Britain by the League of Nations. As a result, the Spanish Royal Naval Air Service asked Supermarine for an amphibian to be produced, capable of carrying a bomb load of 454 kilos, as it had been noticed the passenger carrying capacity of the Sea Eagle promised a suitable basis for a design. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the new, Scarab, version, the engine was returned to the more familiar pusher configuration as the crew were all now, more conveniently, grouped together in front of the wings – with the navigator/bomb-aimer also having a position in the hull immediately behind and below his cockpit position. The fuel tanks were now removed from the hull and placed above the middle section of the top wing. The space not now required in the fuselage was used for twelve 50 lb. bombs which could be dropped via a sealable aperture in the bottom of the hull. Four 100 lb. bombs were also carried under the wings and the total weight of bombs carried amounted to the equivalent of six men. The Scarab also had a crew of three and had to carry a machine-gun, ammunition and a considerable amount of fuel – thus making it an attractive powerful fighting machine for its period, given its single engine. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first Scarab made its maiden flight on 21 May, 1924, but whether all the twelve that were ordered actually saw service is unclear. One was damaged on acceptance trials when its Spanish pilot hit the side of a Union Castle liner when taking off; and they had to survive a severe Bay of Biscay storm stowed under tarpaulins as deck cargo. Nevertheless, Scarabs were seen above Barcelona at the 1925 Royal Review of the Spanish forces by King Alfonso and they equipped a seaplane carrier, the <i>Dédalo</i>, a converted merchant vessel – being lowered into the water or raised from it by crane.<br />
They were based at Carageno from whence they took part in actions against Riff and Jibala insurgents in the Spanish Moroccan campaign, including bombing raids in support of an amphibian landing at Al Hoceima.<br />
The Moroccan conflict ended soon afterwards in 1926 and so Supermarine publicity ran as follows: "A large number of these machines have
been bought by the Spanish Government, and these have been in operation
for the past year in Morocco <i>with the most satisfactory results</i> [my italics]."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
No Scarabs were ordered by the British Government but the Spanish order for the twelve machines was, at that time, quite substantial, especially coming soon after the order for 25 Seagull II aircraft and the three Sea Eagles.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<a href="http://johnkshelton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/so-far-i-haveposted-following-items.html"><u>Source Material and References</u></a>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-49688101871675330822017-03-22T03:36:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:46:43.816-07:00R.J. Mitchell's Ugly Ducklings: The Scylla and the Swan<style>
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<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">During World War I, Felixstowe F 2
and 3 flying-boats had been operated successfully on coastal-reconnaissance
duties, despite their various problems, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and they
were replaced after the armistice by the F.5 from the same makers. However, D’Arcy
Greig (later to figure in the Supermarine S.5 story) recorded that: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">they were grossly
underpowered by two Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engines, and if there happened to be
a flat calm at time of take-off, they frequently refused to unstick. On such
occasions the pilot had to taxi frenziedly up and down the Solent and around in
circles in order to disturb the surface of the water before trying again, but
even then they sometimes failed to get airborne.</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">These flying-boats had slab-sided
hulls which were prone to leakage and so the Air Ministry was concerned to see if the Linton-Hope type of
hull (see my Blog: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"R.
J. <b>Mitchell’s Wooden Hulls </b>– structure and finish</span><span lang="EN-US">"),
which they regarded as a success on the early Supermarine seaplanes,
could be adopted on aircraft of the Felixstowe size. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="chapterSUBHEAD" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">SCYLLA</span></b></div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The slow process of addressing
this concern by various manufacturers around the country lasted well after
the war, by which time Supermarine came into contention in 1921 with the Scylla, a
triplane with biplane stabilizers. It was to be powered by two main engines and
a much smaller, auxiliary one, sited in the hull to drive a water propeller for
taxiing [and perhaps to assist with take-offs?]. This last feature seems particularly old-fashioned, looking back to
the earlier Pemberton Billing days of the company, in particular, the
P.B.7, and to a proposed Torpedo Carrier triplane of 1921. </span></div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Why only the hull of the Scylla was
completed is unknown, as was its final fate. Most likely, Mitchell’s rapidly
developing confidence as a designer was an important factor:
as a new contract</span><span lang="EN-US"> was received soon afterwards</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"> (Spec. 21/22)</span></span> for a large commercial
amphibian, his thoughts could turn from the traditional thinking represented by
the Scylla to a more forward-looking aircraft. Also, required
to carry twelve passengers, it would come out at about the same size as the
military Scylla and therefore it might be that the first machine was soon
relegated to merely providing information for the new design – which, as a biplane, Mitchell
must have predicted would be a more efficient aircraft; it could also surely be
easily retro-fitted for such military purposes as might have been envisaged for the Scylla.
Certainly the former machine seems to have been used only for water taxiing
trials and a photograph in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supermarine
Aircraft</i> shows a very basic framework erected on the hull to accommodate
(temporarily?) the two engines for this purpose.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="SUBHEADchapter" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">SWAN</span></b></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">When the new machine, to be named the Swan, first appeared in 1924, it was
a considerable re-design, being an <i>equal-span biplane</i>
with a forward-folding wing arrangement like the Sea Eagle of the previous
year. Indeed the Swan might, in some ways, be regarded, rather, as a scaled-up Sea Eagle
although doubling the number of passengers to be carried necessitated
accommodating them in the main body of the hull rather than in the fore
position of the earlier aircraft.
Again, the fuel tanks were placed high enough to provide gravity feed to the
engines which were situated between the wings, as well as to provide unusually
roomy and fume-free accommodation for the passengers. The fin and rudder
outlines also resembled those of the Sea Eagle.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> On the other hand, Mitchell’s less
complex use of dihedral only on the outer sections of the lower mainplane was
new and the <i>three vertical tail surfaces</i> anticipated his larger designs of the
next decade. The single plane stabiliser was also new to larger Supermarine
aircraft and was kept well clear of the water by the upward slope of the rear
section of the hull – very unusual for the time although not quite an
innovation in flying-boat design (see the much smaller French Tellier T3 or Latham HB3);
nor was it as graceful as the upward sweep of the future Southampton rear fuselage
but, at least, it represented a bold new step in Mitchell hull design, without there
being previous experimentation with smaller hulls.</span></div>
<div class="PICTURE">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdM_04o6rybUs5boDIFvX1uR-Z_7GEFkVhKI8RnmY29Ha32PNtk9RxrSvd33glvcOtbYP9iNJVValg43XbSolQqL9d8BOVK3Ini_cs466ISWAJ5UWUwsFWpVpRnS0EEBfPAqEQXNBDXzw/s1600/scylla+side+v+copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdM_04o6rybUs5boDIFvX1uR-Z_7GEFkVhKI8RnmY29Ha32PNtk9RxrSvd33glvcOtbYP9iNJVValg43XbSolQqL9d8BOVK3Ini_cs466ISWAJ5UWUwsFWpVpRnS0EEBfPAqEQXNBDXzw/s320/scylla+side+v+copy.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine Swan</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="PICTURE">
<br /></div>
<div class="PICTURE">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace">
<span lang="EN-US">The need to mount three fins had
also led to a reversal of his earlier practice, whereby the tailplane had been supported by the fin (with the aid of numerous
struts). The new feature also anticipated most of Mitchell’s later seaplanes
and was a more elegant configuration than the traditional biplane-tail approach
proposed for the Scylla. On the other hand, the upswept fuselage and the
boat-like prow, flared outwards at the top to counteract spray, were features
in common with the earlier machine which had presumably been proven to be
effective by its taxiing trials.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace">
<span lang="EN-US"> The raised cockpit superstructure
was also very reminiscent of the unfinished Scylla and it contributed
significantly to the clumsiness of the hull profile. Cozens’ comments:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="blockQINDENTEDSpace">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">The Swan had several features
which showed improvements on previous designs, and no doubt these led to its
success. The keel had an upward curve towards the tail that enabled it to take
off more readily and this feature was noticeable in all later flying boat hulls
built throughout the flying boat era, even to the Saunders-Roe Princess of the
nineteen fifties, and it is very apparent if one compares the pictures of the
Swan with that of the [Supermarine] Channel I. The struts of the Swan’s centre section formed
large W’s which made for great strength and the large fins and rudders and the
considerable spacing between the wings made this aircraft a success from a
handling point of view. At any rate, Captain Biard was pleased and so was the
Air Ministry, but no-one could say that the Swan was a handsome machine with
its rounded bow and strange looking cabin and the pilot’s cockpit at the top. </span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">The “strange looking cabin”, which
housed a crew of two, sat on the top of the main fuselage so as not to interfere
with the passenger space and, as the proposed passenger windows had yet not
been fitted, the offending side-view was unrelieved. The same had been true of
the Scylla and, whilst Supermarine had no doubt chosen the latter’s name to
suit its proposed military role, it might seem to others that the name
reflected its appearance: a</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ccording to Ovid, the beautiful Scylla was turned into a
thing of terror and in Homer Odysseus manages to sail past her but not before
she catches and devours six of his men. As the new design was to have a more
pacific role, the new aircraft was named ‘Swan” although, despite its size, “ugly duckling” comes
more to mind. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XnSGZLkKitdGGsBX5lDZpMaTkjpseViyfbNwdqZTZ1XoM-918t2YtMiWPg7LU5DDbuvhKlGXtQo-IiOqJ6e7KjRFhcOeCexQc8VxVZNagmYBhauF5ODHaucAWhyb55-pIBp-pdOHBkCi/s1600/swan+biulding.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XnSGZLkKitdGGsBX5lDZpMaTkjpseViyfbNwdqZTZ1XoM-918t2YtMiWPg7LU5DDbuvhKlGXtQo-IiOqJ6e7KjRFhcOeCexQc8VxVZNagmYBhauF5ODHaucAWhyb55-pIBp-pdOHBkCi/s320/swan+biulding.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="CAPTIONspace" style="margin-top: 2.0pt;">
<i>The Swan nearing completion.</i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="PICTURE">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
<br />
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 7pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Be
that as it may, the new aircraft was first flown by Biard on 25 March, 1924
and, at this time, displayed the triangular cut-outs in the leading edges of
the wings to enable them to fold forwards. The Swan also had the sort of
retracting undercarriage arrangement that Mitchell had designed for his
single-engined amphibians but the much increased size of the new machine
necessitated the novelty of some form of servo assistance. Biard described the mechanism
as follows:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="blockQUNindENTEDSpace" style="margin-bottom: 7pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">it
would have been quite impossible to wind down the six-foot wheels and powerful
landing-carriage, which had to stand the weight of several tons of aircraft and
passengers! So a neat device was fitted to the machine to do the work quickly
and efficiently for us. This consisted of a small propeller, which, when not in
use, was set sideways to the direction in which we were flying. When we wanted
to lower the landing-gear, this propeller was swung round to face the direction
of our course, and the whirling propeller was connected by cogs to a handle
which wound very rapidly round and lowered the wheels into place; by turning
the propeller rearward the wheels were wound up out of our way under the wings,
and the machine was then able to descend on water. This gear, after one or two
adjustments following minor troubles during tests, when the Swan behaved
neither like fish, flesh, nor fowl, proved remarkably efficient, and wound the
heavy landing-gear into place in about half a minute or less.</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Biard also describes the visit
of the Prince of Wales to Supermarine, and to the Swan in particular, on the
27th of June in the same year. :</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL_yaoI2OFhayR4Wh7s6HFGroYyVuoV5RntO0Z6tTaeMNFfpj6nCK9A3pNmTa0ih_nopVR-7LyAR3rB4z4LNlZ8N5aqJY6HLsrb5LbE1aOvAK6k0kSMw06K-B07DzqsqkswYK5oSrPDgHJ/s1600/swanp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL_yaoI2OFhayR4Wh7s6HFGroYyVuoV5RntO0Z6tTaeMNFfpj6nCK9A3pNmTa0ih_nopVR-7LyAR3rB4z4LNlZ8N5aqJY6HLsrb5LbE1aOvAK6k0kSMw06K-B07DzqsqkswYK5oSrPDgHJ/s320/swanp.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="captionnospace" style="margin-top: 2.0pt;">
<i>An informal moment in the
Royal visit, showing the impressive size of the Swan.</i></div>
<div class="captionnospace">
<i><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Note the substantial samson
post at the prow. Mitchell to right of Prince of Wales</span>).</i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="captionnospace">
<br /></div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">By
the time of the Prince’s visit, the Swan’s two 360 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle engines
had been replaced by Napier Lion engines, each developing 90 hp more than the
Rolls-Royce units, which increased the Swan’s top speed by 13 mph; and the
folding of the wings and the leading edge cut-outs had also been dispensed
with. Plans for an RAF version of the Swan were also being actively pursued at
this time – which may also have had some influence on the change to the
fixed-wing layout and possibly throws more light upon the decision to terminate
the development of the military Scylla. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">Successful trials at the Marine
Aircraft Experimental Establishment, Felixstowe, followed which were to have
important results for the fortunes of Supermarine (see my Blogpost: <b>“Annus Mirabilis,</b>
Pt.1) and, on its return to Supermarine, it was now fitted out for its
passenger-carrying role. Company publicity pointed out that the machine was not
only the first twin-engined commercial flying-boat/amphibian but that the
provision of accommodation set new standards:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="blockQUnindent">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">This is the first twin-engined
amphibian flying-boat to be built in the world and it may also be fairly
claimed to be the first twin-engined commercial flying-boat.</span></div>
<div class="blockQUnindent">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">An important feature of this machine
is that the whole of the hull is devoted to passenger accommodation. There are
no internal obstructions of any kind, and the amount of room in the saloon far
exceeds that of any commercial landplane. The internal accommodation consists
of one large passenger saloon, elaborately furnished and upholstered and with
every comfort. Forward of the saloon is the luggage compartment, fitted with
racks for the stowage of passenger baggage. Aft of the saloon is the buffet,
with all necessary fittings to supply light refreshment during the journey.
Still further aft are the lavatories, which are efficiently and fully equipped.</span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div class="PICTURE">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">As such it was registered as G-EBJY
and first flew on June the 9th, 1926, carrying a representative of the newly formed Imperial
Airways and eight excited female employees of Supermarine. A slight reduction
in passenger seating had further allowed Supermarine to address the new standards in passenger
accommodation, which <i>The Aeroplane</i> fully confirmed: ‘the
appointments are exquisite’ with ‘a commodious passenger saloon padded
luxuriously and in which there are ten cosy armchairs. An ample porthole is
provided for each chair.’</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7I4GuzLXVzaQZ96tcjqbedxQlj5KER6R0w2cofXJXNgi6Ukm-su3TCsnl34X3omWTm1sIhAsHV4jZ6zOr-7NQd_EReBNsgHCfcLtCIoxpgi20YVCb2JaiYOM-mrBeCN-qngjA3-_ryaeu/s1600/m+in+swan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7I4GuzLXVzaQZ96tcjqbedxQlj5KER6R0w2cofXJXNgi6Ukm-su3TCsnl34X3omWTm1sIhAsHV4jZ6zOr-7NQd_EReBNsgHCfcLtCIoxpgi20YVCb2JaiYOM-mrBeCN-qngjA3-_ryaeu/s320/m+in+swan.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><style>
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<br />
<div class="captionnospace" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>Mitchell (front
left) in the Swan.</i></b></div>
<div align="left" class="captionspace" style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">(Note the
Linton-Hope fuselage structure of close-spaced hoops on longitudinal stringers)</span></i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The aircraft was loaned by the
Air Ministry to Imperial Airways in order to supplement the service of
Supermarine’s remaining two Sea Eagles, on their Channel
Isles service. It operated during 1926 and 1927 but, as The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guernsey Evening Press</i> reported, ‘during
the normal rigorous inspection prior to leaving Southampton on April 12, a
structural defect was discovered which necessitated the stripping of the whole
machine’. As a result, the Swan was scrapped; Imperial Airways’ next
long-distance seaplane was not to be the Swan, however, and so its main
significance remained that of providing the prototype for the Royal Air Force’s
next standard maritime reconnaissance aircraft, the far more attractive
Supermarine Southampton of 1925.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">For
reference sources, see my Blog: <b>“</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Source Material and
Refe</b>rences.</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> " An extended
bibliography is included in my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">R.J.Mitchell
at Supermarine; Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. More information, photographs and a three-view drawing of the Swan, as well as a full account of all Mitchell's completed designs and of the man behind them, will be available in a few weeks' time.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-US"><b><span lang="EN-US"><b><i> </i></b></span></b></span></span></b></span></span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-72575507632628940002017-03-21T04:16:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:47:15.418-07:00Spitfire versus Hurricane – a 1920’s precursor.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<style>
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<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<span lang="EN-US">
</span></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Whilst the 69 foot span Swan was
being prepared for its first flight, Supermarine departed from the usual
designs of medium and heavy amphibians by requiring Mitchell to design a very
small aircraft</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"> – a very light aeroplane
and a <i>landplane</i> as well </span>– and, incidentally, to compete with Sidney Camm, ten years
before his Hurricane was first seen as a rival to the Spitfire in the race to produce
a thoroughly up-to-date fighter as war clouds gathered.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="SUBHEADchapter" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">R. J. Mitchell’s First Landplane – the
Sparrow I.</span></b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgmVZ5G9xkMZaC22PacSaXEHDfLDWJqZObhw-YHas635w47hidFv9s3kDKFLmVnhDEnCLW-7aAKDqYyVeDl2uYYIG_-xbgMZ58pb0cfHO_BS5Ihbi2vpSbZ2W0sB21g78_Vtu86mLolkp/s1600/Supermarine+Sparrow+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgmVZ5G9xkMZaC22PacSaXEHDfLDWJqZObhw-YHas635w47hidFv9s3kDKFLmVnhDEnCLW-7aAKDqYyVeDl2uYYIG_-xbgMZ58pb0cfHO_BS5Ihbi2vpSbZ2W0sB21g78_Vtu86mLolkp/s320/Supermarine+Sparrow+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine Sparrow (from a painting by the author)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Early in 1924, the Air Ministry
announced a competition for two-seat, light, all-British aircraft to take place
at Lympne in the September of that year. The rules called for a
winning aircraft which scored most points for combined high-speed and low-speed
performance, control, shortest take-off and landing runs, and dismantling and
re-erecting. The engine
size was limited to 1,100 c.c. Subsequently, the Air Ministry offered to equip
ten light aeroplane clubs with a design selected from the competition aircraft.
As club aircraft would have to be dual control two-seaters,
established British companies took an interest, given the generally
stagnant nature of the aircraft industry at the time, and the large number of
ex-service pilot in the country who also might be buyers. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"> Supermarine named their entry "Sparrow" and chose the 35 h.p. Blackburne Thrush to power it. Unfortunately, Biard, the test
pilot, reported nineteen engine failures before the start of the competition and
things did not improve at the competition itself. As a result, the Sparrow did
not complete the preliminary flying tests and was eliminated.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> Most of the other major
manufacturers had entered machines; the Bristol Brownie, the Beardmore Wee Bee,
and the Short Satellite represented the monoplane approach to the specification
and four were conventional single bay biplanes like the Sparrow: the Vickers
Vagabond, the Avro Avis, the Westland Woodpigeon, and the Hawker Cygnet. The last
three machines had full span combined ailerons and flaps like the Mitchell
machine. In view of the later rivalry between the Hurricane and the Spitfire,
Sidney Camm’s Cygnet was especially interesting as it embodied a formula</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"> even more
similar</span> to Mitchell’s Sparrow as it was also a sesquiplane. </span></div>
<div class="MsoSignature" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">Unfortunately, the chance to compare different manufacturers' aircraft built to the same specification and at the same point in time, did not materialize: only eight of the nineteen entrants survived the eliminating trials and only
six eventually competed – all but seven of the competitors
failed because of some sort of engine problem and even a comparison between the
survivors was not possible: ten trouble-free laps had to be completed and, by
the last day of competition, only the Bristol and the Beardmore entries had
done so – with their engines throttled well back. The fact that these two
aircraft were monoplanes was not so much a vindication of the monoplane approach
as a result of their particular engines holding out the best.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"> The Air
Ministry produced a report on the entries
and, although recording the lowest landing speed and making a generally
favourable impression, Mitchell’s Sparrow was also criticised for poor communication
(as the tandem cockpits were well separated) and for a less than satisfactory view for the
forward pilot; it was also regarded as too cluttered with external control mechanisms
(a not untypical feature of Supermarine's larger flying-boats of this time).
Sidney Camm’s Cygnet, which</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"> had the best turn of speed, </span> might very well have been considered by the Air Ministry for
the proposed lightplane clubs, given a redesigned undercarriage and a widened
fuselage but, in the end, no orders were placed
for any of the machines: it had been clearly discovered that it would take much
longer to develop a reliable power unit than to design a satisfactory airframe.
</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="chapterSUBHEAD" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Sparrow II</span></b></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Supermarine persisted with their
aircraft,</span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"> entering it in the 1926 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daily Mail </i>Two-seater Light Aeroplane Competition. Again based at
Lympne airfield, it required six days of out and return circuits, amounting to
nearly two thousand miles of flying. The aircraft was now, w</span>isely, fitted with the make of engine which had
powered the two most successful aircraft of the 1924 Competition, a
Mk.III version of the Bristol Cherub. Given the earlier criticism of pilot view, Mitchell also abandoned the sesquiplane
structure for a parasol high-wing replacement, the resultant aircraft being
designated “Sparrow II”.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">On September
the 12th, the first day of flying, Biard took off but the weather worsened and,
after less than thirty miles en route for Brighton, he decided that the strong
headwind would not allow him sufficient fuel to complete the circuit. He
returned to Lympne, refuelled and set off again. Unfortunately, over Beachy
Head, his passenger, a Supermarine mechanic, noticed that one of the wing strut
pins had nearly worked itself out. Biard hastily landed on the Head where the
aircraft was immediately blown on its side. By the time that it had been
righted and checked, it was too dark to attempt the return flight to Lympne and so an unhappy
night was spent beside the machine. The next morning, Biard and his mechanic
guided the Sparrow several hundred yards up the slope of Beachy Head whence
Biard, leaving behind his passenger, turned downhill, successfully took off in
the lightened plane and finally returned to base. However, the rules of the
contest stipulated that each of the six circuits had to be completed within the
day allotted and thus the Sparrow II was eliminated. In the event, the
competition was won by Sidney Camm's Cygnet. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"> Thereafter there was an Air Ministry contract for flight comparisons of
identical area wings with different aerofoils – for which the parasol wing configuration of the Sparrow II was very suitable as it
kept interference effects of the fuselage to a minimum. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US">The machine was then put into storage at Hythe until May 1929, when it was
registered G-EBJP and went to the Halton Aero Club. It may have survived until
as late as 1933 but it does not appear to have been extensively used. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";">For reference sources, see my Blog: “</span><u><b>Source
Material a</b>nd References.</u><span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";"> "
An extended bibliography is included in my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">R.J.Mitchell at
Supermarine; Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also
provides material for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of
interest. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-30487796969564937312017-03-20T08:28:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:47:47.431-07:00R.J. Mitchell’s Annus Mirabilis, 1925 : Part I – the Southampton Flyingboat<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></div>
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<br />
<div class="UNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">It is surely no exaggeration to identify
1925 as the year when two of Mitchell’s aircraft stood out dramatically from
what had preceded them. This year marked his full emergence as a designer who
had transcended the design conventions that he had inherited and who was now
striking out boldly into the future. The young man who had joined his aero firm
in 1916 at the age of 21, assisting with the designs of others, now produced –
nine years later – the first standard naval reconnaissance aircraft since the
end of World War One and the racing floatplane which set the basic design
configuration for all subsequent Schneider Trophy machines. </span></div>
<div class="UNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">
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<div class="INDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"> By this time, the question of a suitable
replacement for the Felixstowe F. series of military flying-boats was becoming
critical and the aim of developing air links with the outposts of Empire seemed
a long way off – as Hoare recalled: ‘In 1922, there were no aeroplanes capable
of maintaining a long distance service. The existing heavier-than-air machines
were low-powered, very noisy and uncomfortable. Flying boats had almost ceased
to exist and there was no plan for an Empire air line of any kind.’ </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Thus
the successful trials, at Felixstowe, of the Swan (see my Blog: “<b>R. J.
Mitchell’s </b>Ugly Ducklings: the Scylla and the Swan”) had not gone unnoticed at
the Air Ministry, whose officials had been very impressed by the standards set
by the Sea Eagle, the year before. As a result of this appreciation of the new
standards in flying-boat performance which Mitchell had now established, the
Air Ministry took the unusual step of ordering, straight off the drawing board,
a number of reconnaissance flying-boats on the basis of the Swan amphibian
passenger carrier. </div>
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<br />
<div class="ChapSubhead" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b>The
Southampton I – the new standard reconnaissance machine</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIf6CrstAXmjlbqEAB0gNAhpA9SIB2RwnrojKARzKC413Nqp88HazaSrRAhlq5_Y16pMWny_Mf8346UCQzkqXfGrJ-TxdvXcM16aKo3LTCT0ES9XU75xc1ztQpRLTud-OmTDYV1rkBDGm/s1600/Southampton+II+copy+copy.psd" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIf6CrstAXmjlbqEAB0gNAhpA9SIB2RwnrojKARzKC413Nqp88HazaSrRAhlq5_Y16pMWny_Mf8346UCQzkqXfGrJ-TxdvXcM16aKo3LTCT0ES9XU75xc1ztQpRLTud-OmTDYV1rkBDGm/s320/Southampton+II+copy+copy.psd" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine
Southampton (from painting by author)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XtS4NU5FIJ1rxoK9XO7-neah3AA5zFW32gCYwVZ2bfplerQo-8Hg-V2mN3ehPOokXaIgDQr-YO8e-iv0d55O2NSDb-1s3CxzdY95usnECYlYhkUkUeZpydnxe-tiPh7Y0fFZ1d9QZXVe/s1600/Southampton+II+(1927)+copy.jpg"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></div>
<div class="ChapSubhead" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="UNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">By the time that Supermarine received
Specification R.18/24, in the August of 1924, for a modified and slightly
enlarged Swan-type flying-boat, Mitchell was already having this aircraft’s
hull lines redrawn to improve the streamlining. The eventual modifications were
such that a ‘Swan Mark II’ designation was less appropriate than a completely
new name – “Southampton”, signifying Supermarine’s increasing status where its
factory was sited and whose dignitaries had welcomed home the successful Sea
Lion II in 1922. Indeed, a silver shield with the Southampton coat of arms was
fixed to the bow of N9896, the first production machine–visible in the
photograph below:</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAj4bzlfM2B1gmxvVLKssLGkhCQau-JHGhCuc3UwAW7rIBOCGWvDh-AyMdwxXUm5hvkjG5tb4N7NKO8XR6g3BMbFFzcXJgs_W34so1un1v71H90_UHUZCvm2M-f7ecfpb1VqdnuUWVIn0/s1600/Shton+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAj4bzlfM2B1gmxvVLKssLGkhCQau-JHGhCuc3UwAW7rIBOCGWvDh-AyMdwxXUm5hvkjG5tb4N7NKO8XR6g3BMbFFzcXJgs_W34so1un1v71H90_UHUZCvm2M-f7ecfpb1VqdnuUWVIn0/s640/Shton+new.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The first Southampton</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="UNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">The company could, with some confidence,
thus mark their increasing importance in the manufacturing community of the
area as the Air Ministry order was substantial by the criteria of the day: it
had called for six standard military aircraft (N9896-N9901) and for an
experimental one, N218, to be fitted with a metal hull. And these aircraft were
also the largest aircraft yet to come from the Supermarine production line.</span></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"> The new machine continued the planing
configuration that Mitchell had been developing since 1923 with the Sea Eagle
but it was now a part of one of the most elegant hulls that Mitchell had ever
been responsible for; indeed, the transformation of the lines of its prototype,
the Swan, was dramatic. Taking advantage of the new, more utilitarian military
requirements, he removed the ad hoc looking high-drag crew compartment above
the Swan’s lower wing and utilized the passenger baggage compartment area for
the pilot and navigator, sitting in tandem in open cockpits. He also
streamlined the Swan nose and dramatically swept the rear of the hull upwards
to keep the empennage well clear of the water. </span></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"> Whilst this last feature had been seen earlier on both the small Latham
L-1 and the FBA Schneider aircraft, as well as on the World War I Grigoravich
machines, its incorporation in the large Southampton hull was a novel and bold
move. Elsewhere, in larger hull designs, Curtiss and Sikorsky moved from the
previous Felixstowe unswept approach to the employment of ‘canoe’ type hulls.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfJ6RacibxSz9ufjbr6H_wyKs50vPcnamQ-GzSge6uimAJVvbtQL8DxibatU7af8qMaYW-kPRlGdigz4Dvn-vvM9LAqMi_jhtyac8RIOQILb_cqCgk3jMWeFo5qnzM1t-9xiPSCCuX7ZS/s1600/35+copy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgfJ6RacibxSz9ufjbr6H_wyKs50vPcnamQ-GzSge6uimAJVvbtQL8DxibatU7af8qMaYW-kPRlGdigz4Dvn-vvM9LAqMi_jhtyac8RIOQILb_cqCgk3jMWeFo5qnzM1t-9xiPSCCuX7ZS/s320/35+copy+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sikorsky S-40</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In
contrast, the elegance of Mitchell’s sweeping lines was emphasised and
complemented by the redesign of the Swan fins which were now swept back in a
single curve, resulting in the new Southampton being regarded as ‘probably the
most beautiful biplane flying-boat that had ever been built’ and ‘certainly the
most beautiful hull ever built’.</span></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"> We can be sure, however, that the
aeroplane’s ability to maintain height on one engine as well as its maximum
range of 500 miles weighed the stronger in Air Ministry minds than any aesthetic
considerations. No doubt they appreciated the extreme practicality of the
design: as with the Swan, Warren girders separated the centre section of the
wings without the need for wire bracing and so enabled a change of engine or
servicing to take place unimpeded and without interference to the airframe.
This centre-section was plywood covered, again for ease of operation by
mechanics; the leading edges of the outer panels were also plywood covered to
ensure a smoother aerodynamic entry.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #ff6600;">]</span></i></b></span></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"> The lower wing roots were not incorporated
into the boat hull; instead the wing superstructure had attachment points on
the top of the hull and external struts from the lower-wing centre-section
spars to reinforced frames in the hull. In this way, Mitchell retained as much
flexibility as possible in the Linton-Hope type hull and in the Swan this
arrangement had also created an unencumbered and roomy passenger space with
adequate headroom. In the Southampton, it also had the advantage of enabling
good crew communications as well as mobility. </span></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"> Ahead of the pilot was a bow cockpit for a
forward gunner and, a little further back from where the Swan crew had been
located, were two staggered cockpits for rear gunners, one on each side of the
centre-line. Hammocks, basic cooking, and lavatory facilities were also
provided – thus beginning the tradition of providing the RAF with maritime
aircraft which could be reasonably self-sufficient for prolonged periods of
time. </span></div>
<div class="UNINDENTED" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Officials must
have also been impressed by the efficiency with which the first Southampton was
delivered to them. As Supermarine’s publicity recorded: ‘Something of a record
in design and construction was achieved with the first machine of this class,
for it was designed and built in seven months, was flown for the first time one
day and delivered by air from Southampton to the RAF at Felixstowe the next
day’ (11 March, 1925). Its cause could not have been harmed when, after being
damaged there in a collision with a breakwater, it was taxied all the way back
to Woolston for repairs. Pilots subsequently reported that it ‘never gave the
slightest trouble … and was a joy to fly’, ‘a great step forward, a delight to
fly and operate’ – summed up by Penrose when he reported for the year 1925 that
‘it was the beautiful new Supermarine Southampton flying-boat which was
receiving unstinting approbation from RAF pilots.’</span></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"> As soon as deliveries to 480 Coastal
Reconnaissance Flight began – in the summer of 1925 – four Southamptons flew a
twenty-day cruise of 10,000 miles around the British Isles, including exercises
with the Royal Navy in the Irish Sea, and the first Southampton to be completed
made a three-day round trip from Felixstowe to Rosyth in Scotland, followed by a
fourteen-day exercise with the Scilly Isles as its base, and then by a week’s
cruise around coastal waters. </span></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"> Significantly, the Supermarine entry in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jane's All the World's Aircraft</i> for 1925
records, for the first time, the identity of the company's Chief Designer: ‘The
firm has a very large Design Department continually employed on new designs,
under the Chief Designer and Engineer, R. J. Mitchell, who has established
himself as one of the leading flying-boat and amphibian designers in the
country’. Another view of Mitchell’s achievement in the field of seaplane
design came from the caption to a picture of a Southampton I flying-boat at the
beginning of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jane’s</i> for the same
year: ‘one of the most notable successes in post-war aircraft design’. The
Designer had just passed his 30<sup>th</sup> birthday. </span></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<br /></div>
<div class="UNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">It can be no exaggerationto say that the
advent of the Southampton marked the real point at which Supermarine finally
achieved economic stability and prosperity. The original order of six machines
was eventually increased to a total of twenty-five – including the experimental
metal-hulled machine which gave rise to the Southampton II appearing in 1926.
And this total was later increased to 83 when the metal-hulled Marks II to IV
were ordered and when sales were extended to Japan, Argentina and Turkey.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
</div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<br /></div>
<div class="INDENTED">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: small;">For
reference sources, see my Blog: “<u><b>Source Material and</b> References.</u> "
An extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
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john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-31372926578417998092017-03-19T12:08:00.000-07:002017-05-12T03:17:19.040-07:00R.J. Mitchell’s Annus Mirabilis, 1925 : Part II – the S.4<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="chapterSUBHEAD" style="margin: 4pt 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"> S.4</span></b></div>
<div class="chapterSUBHEAD" style="margin: 4pt 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As
mentioned in my Blogpost '<b>Annus Mirabilis – P</b>art I', the year 1925 marked R. J.
Mitchell’s full emergence as a designer who had transcended current design
precedents and who was now becoming a name to be reckoned with. After joining his
aero firm in 1916, following an apprenticeship with a steam locomotive company,
he became Chief Designer in 1919 (at the age of 24) and now justified his early appointment by producing not only the first standard naval reconnaissance aircraft since
the end of World War I, the Southampton, but, even more startlingly, designed the
racer which set the basic design configuration for virtually all the subsequent Schneider
Trophy machines with his S.4.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> After Supermarine’s comprehensive defeat in the 1923 Schneider Trophy competition,</span><span lang="EN-US"> Mitchell was now faced with the necessity of producing a racing
machine which would have to be a significant departure from all the Supermarine
aircraft which had preceded it. As with the Spitfire, however, his initial
response was not especially original; indeed, his proposal, the Sea Urchin,
still looked towards the flying-boat approach and might be regarded as, essentially,
an improvement on the Italian Savoia S.51 racer, which came second to
Mitchell’s Sea Lion II in 1922 but later went on the take the world speed record for seaplanes. (See my Blog: “Mitchell’s First Schneider Racers”).
He proposed a similar sesquiplane approach and a high thrust line although it
might be noted that his hull revealed somewhat similar styling to that of his
Southampton,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"> particularly in
respect of the upswept rear hull</span><span lang="EN-US">. Additionally, the
drag penalty of a high mounted engine was to be avoided by situating the engine
in the hull and driving the propeller through bevel-geared shafting.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMbnPLymNswfUXp6R7ASLyXIn96FCohaOHwnYTnsxE210Ni64jfWJ_g9k29RbXQPhOuyytDqohpTD_cAwN5AWGmz1ZkV9UXYsQZeEPz5W8ZlnseeUsLT9gL_jSzcgxfRoNu74gNeBdTM6/s1600/Document1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" height="82" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMbnPLymNswfUXp6R7ASLyXIn96FCohaOHwnYTnsxE210Ni64jfWJ_g9k29RbXQPhOuyytDqohpTD_cAwN5AWGmz1ZkV9UXYsQZeEPz5W8ZlnseeUsLT9gL_jSzcgxfRoNu74gNeBdTM6/s320/Document1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="PICTURE" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">But the Sea Urchin proposal was
not pursued because of serious doubts about the practicality of the propeller
shaft gearing. Fortunately, as other nations were not sufficiently prepared for
the 1924 Schneider Competition, the American hosts sportingly postponed the
event and so allowed Mitchell time to comprehensively redesign an entry for the
following year. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> When the secrecy surrounding its
build was lifted, its sensational appearance was well summed up by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flight</i>:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="blockQUNindENTEDSpace">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: x-small;">One may describe the
Supermarine Napier S.4 as having been designed in an inspired moment. That the
design is bold no one will deny, and the greatest credit is due to R.J.
Mitchell for his courage in striking out on entirely new lines. It is little
short of astonishing that he should have been able to break away from the types
with which he had been connected, and not only abandon the flying boat type in
favour of a twin float arrangement, but actually change from braced biplane to
the pure cantilever wing of the S.4.</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1kPkOESsZEC480ANuX9diVxpSSGk6eFlceVHOiIzKtu3EKA3JPfJVCbrEZ-DRIoBfbW_XODxaJO4cTmn9pyPFVt6VZlkjd7KoFZEgA95WtqK4GFth0yX35uU093TYhhm4awPM1sgMVdC/s1600/S+4++copy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1kPkOESsZEC480ANuX9diVxpSSGk6eFlceVHOiIzKtu3EKA3JPfJVCbrEZ-DRIoBfbW_XODxaJO4cTmn9pyPFVt6VZlkjd7KoFZEgA95WtqK4GFth0yX35uU093TYhhm4awPM1sgMVdC/s320/S+4++copy+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Supermarine
S.4 <span style="font-size: x-small;">(<span style="font-size: xx-small;">from a painting by the author</span></span>) </span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">The allocated Air Ministry serial
number of the new machine was N197, although this was never carried and Supermarine
referred to the new machine only as the S.4 – “S” presumably referring to
Schneider and “4” indicating that it was the successor of the Mark III Sea
Lion.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> It ought, perhaps, to be noted that the French speed record holder, the Bernard V-2 landplane, a year earlier, had displayed some features which might have prompted
Mitchell’s new design: its Hispano-Suiza engine was a broad arrow design similar to
the S.4’s Napier Lion engine and it was faired almost identically into the
fuselage and wings; it also had cantilever flying surfaces, under-wing
radiators and a similar pilot’s cockpit position. Nevertheless, when Harald
Penrose of Westlands later wrote of “the startlingly novel and beautiful
Supermarine S.4” he was at least reflecting the dramatic appearance of a
revolutionary floatplane design and was surely right in responding to its fine lines<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– in comparison, the Bernard had a much more
clumsy appearance.</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"> Supermarine’s Alan Clifton gave a more
clinical “in-house” response and singled out the unique attachment of the
floats: “It was an exceptionally clean design, with a central skeleton of steel
tubing which included daring cantilevered float struts.” This central
skeleton consisted of two sturdy “A” frames, with the engine mounting bolted
to the front frame and the rear fuselage section fixed to the rear one; between
these two frames, the wing centre section was placed and the floats were
attached to the feet of the frames. This characteristically, and deceptively,
simple structural arrangement</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #ff6600;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">was known in the works, less reverently, as
“the clothes horse”.</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span>
</div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> Also, the cantilever wing proposal represented a bold departure
from the earlier wire-braced company types – and, indeed, from almost all other
aircraft of the time. In this case, stringers were rebated into the ribs and an
early form of stressed skinning was achieved by sheeting the wing, top and
bottom, with load-bearing plywood which decreased in thickness towards the
tips.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> Thus it was that Mitchell felt
able to take the, then, radical step of dispensing with struts and wire bracings
for the wings and tail surfaces; he also did away with bracing wires for the
floats, although</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #ff6600;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">they were fitted with two thin-section
cross struts. </span><span lang="EN-US">An appreciation of the conceptual leap represented
by the S.4 can be gained by a comparison of its forward-looking cantilevered
structure with that of the previous Sea Lion which required thirty-three struts and
forty-two bracing or control wires.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmyzxUUCCY4hQJC6bboHjUoNBctQyPT-KqMXTWBOt8MIiajDSVpTp-BB2WpE6C9KmRXN5tDkKkFstVxkYlp8ZKDT0uu6bQ2HJid0WHGMcmvLcAC7rP-eXLclPRXid0BFlRvmU7-kFS9PKj/s1600/s4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmyzxUUCCY4hQJC6bboHjUoNBctQyPT-KqMXTWBOt8MIiajDSVpTp-BB2WpE6C9KmRXN5tDkKkFstVxkYlp8ZKDT0uu6bQ2HJid0WHGMcmvLcAC7rP-eXLclPRXid0BFlRvmU7-kFS9PKj/s320/s4.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Streamlining was also achieved by mounting the
newer Lamblin radiators horizontally on the underside of the wings; their fins
and the oil cooling pipes on the underside of the fuselage were the only
significant protuberances on the whole machine, with the coolant water being
carried to and from the engine via piping buried in the underside of the wings.
The control surfaces were activated also from within the structure </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">via rods and torque tubes.</span><span lang="EN-US"> Perhaps because approval to begin building
had only been received on March 18, 1925, and also because of the move from
flying-boat building, Supermarine subcontracted provision of the floats to
Shorts. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 14pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> The
pilot was situated low down and with a limited view and the high position of
this wing also resulted in a blind spot ahead when taking off and landing.
Biard claimed to have nearly collided with the liner <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Majestic</i> on take-off – having not seen it at all [!] until the last
minute – and when he came to land, he nearly hit a dredger. However, having
survived the traumas of the first flight, the new machine went on to gain the
World Speed Record for Seaplanes and the outright British Speed Record: 226.75
mph – </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">nearly 40 mph more than
the Curtiss CR-3 record established the previous October</span><span lang="EN-US">.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">When the Supermarine team arrived at
the proposed venue for the Schneider Trophy competition, Chesapeake Bay near
Baltimore</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">, on 5 October, the
tented accommodation for the aircraft and for the workshops was found not to be
ready. Finally, it was possible to begin erecting the aircraft on 12 October
but six days elapsed before test flying was possible. Then </span><span lang="EN-US">a gale caused tents to collapse and a heavy pole
fell across the tail unit of the S.4. It was repaired in time for the
navigation tests on the 23rd of the month, but unfortunately, the success story of
the S.4 then ended as it crashed into the bay following a steep turn which appeared,
perhaps, to have caused a high speed stall; flutter or wing distortion was also
suggested. Whatever the cause, it occurred at low level and Biard, the Supermarine test pilot, survived. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> His own later account of the accident was that, as he came out
of a turn at speed and dived down for a straight run, the control stick set up
such violent side-to-side oscillations that he lost control. Penrose quotes a
Flt Lt Linton Ragg of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough as
experiencing similar stick behaviour </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">at about this time</span>: ‘wing flutter had caused trying
experiences, such as coming down with hand and knees badly bruised by the
control column as it played hide-and-seek round the cockpit’. Biard’s
description of side-to-side movement of the control column thus points particularly to aileron
flutter and later remarks at Supermarine confirm this conclusion: Mitchell
himself, concerned about the need to avoid overbalancing of the Spitfire
ailerons in a dive, wrote “I believe this is the cause of several accidents
involving ailerons” and Ernest Mansbridge, Mitchell’s stress man, explaining
the thickness of the preceding Type 224 wing being due to caution, was more
direct: “We were still very concerned about possible flutter, having encountered
that with the S.4 seaplane”.</span></div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Whilst</span><span lang="EN-US"> the American phase of the Schneider Trophy competitions had brought
no luck to Supermarine, it can be seen as a most important milestone in
Mitchell’s career. The S.4 was to set the design pattern for virtually all future
Schneider Trophy winners and its clean cantilever flying surfaces were to be
echoed by similar silhouettes in the none-too-distant World War II. When one considers the
quantum shift from the Sea Lion of 1922 to the S.4 of 1925, and the precedent
that this latter aircraft set for the future, a special place should be
reserved in British aviation history and in Mitchell’s design career for the
ill-fated but beautiful S.4. – as E. Bazzocchi of Aeronautica Macchi said, ‘the
real revolution of 1925 was the appearance of the Supermarine S.4: its very
clean design set the pattern for all subsequent Schneider racers’.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span>
</div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">N.B. Supermarine’s publicity in 1926
points out that the previously quoted top speed of over 226 mph was later
increased to an impressive 239 mph. Despite the handicap of floats, this speed
was only about 5 mph less than that of the </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Bernard <i>landplane</i> racer mentioned
above.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
* * * * * </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">For reference sources, see my Blog: “<u><b>Source
Material and </b>References.</u> "
An extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> (details below) which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">More information, photographs and
three-view drawing of the <span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "ms 明朝";">S.4</span>, as well as a full account of all
Mitchell's completed designs and of the man behind them, will be available in a
few weeks' time:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Advance Notice</b><i>: </i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><u>R.J.Mitchell
at Supermarine; Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</u></i><u>.</u></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is a much expanded, completely
up-to-date, second edition of my earlier work with 50% more photos, and 25%
more text – 380 pp. instead of 250. There are general arrangement drawings of
Mitchell’s 21 main aircraft types which flew, as well as 40 other drawings.
There are 24 photographs, featuring or including Mitchell, as befits the first
fully detailed and, I hope, definitive account of the man and his work at
Supermarine.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">To obtain a copy at pre-publication
prices, please enquire via the contact form in the sidebar. </span></div>
</div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-7718339789186627502017-03-18T13:50:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:48:16.817-07:00R. J . Mitchell's Air Yachts<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
R. J. Mitchell was responsible for two luxury air yachts although both, in fact, began as military orders. The first looked backwards to the Southampton but the second might very well have led to a Supermarine equivalent of the Catalina.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first came about as a request from Denmark for a torpedo-carrying version of the Southampton; it was to be called "Nanok", Inuit for polar bear, and first flew in 1927. But all was not well as the necessary positioning of the torpedoes, one on each side of the aircraft, produced problems when dropping only one torpedo and the three-engined layout that had been requested by Denmark was also found to produce trim problems. Mitchell's response was to fit an auxiliary elevator higher up between the three fins but this lowered the flying speed some mph below that contracted for. And so, in the end, the Royal Danish Navy took delivery of a standard Southampton instead.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Luckily, in 1928, the Hon. A. E. Guinness was persuaded of the potential of a private flying-boat and thus the unwanted Nanok was converted into an ‘air yacht’ with comfortable cabins to carry up to twelve passengers. Now finally named ‘Solent’ and registered G-AAAB, it soon became a familiar sight, flying from the Hythe seaplane base on Southampton Water to Dún Laoghaire harbour, County Dublin, and thence to Lough Corrib, County Galway, close to Ashford Castle, its owner's home.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The second Air Yacht was to follow in 1930, again a cancelled military prototype, which began as Air Ministry specification 4/27, calling for an armed reconnaissance flying-boat. Instead of the expected wooden-hulled biplane, there appeared an uncompromising all-metal monoplane with a wing-span of 92 feet and powered by three engines which were faired into the wings. It had a plank-shaped parasol wing with sloping V struts supporting the wing about two thirds out from the centre-line and the hull, instead of the curvaceous design made
famous with the Southampton, was a flat-sided type and strengthened
with horizontal corrugations; it also had extremely angular fins in
keeping with the rest of the general arrangement. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-KH9-vHOJgyM3Xv9_yC5GCwpXkpQEy62cBocieWUtubiO_-pasAy0hyphenhyphenDohYHc6SvvFN25Hpn3RPUOy5gQ0ChrRERsf9bBFTiBjU_IxS5TBgC4On-yhb8mn8f1GKDixgSB4pqB3ii8aw_/s1600/Southampton+I+++copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTi2Xy4275mtAfJwEnl0gC2fTesdVeacVcw9E3hyyrghV8KYlDCWUYmsz2cIFtmypbKVQ3CWhqJhXiZ3ptVz63NZ1nYOdtBG_RDgguRGNhZjp5lef1SvVL-FPiMIJtNlqFin139s8X09R5/s1600/A+Yacht+jks+copy+1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine Air Yacht (from a painting by author)</i></td></tr>
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The new design still had fabric covered flying surfaces but it had one feature which made it stand out from all other Supermarine aircraft and its contemporaries and this was the employment of sponsons attached to the lower sides of the hull instead of the customary wing-tip floats. Not only in this respect but also in respect of the overall design, the aircraft bore an uncanny resemblance to the earlier Dornier Wal seaplanes: indeed a Supermarine employee, Harrry Griffith, later wrote the Mitchell "had allowed himself to be lured by some of his bright boys into following other people's ideas".</div>
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Unfortunately, the aircraft did not give a dramatic argument for going over to monoplanes as its maximum speed was well below expectations. And so it was re-engined with 525 hp Armstrong-Siddeley Panthers and was then found to be capable of 117 mph; however, it was still not possible to maintain height with any significant payload when one of the three engines was throttled back. Also, Penrose recorded that ‘unfortunately the sponsons suffered battering by waves and even on calm water gave inferior take-off compared with the usual chined British hull' although he did go on to say that ‘assessed as an engineering structure of considerable aerodynamic cleanness, the Air Yacht was a big step forward compared with the established three-engined Iris biplane, of which four were in the course of delivering to the RAF, or the Calcutta-derived Short Rangoon prototype due to fly in the summer.’ Griffiths, also gave a negative report: ‘It had a very long take-off run and there was always doubt as to whether it would leave the water at all with a full load of passengers, stores and fuel. Refuelling in those days was done with hand pumps from barrels taken out on a barge. There is a story (unconfirmed but, knowing the man, possibly true) that Biard, the test pilot, refused to attempt a full load take-off and ‘went through the motions’ of filling with fuel by pumping from a number of barrels, some of which were empty'.</div>
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And so, by 1931, Supermarine began to try to salvage matters by seeking civil registration, in the expectation of fulfilling an order from the Hon. A. E. Guinness for a replacement for his ‘Solent’ Air Yacht. The new machine’s boxy hull certainly provided very suitable dimensions for the passenger cabin: 35 feet in length, 6 feet 6 inches in height and 8 feet in width. It was luxuriously appointed with owner’s cabin complete with bed, bath and toilet, a galley with full cooking facilities beneath the wing, and additional wash basins, toilet and comfortable lounge with settees and sideboards in a separate cabin for five other passengers; and the temperature could even be regulated by a blown air system.</div>
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Unfortunately Guinness turned to a Saro product and the Air Yacht was put in storage. But eventually a Mrs. June Jewell James, a keen motor-boat and flying enthusiast. saw the aircraft and negotiated its purchase from Supermarine in 1932. She named her new acquisition ‘Windward III’ and became so impatient to have the use of her new purchase for a cruise to the Mediterranean and North Africa that she insisted on starting some days before the prearranged departure date.</div>
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Biard has supplied a description of the frantic preparations and of one-and-only cruise attempted in the aircraft. After Mrs. James and her companions were nearly drowned in a fierce storm, when anchored in Cherbourg Harbour, Biard flew the Air Yacht down to Naples whence Mrs. James proceeded to obtain audiences with both the Pope and Mussolini. Biard had then to hand over the Air Yacht to a relief pilot as his stomach muscles, which had been torn in the S.4 crash of 1925, needed surgery. Unfortunately, the Air Yacht suffered an engine failure and stalled into the sea on take-off in the vicinity of Capri on January 25. The owner suffered a broken leg but otherwise there were no serious injuries sustained; the aircraft was too badly damaged to be worth salvaging.</div>
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Had Mitchell lived long enough and had the Air Ministry generally shown a more single-minded faith in monoplane flying boats, one wonders if Mitchell’s last flying-boat, the Stranraer biplane, would instead have been a Supermarine Air Yacht type equivalent to the American Catalina which equipped twenty-one RAF and RCAF squadrons during World War II. Incidentally, the predecessor of the Catalina was the Consolidated Commodore, with a parasol fabric covered wing like the Air Yacht and with about the same span; it appeared in the same year as Mitchell’s machine but was far less clean, aerodynamically, with well over thirty supporting struts.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";">For reference sources, see my Blog: “</span><u><b>Source
Material and Refer</b>ences.</u><span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";"> "
An extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></div>
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john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-17167060264507089832017-03-17T04:05:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:48:47.523-07:00The High Speed Designer Confirmed – R.J. Mitchell’s S.5<div style="text-align: justify;">
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{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"*block Q INDENTED";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">qformat</span>:yes;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-parent:"*NORMAL INDENTED";
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:17.0pt;
margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:17.0pt;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:justify;
text-justify:inter-ideograph;
text-indent:17.0pt;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">color</span>:black;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ansi</span>-language:EN-US;}
p.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">NORMALINdentedSpace</span>, <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">li</span>.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">NORMALINdentedSpace</span>, div.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">NORMALINdentedSpace</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"*NORMAL <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">INdented</span> Space";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">qformat</span>:yes;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-parent:"*NORMAL INDENTED";
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:12.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;
text-align:justify;
text-justify:inter-ideograph;
text-indent:17.0pt;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">color</span>:black;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ansi</span>-language:EN-US;}
p.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">CAPTIONspace</span>, <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">li</span>.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">CAPTIONspace</span>, div.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">CAPTIONspace</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"*CAPTION space";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-parent:"*NORMAL INDENTED";
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:12.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;
text-align:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">center</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">color</span>:black;
font-weight:bold;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-weight:normal;
font-style:italic;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-style:normal;}
p.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">captionnospace</span>, <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">li</span>.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">captionnospace</span>, div.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">captionnospace</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"*caption no space";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-parent:"*CAPTION space";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">center</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">color</span>:black;
font-weight:bold;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-weight:normal;
font-style:italic;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-style:normal;}
p.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQINDENTEDSpace</span>, <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">li</span>.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQINDENTEDSpace</span>, div.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQINDENTEDSpace</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"*block Q INDENTED Space";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">qformat</span>:yes;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-parent:"*block Q INDENTED";
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:17.0pt;
margin-bottom:12.0pt;
margin-left:17.0pt;
text-align:justify;
text-justify:inter-ideograph;
text-indent:17.0pt;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">color</span>:black;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ansi</span>-language:EN-US;}
p.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">normalUNindentedSpace</span>, <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">li</span>.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">normalUNindentedSpace</span>, div.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">normalUNindentedSpace</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"*normal <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">UNindented</span> Space";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">qformat</span>:yes;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-parent:"*NORMAL <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">UNINDENTED</span>";
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:12.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;
text-align:justify;
text-justify:inter-ideograph;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">color</span>:black;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ansi</span>-language:EN-US;}
p.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQUnindent</span>, <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">li</span>.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQUnindent</span>, div.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQUnindent</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"*<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQ</span> <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Unindent</span>";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">qformat</span>:yes;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-parent:"*block Q INDENTED";
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:17.0pt;
margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:17.0pt;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:justify;
text-justify:inter-ideograph;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">color</span>:black;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ansi</span>-language:EN-US;}
p.PICTURE, <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">li</span>.PICTURE, div.PICTURE
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:PICTURE;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">qformat</span>:yes;
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">center</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ansi</span>-language:EN-US;}
p.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQUNindENTEDSpace</span>, <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">li</span>.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQUNindENTEDSpace</span>, div.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQUNindENTEDSpace</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"*block Q <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">UNindENTED</span> Space";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">qformat</span>:yes;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-parent:"*<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blockQ</span> <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Unindent</span>";
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:17.0pt;
margin-bottom:12.0pt;
margin-left:17.0pt;
text-align:justify;
text-justify:inter-ideograph;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">bidi</span>-font-family:"Times New Roman";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">color</span>:black;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ansi</span>-language:EN-US;}
span.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">SignatureChar</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-name:"Signature Char";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">noshow</span>:yes;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-priority:99;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">unhide</span>:no;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-locked:yes;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-link:Signature;}
.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">MsoChpDefault</span>
{<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-style-type:export-only;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-default-props:yes;
font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ascii</span>-font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-font-family:"MS 明朝";
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>-theme-font:minor-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">fareast</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">hansi</span>-font-family:<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Palatino</span>;
<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mso</span>-<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">ansi</span>-language:EN-US;}
@page WordSection1
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<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Whilst the Schneider
Trophy continued to be organised by the clubs, by 1926 the character and costs
of the meetings had produced the first confrontation of government subsidised
teams with well organised military pilots and support staff.<span style="font-family: "palatino";"> </span>Government assistance
for a British entry had already been in evidence in 1925 but thereafter renewed action
prompted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flight</i> to comment that
‘Never in the history of British aviation have we tackled an International
speed race in so thorough a manner’. Gloster and Shorts were also asked to design machines
capable of speeds not less than 265 mph at 1,000 feet and Napier was responding
by increasing the Lion engine's compression ratio to 10:1, with a view to approaching
the 900 hp mark. </span><br />
<div class="NORMALindented">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> Faith in this
reliable engine was justified when it was now made to deliver 900 hp in the
ungeared model and 875 hp in a geared version. Just as metal propellers were
found to be superior to wooden ones as tip speeds increased, so it was
considered that any extra weight or loss of power because of reduction gearing
would be compensated for by greater propeller efficiency. The Air Ministry clearly hedged their bets by
supporting three Supermarine entries with two geared and one ungeared engine, a
geared Gloster machine and two ungeared ones, as well as a Short seaplane
powered by a more standard air-cooled radial engine. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALindented">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> Also, on the
1st of October, a High Speed Flight was now formed, consisting of military personnel,
to test and compete with the new aircraft, rather than relying on company
pilots as previously.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="chapterSUBHEAD" style="margin-top: 24pt; text-align: justify;">
<h4>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">S.5 </span></h4>
</div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">At Supermarine, Mitchell
continued to place his faith in the newer monoplane approach and proceeded to
strive for improvements on his S.4 design.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Mitchell was now able to profit from the more determined Governmental support and work was soon under way,
involving careful appraisal by wind tunnel and tank testing of ¼ scale models.
Particular attention was to be paid to floats, flush wing radiators and
airscrews.</span> He (and Folland for Glosters) had consulted with Napiers and the new Lion
was designed whereby the engine’s frontal area<span style="color: windowtext;">, </span>reduced by shortening the
connecting rods of their engine<span style="color: windowtext;"> and</span> lowering the cylinder blocks, had repositioned magnetos and the cam covers of the three cylinder engine banks were contoured to mate with the streamlining engine fairings fore and aft. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"> Thus Mitchell was able to reduce the cross section of his fuselage – so
drastically in fact that the pilot's cockpit was an extremely tight fit: there
was no room for a seat and the pilots sat on the floor of the machine, their
legs almost horizontal and their shoulders coming up to and pressing against
the underside of the cockpit coaming.</span><span lang="EN-US"> Fl. Lt H.
M. Schofield, one of the pilots of the newly-formed RAF High Speed Flight
described their visit to Supermarine ‘for a fitting’: ‘The method of reaching
the seat was to squeeze in sideways and down as far as possible so that the
shoulders were below the top fairing, then turn to face the front, and in my
case it needed no ordinary effort to get my shoulders home.’ </span>
</div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> As there was now
insufficient room for the fuel tank in the fuselage, the starboard float was
used, which would help
towards counteracting the torque of the engine which, during take off, might be
expected to cause the opposing float to dig in and swing the aircraft off line
before it gained sufficient airspeed to be effectively governed by the control
surfaces. Mitchell also offset the fuel-loaded starboard float an extra eight
inches from the centre-line as an additional response to this expected problem.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> However, the most
telling improvement, apart from the effect of the more powerful engine promised by Napiers, was
the estimated increase of about 24 mph by the change from the Lamblin
type under-wing radiators of the S.4 to a system akin to that adopted by the previous
Curtiss racers and, subsequently, in the Italian Macchi M.39. The new radiators were to
be made out of copper sheets, eight and a half inches wide, with their outer
surfaces formed and fixed to the contours of the upper and lower wing surfaces; thus the
outer sheeting, exposed to the cooling airflow, offered virtually no additional drag.
Corrugations on the inner surfaces of the radiators formed channels for the
coolant: this was taken along troughs behind the rear wing spar, through the radiators
and along the leading edge of the wing and then pumped to a header-tank behind
the engine block. </span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The lubricating oil was also cooled in surface radiators, consisting
of channels which ran along the outsides of the fuselage and up to a header tank
behind the cockpit (not long after flying tests began, it was found necessary
to increase the oil capacity).</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCSwL5YlOmpASJGbPX3DInkRNHc2dvn4K8Z4PMgxyK1iZ7XDlOnFxDQbpOeESl7BzOM_-rYfspc1_vZA0F-edbvLrxdsnt7VZF3DdoqeP8zvSgPBcSI-YUjUp15M8chWPa2rn4JWHG6Pan/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCSwL5YlOmpASJGbPX3DInkRNHc2dvn4K8Z4PMgxyK1iZ7XDlOnFxDQbpOeESl7BzOM_-rYfspc1_vZA0F-edbvLrxdsnt7VZF3DdoqeP8zvSgPBcSI-YUjUp15M8chWPa2rn4JWHG6Pan/s320/photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="CAPTIONspace" style="margin: 2pt 0cm 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <i> Supermarine</i><i> S.5 on engine test</i></span><i> <span style="font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(R.J.
Mitchell on left).</span></i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In terms of
structure, the Supermarine contender continued the move away from the basically all-wood structure of its S.4
predecessor: the new
machine now had an all-metal fuselage, of stressed-skin structure (which looked forward to that of the Spitfire),
whilst the flying surfaces were still of wooden construction
and ply-covered. It was designated S.5 as it represented a complete redesign of
the previous monoplane and also incorporated the new information gained from
meticulous work at the National Physical Laboratory test facilities, sponsored
by the Air Ministry.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> Mitchell had sent down three models for wind
tunnel testing: one was a shoulder-wing design with wing roots cranked down and
supported by streamlined struts from the floats; a second model had a low wing,
similarly braced by struts; and the third configuration was an all-wire-braced
proposal with a low wing position to give favourable bracing-wire angles. Biard's
problems with forward vision during landing and take-off in the S.4 were no
doubt an influence on Mitchell’s considerations and eventually the flat, low
wing position was chosen. The new wire bracing between the
floats and from them to the bottom of the wing also allowed a wire ‘cage’ to be
completed as the wires from the upper fuselage to the top of the wings were
fixed immediately above the float bracing attachment points. </span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Mitchell was
clearly guarding against any wing flexing which might have contributed to the
S.4 crash, as well as providing a further reduction of the weight and drag represented by
the very sturdy float struts of the S.4. The balancing out of advantages and
disadvantages attendant upon the wish to reduce frontal area and weight against
the need to ensure adequate strength and pilot view was set out after the race
in the Chief Designer's speech to the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1927:</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="blockQUnindent" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">(a) The primary
object in lowering the wing on the fuselage was to improve the view of the
pilot, which was never very good on the S.4 The higher position of the wing no
doubt gave a lower resistance due to fairing in the outside engine blocks and
thus saving a certain mount of frontal area. A loss in speed of about 3 miles
per hour is estimated from this alteration. This loss is more than balanced,
however, by the importance of the improved view.</span></div>
<div class="blockQUnindent" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">(b) The system of
wire bracing of the wings to the fuselage and floats was adopted for a number
of reasons. The unbraced wings and chassis of the S.4 were very high in
structure weight, and it was found very difficult to construct an unbraced wing
sufficiently strong and rigid without making it very thick at the root, and
thus increasing its resistance. The adoption of bracing was largely responsible
for a reduction in structure weight of 45 per cent for the S.4 to 36 per cent
for the S.5, with its corresponding reduction in resistance; also for the
elimination of the two struts between the floats, and for the reduction in frontal
area of the four main chassis struts. Against these must be set the addition of
fourteen wires. It is not easy to estimate the final effect of a number of
alterations of this nature, but from the analysis of the resistance of the two
machines it is given on fairly good grounds that the overall effect was an
appreciable saving in resistance, amounting to an increase in speed of
approximately five miles an hour.</span></div>
<div class="blockQUnindent" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">(c) The
cross-sectional area of the fuselage has been reduced by about 35 per cent.
This very large reduction was obtained through the redesign of the engine and
the very closely fitting fuselage. This almost amounted to a duralumin skin in
order to ensure that the very smallest amount of cross-sectional area was
added. On several occasions during the construction of the fuselage the pilots
were fitted, and much trouble was experienced through their being of varying
dimensions … The reduction in body resistance was responsible for an increase
in speed of approximately 11 mph</span></div>
<div class="blockQUnindent" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The floats were
also reduced in frontal area by about 14 per cent. This was accomplished by
using a much lower reserve buoyancy. The reserve buoyancy was 55 per cent for
the ‘S.4’ floats and 40 per cent. for the starboard float of the ‘S.5’ [now
being used for fuel tankage]. This figure is extremely low and called for very
efficient lines.</span></div>
<div class="blockQUnindent" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The estimated
increase in speed due to reduction in float resistance is 4 mph. These
reductions in resistance of fuselage and floats are due to lower
cross-sectional areas and not to improvements in form.</span></div>
<div class="blockQUNindENTEDSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">(d) Wing surface radiators were first fitted to
the American machines in the 1925 race, and gave these machines a very big
advantage in speed. The radiators added a certain amount of resistance to the
machine due to their external corrugations increasing the area of exposed
surface. As about 70 per cent. of the resistance of a high-speed wing is skin
friction, and the corrugations almost double the area of surface, it is
reasonable to suppose that an increase of at least 30 per cent. of resistance
is added to the wing. It is evident that a saving in resistance would result if
radiators could be made with a flat outer surface, and that they would give no
direct resistance to the machine. After much experimental work, radiators with
a flat outer surface were produced. The chief difficulty experienced was in
sufficiently strengthening and supporting the outer skin to enable it to stand
the heavy air loads without making the radiators unduly heavy. The estimated
increase of speed due to their use in place of Lamblin radiators used on the
‘S.4’ is 24 mph.</span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="page-break-before: always; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: windowtext;">Thus, without considering the improvement in performance with a more power<span style="color: windowtext;">f</span>ul engine installed, Mitchell had <span style="color: windowtext;">es</span>timated an increase <span style="color: windowtext;">of 4<span style="color: windowtext;">1 mph; he</span></span></span> could have also mentioned
that, with the second S.5 (which was to come first in the forthcoming contest)
‘the hundreds of tiny rivets all over the skin were now flush with the surface
instead of projecting like a mass of wee knobs as they had done’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoSignature" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br />
At the Venice venue of the Schneider competition that year, <span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">the Crusader crashed – the aileron
controls having been crossed on re-rigging in Venice. And so the three permitted British entries were finalised as
Fl. Lt S. N. Webster in the Supermarine N220, Fl. Lt O. E. Worsley in
the Supermarine N219 and Fl. Lt S. M. Kinkead in the better of the two
Glosters. N220, and the Gloster, N223, with the unproven geared
engines were to fly flat-out with the expectation that Worsley in the ungeared
S.5 was likely to finish if, for any reason, the other two machines failed. </span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> After a delay of one day, owing to bad weather, the Italian, Ferrarin, turned off the course on
the first lap with two pistons burnt through, to be followed by de Bernardi on lap
two, suffering from a connecting rod failure. The third Macchi,</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> with an older replacement engine, proved no
match for the British with their new uprated Lions but then Kinkead retired at
the beginning of the sixth lap when violent vibrations made it seem prudent to do so. However, on the penultimate lap and
in sight of being placed, the last Italian, Guazzetti, pulled out when he was blinded by the bursting of a petrol pipe’.
Luckily, he managed to get down safely although not before just missing
spectators on the roof of the Excelsior Hotel on the Lido.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span>Webster led the British S.5 whitewash
with an average speed of 281.65 mph, a new record for seaplanes and, inde<span style="color: windowtext;">ed,</span> bettering
by 3 mph the world speed record for landplanes. Worsley came second at 273.01
mph in the second, ungeared, S.5. Back in
England, Mitchell was among those fêted by the Corporation of Southampton and
his winning machine was put on display in London. </span></div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In the following year,
Vickers acquired the Supermarine Company but acknowledged
the achievements of Mitchell’s design team by retaining it as an entity at the Woolston
factory and by allowing the branch a separate identity under the following title:</span></div>
<div class="captionnospace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">THE
SUPERMARINE AVIATION WORKS, LTD</span></div>
<div class="CAPTIONspace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">(DIVISION
OF VICKERS (AVIATION) LTD.)</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Mitchell’s
name now appeared among the list of Vickers Directors and the 1925 publicity
description of him as ‘one of the leading flying-boat and amphibian designers
in the country’ was now significantly expanded to:</span></div>
<div class="blockQINDENTED" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">one of the leading flying-boat, amphibian</span></div>
<div class="blockQINDENTEDSpace" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">and high-speed seaplane designers in the
country.</span></div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 30pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">He was still only thirty-four years of age.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">* * * * * </span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";">For reference sources, see my Blog: “</span><u><b>Source
Material and Re</b>ferences.</u><span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";"> "
An extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-33805175813263433062017-03-16T04:02:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:49:29.205-07:00The Flying Radiators: Pt.1 – R. J. Mitchell's S.6<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In the 1927 Schneider Trophy contest, Britain
and Mitchell had been more fortunate than the Italians in that the winning Napier Lion
engine had not been a new and unreliable design. It had been continuously
developed since its use in the Supermarine 1922 Schneider Trophy winner and,
although it had never failed in any of the racing aircraft it powered, it was
nevertheless reasonable to ask whether this fine engine had now reached the end
of its development potential, especially as a supercharger had not yet been produced.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> By now, Rolls-Royce had produced the successful 490 hp Kestrel, in response
to the American Curtiss D -12 engine which powered the Schneider Trophy winning
aircraft of 1923 and 1925 and were now offering supercharging and reduction
gearing. Mitchell and Major G.P. Bulman, the Air Ministry official
responsible for the development of aero engines, decided to take the gamble of ordering a racing engine from Rolls-Royce – identified as the 'R' engine. </span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="chaptersubhead0" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> S.6.</span></b></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Mitchell decided
to rely on the basic suitability of his previous design (see my Blog: </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: black;"><a class="GHUY-LPPB" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1477056237698167967#editor/target=post;postID=1716706026450708983;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=2;src=postname">The <b>High Speed Designer Confirmed – R.J</b>. Mitchell’s S.5</a></span>) for the new engine and so
his main design effort was in respect of an all-metal version, but larger than
the S.5, in order to accommodate the projected heavier engine: the 930 lbs. of
the Napier Lion in 1927 was to be superceeded by an engine weighing 1530 lbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> An
immediately obvious alteration to be made was to the cowling required by the
change from the ‘arrow’ shape of the Lion engine to the ‘V’ of the new Rolls-Royce
unit and, as the empty weight of the S.6 was 1791 lb. heavier than that of the
S.5, the wingspan was increased by more than three feet and the front float
struts had to be moved further forward on the fuselage to support the heavier
and longer engine. Also, the increase in fuel consumption from the Lion engine
with a 22 litre capacity to the proposed Rolls-Royce R engine of 36.7 litres would
require both floats to be used for the fuel tanks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The extra weight of the new engine also required moving the pilot's position further back.</span></div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdG6OZqBev0JXcB28aZX7S1S_iDV2DBPNrTaj-Dbxaq9wlUB0QTrLsLk6iNQCVE5Q-gLCyvh5Z3e7YXIQjAhnc-1WUPvycFybjo2_PGw8n53u-o0wnEeKy_mmDWV2z19W0zVtEe9m13s6/s1600/R+eng.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdG6OZqBev0JXcB28aZX7S1S_iDV2DBPNrTaj-Dbxaq9wlUB0QTrLsLk6iNQCVE5Q-gLCyvh5Z3e7YXIQjAhnc-1WUPvycFybjo2_PGw8n53u-o0wnEeKy_mmDWV2z19W0zVtEe9m13s6/s1600/R+eng.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> <span style="color: windowtext;">The S.6 airframe
receiving the new Rolls-Royce R engine.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="PICTURE" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Solving the above mentioned constructional and
loading problems in itself had justified the new design's ‘S.6’ designation, but these
matters were relatively straightforward compared with contending with the heat produced
by the new engine which</span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> represented a power increase of 211%
over the previous Lion engine (for what turned out to be a loaded aircraft
weight increase of only 78%). Mitchell was reported to have said: ‘Go steady with
your horsepower’ – no doubt anticipating the cooling problems that would be
encountered.</span> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> The areas of oil-cooling channels which had run along the sides
of the S.5 were now increased and new ones were added to the underside of the
fuselage. Particular attention was given to the efficiency of these radiators. Mitchell’s Chief Metallurgist, Arthur Black, came up
with a method whereby the oil, which ran from and to the engine, passed around copper tongues soldered in the channels at right angles to the oil flow – in such a
way that they did not impede this flow, whilst </span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">ensuring maximum contact of the oil with the surfaces being cooled by the slipstream of the aircraft. A</span>dditionally, </span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">the hot oil was sprayed from piping at the top of the fin
to trickle down guttering to the return channels, thereby causing the fin to act as both oil tank and radiator.</span> Nevertheless, the High Speed Flight pilot, Greig reported that the position of the oil pipes, attached to a very narrow fuselage, ‘turned the inside of the
cockpit into something approaching an extremely hot Turkish bath’ with the oil
temperature gauge reading ‘around 136 degrees centigrade.’]</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span>
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Meanwhile, Supermarine were anxious to point out that their move to
metal construction was not just with respect to the framework of their machine
but that it placed them in the forefront of the use of load-bearing external skinning</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> – particularly in respect of the wings where,
instead of being plywood-covered with the radiator panels externally attached, as with the S.5,
they were now covered by the radiator panels alone. Additionally, made now of aluminium, they took
torsional loads and, as Supermarine announced, ‘saved a considerable amount of
weight over previous practice’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoSignature" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Despite
there now being a gap of two years between competitions, the scheduled
start of the eleventh event was less than six weeks away before Mitchell’s
new airframes could be tested in the air. In May, the new R engine had reached
1545 hp but failures began to
occur and it was only at the end of July that the new engine passed the one
hour mark at full throttle and supercharger boost. A few days later, with the
blending of a special fuel, an engine run of 100 minutes and 1850 hp was
achieved – much to the relief of the citizens of Derby, as the tests
had also required the simultaneous running of three Kestrel engines. They drove fans to cool
the new R engine, to dispel fumes from the test shed, and to enable the carburettors to be set up in simulated flight conditions. People living up to fifteen miles away reported still being able
to hear the engine runs and and the ears of the Rolls-Royce workers were
plugged with cotton wool. They were also well supplied with milk to counteract
the laxative effect of breathing in the engine oil fumes, particularly
in the early stages of testing: the engine would consume 60 gals of castor oil
in 25 minutes, the majority of which was ejected out of the exhaust ports and
deposited on the walls of the test cell.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Meanwhile, the High
Speed Flight now consisted of Greig's fellow members of </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">the aerobatic team</span> for the last RAF Display at Hendon : Fl.
Lts. G. H. Stainforth and R. D. H. Waghorn and Fl. Off.
R. L. R. Atcherley. The command was then handed over to Sq. Ldr A. H.
Orlebar with the new title: ‘Officer Commanding the High Speed Flight’. Waghorn has
described how they used practice machines to devise the best method for
cornering, with the help of scientists from the Royal Aircraft Establishment, who
installed instruments to measure speed, acceleration, and climb.
A compromise between high G very tight turns, with loss of speed, and wider arcs,
which incurred less drag, was thus worked out. But, with </span><span lang="EN-US">the increased speed in the turns, pilots had now to get used to
blacking out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoSignature" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> These
preparations received a considerable setback when the actual contest aircraft
finally arrived and it was discovered that the possible effects of the much
greater torque of the new engine had not been fully realized. <span style="color: windowtext;">Against the turn of the fixed pitch propeller,</span> the S.6 would
dig in the left float, describing circles in the water which Orlebar reported
‘had rather shaken’ Mitchell. One can easily imagine the Chief Designer’s
feelings, seeing his aircraft quite unwilling to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fly</i> and when Orlebar pointed out to him that 247, the number of the
first of the new machines, added up to 13, ‘the poor chap replied with feeling
that he had not designed that’. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> Before the invention of variable pitch propellers, it
was discovered that a breeze, kept on the left quarter, allowed the aircraft to
get onto the step and lift off. To assist the pilots, Mitchell lengthened the
starboard float by a foot so that it could contain 90 gallons of fuel and allow
the capacity of the submerging float to be reduced to 25 gallons. But having
achieved take-off, engine over-heating became a problem and so radiator piping
had to be fitted along the sides of the floats. Small wing-tip scoops were also
fitted under the wing tips, facing forwards and with exhaust ports at the wing
roots, thus creating a flow of air over the inner surfaces of the radiators – an
unexpected bonus for using the radiators as load-bearing wing surfaces.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8WPk45ubOIsQ8p6yWuiU8J8vcV8btxEs6xtUBxBY-SwRJQh4xnd9UutlQPNe8MD-upZAASO3fYHVdbqf39PWGKx9mrri679YVgy6YJ8O2_l8LR5zXgbENZ_cgzJrdexwpTXG0qa-ghxr/s1600/s6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8WPk45ubOIsQ8p6yWuiU8J8vcV8btxEs6xtUBxBY-SwRJQh4xnd9UutlQPNe8MD-upZAASO3fYHVdbqf39PWGKx9mrri679YVgy6YJ8O2_l8LR5zXgbENZ_cgzJrdexwpTXG0qa-ghxr/s1600/s6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Waghorn's winning S.6</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
Italians also received their new
aircraft late and it was soon found that the hydrofoil equipped Piaggio Pc.7
was unable to take off at all. Also, one of the two Fiat C.29s caught fire and
later stalled on take-off and sank. On the other hand, the first of the Macchi
M.67s was look<span style="color: windowtext;">ing</span> much more promising, reaching a speed of over 360 mph, but then
it too crashed, killing its pilot. Accordingly, Italy requested a one month
postponement on August 22 but the Royal Aero Club stuck to the rules and
refused the next day; the FAI concurred and the eleventh Schneider Trophy contest was still set to begin at Calshot on </span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">7 September</span>.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></div>
<div class="chapterSUBHEAD" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">To prevent Britain winning by a fly-over, Italy had decided not to withdraw despite
their problems and sent over their remaining, as yet, untested aircraft – the
second Fiat C29, a Savoia-Marchetti S.65, and the two Macchi M.67s – as well
as two older Macchi M.52s. By
this time, both the Supermarine aircraft were ready but, as the Glosters’ fuel
problems could not be solved in time, it was decided to call up one of the 1927
S.5s to complete the country's permitted three contest aircraft.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> British
tactics were to take account of a compromise that had had to be worked because cooling was so critical that a temperature
of 95 degrees had not to be exceeded by the new Rolls-Royce engines It was
decided that Waghorn would therefore fly as fast as possible, consistent with keeping
to a safe engine temperature; Atcherley, in the second S.6 would risk a higher
temperature if the performances of the two preceding Italians made it necessary
to go faster than Waghorn; it was expected that Greig, in the slower S.5, would
provide additional back-up, as would Molin in the M.52.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> In the event, these tactics were unnecessary: </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Cadringher</span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> retired on lap two as he had
been nearly blinded and suffocated by fumes from his exhaust and Monti, in the second M.67, also had fume problems and was forced
to made a hasty landing when steam and nearly boiling water blew back from the
engine. </span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Atcherley also
had a visibility problem – caused by spray from a long take-off run; he tried to
replace his goggles with a substitute pair but these were swept away in his
slipstream. Thus he saw the pylon at the first turn rather late and unfortunately turned inside it; he was therefore disqualified. </span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> And so Waghorn, in the new S.6, was first with an average speed of 328.63
mph; Molin was second in the 1927 M.52, at an average speed of 284.2 mph; and
Greig, also in an aircraft from the previous contest, averaged 282.11 mph.
Atcherley, in the second new S.6 completed the course, although disqualified, and thus Mitchell was denied the
satisfaction of having both of his new aircraft design coming first and second
as well as being the only 1929 machines to complete the course.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><span style="color: windowtext;"> However<span style="color: windowtext;">,</span> he and</span> Atcherley were
compensated for the disqualification of N248 by i<span style="color: windowtext;">ts</span> setting up World Closed Circuit Speed
Records for 50 km and 100 km at 332.49 and 331.75 mph respectively, on the
sixth and seventh laps. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"> Three days later there
followed a competition between the Gloster VI, whose fuel supply problems were
now being overcome, and the S.6 to establish a new World Absolute Air Speed
Record. The Gloster machine achieved 336.3 mph but Orlebar took the record with
355.8 mph. The previous Italian record of 318.62 mph was further improved on
two days later, on September 12, when the S.6 achieved 357.7 mph. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">* * * * * </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";">For reference sources, see my Blog: “</span><u><b>Source
Material</b> and References.</u><span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";">"
An extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">
</span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"> </span></div>
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john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-56709795002139898192017-03-15T03:42:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:50:02.727-07:00The Flying Radiators – Part II, R. J. Mitchell's S.6B<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">With
the possibility of a third win in 1931 and, therefore, the outright capture of the
Schneider Trophy, Supermarine and Rolls-Royce began discussions with the Air
Ministry predicting an increase of 25 mph over the Schneider
course, assuming that the S.6 machines would be loaned back for modifications
and that they would be piloted by High Speed Flight pilots. The estimate of the
cost of a successful defence of the Trophy in 1931 was considered to be in the
region of £100,000, and involved the production of two new and improved
machines and engines to support them but, in view of the worsening economic
climate, the government declined any help whatsoever.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> The response, especially in aviation
circles was outrage but to no avail</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">.
Fortunately, the formidable and extremely wealthy Lady Houston was approached
and she promised the required sum to sponsor Britain's entry and, incidentally,
to embarrass the Labour Prime Minister and his government. By the time that
political points had been scored and the necessary money allocated, there was
less than a year left for all the work required in time for the competition in
the coming September. Because of this time constraint and the finite funds
available, the British hopes would have to be concentrated upon uprating the current
Rolls-Royce engine and upon modifying the S.6 design to handle an expected increased
in power.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Derby had once
more to put up with the noise of the engine testing (see my Blogpost:" </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">T<b>he Flying Radiato</b>rs:
Pt.1")</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> and the Mayor of Derby had
to appeal to the patriotism of its citizens as the tests ran from April 1 to
August 12 before the uprated engine could run for an hour at full power– by
which time the 1900 hp of the 1929 engine had been increased to 2350 hp.</span></div>
<div class="MsoSignature" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="chaptersubhead0" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">S.6B</span></b></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In view of this
increase, Supermarine estimated that ‘something like 40,000 B.T. units’ had to
be dissipated every minute – the equivalent of over 300 modern fan heaters
running at full power. Mitchell had to provide additional radiator surfaces on
the floats right down to their chines so that almost half of the 948 sq. feet
of the aircraft's available surface area was now to be used for cooling: it is
understandable why Mitchell, in a radio broadcast after the competition,
described his new aircraft as a ‘flying radiator’.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Enlarging
the cooling area was assisted by an increase in the size of the floats as the
anticipated increase in the fuel consumption of the new engine required their
capacity to be enlarged, as did a modification to the competition rules: the
aircraft were now required to take-off and land immediately prior to the start
of the race proper instead of the navigability and seaworthiness tests being
carried out with minimal fuel the day before. Wind tunnel and tank testing led to a
narrower float design, although of increased length and the side plating was
extended by ¾ in. below the chines and as far as the step to improve running
and to inhibit spray. And the elevators no longer had a vee cut-out close to
the fuselage but were now made to operate with minimum clearance in order to
reduce turbulence at this point. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> The revised design was
accordingly designated "S.6B" and it was possible to afford two, with the serials
S1595 and S1596; additionally, the two 1929 machines, N247 and N248, were
uprated and, as such, they were redesignated "S.6A". The only noticeable
difference between the two pairs of machines was that the latter had its
original floats, which were two feet shorter than those of 1931.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzVhq6lMc44ndq_qayNLwouOPaDZzClEt5xal1hOHN6CEbMZ8AUkxTTD81IRFcrBjy-cJcv9sAKk7yf-b2_gfvV2hGoW6A86upAODrYgjV-kCCofqPd5iCfZzA34ru-PDtcutt1GkAZeF/s1600/Document1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzVhq6lMc44ndq_qayNLwouOPaDZzClEt5xal1hOHN6CEbMZ8AUkxTTD81IRFcrBjy-cJcv9sAKk7yf-b2_gfvV2hGoW6A86upAODrYgjV-kCCofqPd5iCfZzA34ru-PDtcutt1GkAZeF/s1600/Document1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: windowtext;">The first of the S.6Bs at
Calshot.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="CAPTIONspace" style="margin: 1pt 0cm 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As
there were to be four Supermarine racers, Flying Officer L. S. Snaith was
added to the High Speed Flight which had now consisted of Flight Lieutenants
J. N. Boothman, E. J. L. Hope, F. W. Long, and G. H.
Stainforth. Flying with the contest machines began when N247 arrived on May the
20th but an alarming oscillation of the rudder developed during an early high
speed run, causing the buckling of rear fuselage plates, stress cracks around
some of the rivet holes, and stretched control wires. In the short time
available, Mitchell had streamlined weights on forward projecting brackets fitted
to both sides of the rudder and the ailerons – in order to bring the centre of
gravity of these surfaces to coincide with their hinge lines and so to dampen
any future oscillations which might occur. The last bay of the fuselage was
also strengthened. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Weights
were also needed in response to some instability on take-off and during turns. Mitchell
decided that the problem was due to the centre of gravity being too far back
and so he had about 25 lb. of lead placed in the nose of each float and reduced
the amount of oil (which was, again, carried all the way back to a tank in the
fin). However, Orlebar had also reported nose-heaviness during level flight and
Mitchell (before the widespread use of trim tabs) ‘produced a splendid gadget
to cure the trouble’ – metal strips were fitted to the trailing edge of the
elevators and bent downwards by about one degree, thus using the slipstream at
high speed to deflect the elevator upwards slightly and to counteract any load
on the stick. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Additionally,
the engines were prone to cutting out because of choked fuel filters. This was
found to be the result of the fuel mixture causing the excess compound used to
seal the joints in the fuel system to come adrift. Mitchell’s response was both
practical and blunt: ‘You’ll just have to bloody-well fly them until all this
stuff comes out’.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"> There was another
problem, also experienced in 1927 – the first new S.6B, which had arrived on
July 21st, could not be made to fly as it gyrated in ‘a very good imitation of
a kitten chasing its tail’. In the course of these rotations, S1595 hit a barge
and had to be returned from Calshot for repair. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, a different caise was suspected
and the smaller diameter propeller of the S.6B was fitted to N247,
which then behaved like its younger sister. This suggested that the slipstream
from this diameter propeller was producing a side pressure that the rudder was
unable to counteract. When S1595 was returned on July 29th a larger diameter
unit was fitted and the new machine then took off with no more difficulty than was usual with these machines.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span>
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In
view of the peculiar take-off requirements, combined with the increased speed and weight of
the new aircraft, it is not surprising that the British team now began to have
accidents. Linton Hope virtually wrote off one of the S.6A
machines: a piece of the cowling from N248 worked loose in flight and, whilst
managing an emergency landing, he encountered the wash from a passing ship which
caused the sensitive machine to cartwheel and sink. The pilot survived but was
withdrawn from the team because of a punctured eardrum. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Hope was replaced by Lieutenant G. L. Brinton who, on 18 August, on
his first take-off in N247, was killed. Greig told how, if porpoising
developed during take-off, it was imperative to close the throttle and start
again; otherwise, the pitching of the aircraft invariably increased until the
machine was eventually thrown into the air without flying speed and an accident
was inevitable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appeared that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brinton did not heed the advice in time and the aircraft cleared the water for a second and then dropped back. The S-6A bounced 40 feet in the air and then plunged down into the water. It was first
assumed that Brinton's body had been lost at sea, but later was found jammed into the
rear of the fuselage. It is not recorded how the actual discovery of the body
was received by Mitchell but, in view of his well-known concern for the pilots
of his machines, an explanation of the need to cut into the damaged machine for
its recovery must have required considerable tact.</span></div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="normalUNindentedSpace" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">At about the
same time, a French machine was considerably damaged in a landing accident and another
was completely destroyed, killing its pilot. Meanwhile, Macchi were developing
their M.67 layout into a new machine, which was also to kill one of its pilots. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As
a result of such accidents and other setbacks, the French and Italian teams requested a postponement of at least six months but, by the time it was
received on 3 September by the Royal Aero Club, it seemed that all the
significant problems with the S.6Bs had been solved and Hope’s N248 had been
salvaged and was well on the way to being restored to flying condition. Holding
the competition on the due date was insisted on and, as a result, the Air
Ministry was informed on the 5th of September that neither France nor Italy
would be able to compete. </span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In the end, the
only postponement of the twelfth contest, again at Calshot, was for one day owing to bad weather
and the following day was almost perfect with visibility of over ten miles. In
view of the fly-over situation, it was decided that S1595 was to complete the
course without putting undue strain on the engine </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">– the increase in propeller diameter had produced a
higher engine temperature and, again, Mitchell had had to accept a slightly
lower airspeed than his design was capable of</span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">. If this attempt were to fail, then the repaired S.6A
would aim to finish the course and, therefore, to win the Trophy outright. The
second S.6B would be available to make trebly sure of a win but it was hoped to
retain it to give the crowds the additional thrill of seeing the setting of a
new World Speed Record. </span></div>
<div class="NORMALINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> The
Commanding Officer, Orlebar, gave the senior pilot, Stainforth, first choice
and he opted for the proposed attempt on the speed record; the next most senior
man, Boothman, then chose to fly first in the competition itself and,
hopefully, to have the honour of winning the trophy. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;">And so, just before 1 p.m. on September 13, Boothman
taxied out in S1595, which had never having flown in practice for longer than
27 minutes. Nor had it been considered wise to practice the landing which the
1931 rules required, with the full load of fuel for the 350 kms of the
competition course and as well as for the required preliminary maneouvres. Nevertheless,
he took off without any apparent difficulty, landed at about 160 mph without
mishap, and
then flew the required seven laps, all within about four mph of each other,
slightly throttled back, taking the turns wide and with a gentle bank and
finished with an average speed of 340.08 mph – just over 11 mph faster than
Waghorn in 1929. Then, as if to emphasise the superiority of the
Rolls-Royce/Supermarine partnership and also to post a more impressive speed,
Stainforth took out the other S.6B a little later and proceeded to capture the
World Absolute Air Speed Record at 379.05 mph.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Lady Houston had attended on
her steam yacht, <i>Liberty</i>, to watch <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her</i> machines
and, two days later, gave a celebratory lunch on board, attended by Mitchell
and his wife and by the High Speed Flight. She had been
afforded the rare privilege of mooring on the RAF buoys at Calshot and in the evenings <i>Liberty</i> had a string of electric lights
from her bowsprit to the mastheads and down to the stern.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="normalIndetedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
Air Ministry then set about disbanding the High Speed Flight and restoring the
Calshot base to its normal flying-boat duties but Rolls-Royce particularly
wanted to have produced the first aero engine to exceed the new magic mark of
400 mph and Mitchell had indicated the same in an interview with the
Southampton <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daily Echo:</i>‘with a specially tuned up engine, I am very hopeful we may get very near
to an average speed of 400 mph, which is our ambition’. For this special sprint
machine, Mitchell had the wing-tip air scoops removed and a specially prepared
engine was to be supplied, using a new more potent fuel mixture. After delays caused by bad
weather,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Stainforth squeezed into
the cockpit of S1595 and the required runs were photographically measured.
There was some concern that bad light and a low evening sun might prevent
confirmation but eventually, at 4 a.m., the results were telephoned through and
Mitchell was informed; it was reported that he was ‘too sleepy to be more than
mildly enthusiastic’ that the World Absolute Speed Record had just been raised
by nearly 30 mph to 407.5 mph.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">* * * * * </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><b><span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";">For reference sources, see my Blogpost: “</span></b><u><b>Source
Material and Ref</b>erences</u><span style="font-family: "" "times" "" , "serif";">" – an extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">
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john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-81046547692246874032017-03-14T08:58:00.000-07:002017-09-24T09:17:37.352-07:00R. J. Mitchell's Giant<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="Chapterheading" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Normalindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: small;">Whilst the early Dornier Wal
series had had a very obvious effect on the design of Mitchell's Air Yacht [see my Blogpost:"R.J. Mitchell's Air Yachts"], the huge Mark
X version made a far wider impression when it arrived at
Calshot in November, 1930, for a two week stay. With a wingspan of over 157 feet and something approaching
steamship luxury, including a smoking room with its own bar, and </span><span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: small;">a dining salon, </span><span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: 12.0pt;">it had a crew of ten
and was capable of carrying 66 passengers</span> on long distance flights and 100 travellers on shorter ones. It was powered by twelve 610 hp engines which could
be accessed via a passageway within the wings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoSignature" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"><b>Type 179 GIANT</b></span></div>
<div class="normalUNindented0" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">Not to be entirely outdone, in 1929, the Air
Ministry sent Supermarine a specification for a forty-seat civil flying-boat which Mitchell first projected as a high-winged monoplane, with three fins, a relatively
flat-sided fuselage and with bulbous floats attached to the underside at each
wing root, bulky enough to act as sponsons. Six engines were to be mounted in tandem
on pylons above the wing, Dornier X fashion, and the very thick wing allowed the innovation of passenger seating in its leading edge. And this wing also distinguised by the
first appearance in a Supermarine design of an elliptical planform, the
distinctive feature of Mitchell’s famous fighter; its proposed
torsion-resisting nose section also looked forward to the wing structure of the
Spitfire, as did the use of a single spar – although in this case it was to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">six</i> feet in depth.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;"> Had
Mitchell’s design been completed, its size would certainly have put his company
well ahead of other large flying-boat contenders: it was to have a wingspan sixty-five
feet more than the contemporary six-engined Short Sarafand and nearly three
feet more than that of the Dornier X. About this time, there was another very
large, seven-engined aircraft – the K-7 designed by Constantin Kalinin – which,
interestingly, also featured an early example of the elliptical wing. It should,
however, be pointed out that, whilst the Russian plane has always attracted the
attention of air historians because of its size (and because it flew),
Mitchell’s projected machine would have had a wingspan ten feet greater. With a
wingspan of 185 feet, its name ‘Giant’ was therefore appropriate and it would have
represented a significant departure from the almost universal formula of
braced, fabric-covered biplanes. </span></div>
<div class="Normalindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">Nearly a year later, the rather untidy
general arrangement with three rows of forward-facing engines was revised, whereby
two inner nacelles now housed two engines apiece, facing fore and aft, and two
outer nacelles had a single engine each, driving a tractor propeller. Rolls-Royce
steam-cooled engines were now proposed, with the leading edge of the wing used as
a steam condenser for the cooling system, a variation on the wing surface
radiator system of the S.5 and 6 types. The three rudders were to be replaced
by a single one and an auxiliary tailplane was to be mounted above the main
unit; additionally, the passenger seating in the wings was to be
eliminated in order to accommodate the evaporative cooling system. Mitchell had also
decided upon a return to conventional wing-tip floats instead of the high-drag
sponson-type arrangement.</span></div>
<div class="NORMALINdentedSpace" style="margin-bottom: 18pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">Thus
by early 1931, when the keel of the Giant was laid down, most of the Dornier X
influence had disappeared</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small;">:</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtmn7IdkOx9Ir5KCGXwVDcNFse64NcT6YRqzYaD2TgSWghiN-w0S6Wsc7nA1CrAvjp3NdFP-Kx9tSy6dY_S6uxMIPgtZMUkXYTNDkctkRU9HfUXBPRFMc0jhB0DEOf3N8fO5KqG5tlTBU/s1600/AY+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtmn7IdkOx9Ir5KCGXwVDcNFse64NcT6YRqzYaD2TgSWghiN-w0S6Wsc7nA1CrAvjp3NdFP-Kx9tSy6dY_S6uxMIPgtZMUkXYTNDkctkRU9HfUXBPRFMc0jhB0DEOf3N8fO5KqG5tlTBU/s1600/AY+new.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Supermarine publicity photograph</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="NORMALUNINDENTED" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Whilst the first proposals for the
Giant showed a tentative move forward from the angular Air Yacht, the upswept tail section, the nicely streamlined engine nacelles and the fore part of the hull, reveal Mitchell’s
thinking to be in advance of forthcoming larger American flying-boats. For
example, the Sikorsky S-40, of the same year as the keel of the Giant was
laid down, represents a traditional approach of struts and wires and the ‘canoe’
hull and the necessary twin booms for the tail section, which no doubt achieved
a good weight/strength ratio, did not represent the way forward for later
flying-boat designs </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvZopbJ_KqgqpZEHt4dLGjuo7ptpcb__YQsFS2qVrepQfCl8pvk14WTJCZ8rB7ZqTP2puiwPHiUEn-mzzkDYDbbppJF2mxhXtitmAIzXhupIXTr5mf_PPOLsA6L7qMw-w5OZWCpt734M_/s1600/sik+40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvZopbJ_KqgqpZEHt4dLGjuo7ptpcb__YQsFS2qVrepQfCl8pvk14WTJCZ8rB7ZqTP2puiwPHiUEn-mzzkDYDbbppJF2mxhXtitmAIzXhupIXTr5mf_PPOLsA6L7qMw-w5OZWCpt734M_/s1600/sik+40.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">S-40</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">By 1934, the Sikorsky S-42 had a tail unit integral with
the main fuselage and had lost most of its predecessor’s struts and wires<span style="font-family: "palatino";">; and, c</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">oming a few years later
than the proposed Giant, it had its engines neatly faired into the wing but it
did, however, still retain wing and tailplane struts – compared with the
Giant’s projected cantilever structures – and this in a machine that was to
have a wingspan of 185 feet, compared with the 118 foot span of the American
flying-boat.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX67G5bUYZuSVTNu2BSPJFLl2s7yBivKXZfe0bMO2cNB40eXHyHwWT9I3k_gj20Vy-T4VD31IggS3bN52BTTSjBGk6fk-cGleF3fDYtZpJ6YEq5-ynCSCeMge6PZnaqWINZ9jV-F0K5aDn/s1600/sik42+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX67G5bUYZuSVTNu2BSPJFLl2s7yBivKXZfe0bMO2cNB40eXHyHwWT9I3k_gj20Vy-T4VD31IggS3bN52BTTSjBGk6fk-cGleF3fDYtZpJ6YEq5-ynCSCeMge6PZnaqWINZ9jV-F0K5aDn/s1600/sik42+new.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">S-42</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Unfortunately,
early in 1932, the Supermarine project was cancelled in view of the continued economic
problems that faced the country and consternation was not limited to
Supermarine, for questions were asked in the Parliament – where the Under
Secretary for Air justified the government’s decision by claiming that over 70%
of the estimated cost would be saved by cancellation. [In its defence, it
might be noted that the Germans did not put their Do.X into quantity production
either.] </span></span><style>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: small; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Had the Giant been built, perhaps Mitchell’s bomber [see my Blogpost: '<b>R.J.Mitchell's Bomber</b> and his Death']
might have been designed earlier and might even have been in the air when the need for a large British bomber
became critical. It was also thus fated that
Mitchell would not be remembered (as might otherwise have been predicted) for
his contribution to the proliferation of the Imperial Airways routes or
for the creation of later equivalents of the well-known wartime monoplane
flying-boats, the Sunderland and the Catalina.</span><br />
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<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: small; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">* * * * * </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<u><b>Source Material a</b>nd References</u>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: small;"></span>
</div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-8871818959940982542017-03-13T04:54:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:52:16.725-07:00Mitchell’s Scapa nearly went to war.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Most of Mitchell’s seaplanes were designed for war, although naval reconnaissance rather than bombing was their main requirement from the Air Ministry. They were, basically, traditional biplanes and Mitchell was also encouraged to design two other biplane flying-boats, closer to the outbreak of World War II, despite the obsolescence of the configuration.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Scapa </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first of the new designs, to become known as the Scapa, was ordered as a successor to the long-serving Southampton, to be fitted with a metal superstructure and powered bythe new Rolls-Royce Kestrel engines. Thus the Southampton IV/Scapa has been regarded as, essentially, an ‘improved Southampton’, particularly as its hull planing geometry was closely based on that of the earlier aircraft. This similarity was very much a compliment to the intuitive designers of the Southampton hull of 1925, as the later advantage of tank testing did not suggest any real need to depart from the basic shape of its predecessor – indeed, a wider beam behind the step, to discourage water striking the tail surfaces, was replaced by the older Southampton after-portion when actual take-offs revealed an unpleasant pitching when the rear step made contact with the water.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nevertheless, the eventual Scapa was, effectively, a new design. The need to ‘stretch’ the Southampton design resulted in a lengthened bow with a deepened forefoot which, with a flatter top-decking, altered the overall appearance of the previous Southampton hull. The Air Yacht tradition of flat plates and rectangular sections was still evident although the upswept tail section and other curvatures restored something of the elegance of the Southampton.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Two fins now replaced the triple-fin arrangement of the Air Yacht or standard Southampton and the engines were now positioned directly under the top wing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmBqF9W8sk02IxFjWly7vG2c1czN7wUUi5wbwsQ-qMv5TrJObW24KBMQ_4LYiDQnUhoe7UYd1XkAONoBers9xixmuEV3RPkXR0Yyj9kBjccsOJDb8Cl_2fGjfFBmH0kLYFtIcA3sXhntm/s1600/scapa++jks+copy+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmBqF9W8sk02IxFjWly7vG2c1czN7wUUi5wbwsQ-qMv5TrJObW24KBMQ_4LYiDQnUhoe7UYd1XkAONoBers9xixmuEV3RPkXR0Yyj9kBjccsOJDb8Cl_2fGjfFBmH0kLYFtIcA3sXhntm/s1600/scapa++jks+copy+1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">S<span style="font-size: x-small;"><u><i>upermarine Scapa, from a painting by the author</i></u></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This upward re-siting of the engines was probably influenced by the water ingestion problems experienced by the Seamew and allowed Mitchell to dispense with the engine supports of his previous inter-wing-engined designs and the large Warren bracing of the Southampton superstructure. His reversion with the S.5 and S.6 to wire bracing must also have been a factor here and also led to a single bay structure, even though the new machine’s wingspan was to be as large as 75 feet. Beverley Shenstone, Mitchell’s aerodynamicist, considered the resulting aircraft ‘perhaps the cleanest biplane flying-boat ever built, with minimum struttage and clean nacelles faired into the wing’. He did not mention the very ‘boxy’ radiators which projected on either side to the rear of these nacelles although this positioning least compromised the overall lines of the new design.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
No new name had been chosen when ‘Mutt’ Summers took S1648 up for its first flight on 8th July, 1932. After numerous tests, it was delivered on 29th October to MAEE, Felixstowe, for further trials which included a maximum duration flight of 10 hours over the North Sea. In the following May, the prototype was flown to the Kalafrana flying-boat base, Malta, for overseas acceptance trials with No. 202 Squadron and these involved a long-distance flight to Gibraltar and back and a cruise to Port Sudan via Sollum, Aboukir, and Lake Timsah. On its return, the Scapa took part in the 1934 fly-past of ‘the competition’ at the Hendon R.A.F. Display with, as Penrose reported, ‘the clean Supermarine twin-engined Scapa leading, followed by the four-engined Short Singapore, triple engined Blackburn Perth, the distinctive gull-winged Short Knucklduster, Saro R24/31 London and the three Saro Cloud trainers’.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Hendon event was clearly designed to impress foreign governments of Britain’s military capabilities and, during the 1935 – 1939 period, the Scapa fulfilled its required purpose with anti-submarine patrols to protect neutral shipping during the Spanish Civil War. Some of the aircraft of No. 202 squadron were later transferred to No. 204 Squadron and were sent to Egypt during the Italian-Abyssinian confrontation. There was also a single Scapa attached to No. 228 Squadron whose contribution to the developing war preparations was involvement in early radar trials.<br />
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* * * * * </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<u><b>Source Material and</b> References</u>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-2267513858705072092017-03-12T11:54:00.000-07:002017-09-24T06:52:44.563-07:00R.J.Mitchell's Walrus – 'he looped the bloody thing'<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLth4z5bPG_XJBE45ROtTJvZAp_X2DP2-H77JoauCdUpDKxz5DkFq-R6VhX1d3T1t4wToquRPBYMAdNqaP7r7Vy89LFRUHRHoNPwbRyW6y8yP86aXYrEKxT87XPo-Qt4CqwGQdqxvaDRjr/s1600/Seagull+II++copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLth4z5bPG_XJBE45ROtTJvZAp_X2DP2-H77JoauCdUpDKxz5DkFq-R6VhX1d3T1t4wToquRPBYMAdNqaP7r7Vy89LFRUHRHoNPwbRyW6y8yP86aXYrEKxT87XPo-Qt4CqwGQdqxvaDRjr/s1600/Seagull+II++copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine Seagull III <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(from painting by author)</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Walrus owed its origin to a 1933 Australian order for a replacement for the Supermarine Seagull IIIs which the Royal Australian Air Force had been operating since 1926. In view of the deck landing limitations and porpoising characteristics of the obsolescent Seagull [see my Blopost:"<b>Precursors of R.J. Mitc</b>hell's Walrus"], the new machine would have to be a complete re-design – and so the move to metal structures, slab-sided fuselages, and the experience of the intervening years, produced a quite distinct type within the older formula. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One important example of the re-design was the employment of a fully retracting undercarriage, for the first time. A more obvious aspect of the redesign of the Seagull predecessor was the hull – it now shared the more aggressive, slab-sided, features of the Scapa and the later Stranraer but did not have their upward sweep to the tail unit. But, whilst the direct attachment of the lower wings to the hull was similar to these two aircraft, the upper centre section had a less than tidy trailing edge, as it had to be cut back for clearance of the pusher propeller and cut back again for the folding-wing arrangement. The engine nacelle also contributed to the somewhat ‘minimalist’ appearance of the new design by being quite noticeably off-set to counteract the corkscrew pressure of the propeller slipstream on the fin.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqp-vUAdgVrMZqksEOiwakN4Z3HQKxo7doHenQPEi-_Ltzw-LFk7iQpgGf4xo3984eGFa-Th4fuZTkJrbEVNTWntPT_XT3S8jVZ46OWtViMq5g14Z7r_qg6bZRFmNmdTTXDf02P0FqAUc/s1600/Walrus++copy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqp-vUAdgVrMZqksEOiwakN4Z3HQKxo7doHenQPEi-_Ltzw-LFk7iQpgGf4xo3984eGFa-Th4fuZTkJrbEVNTWntPT_XT3S8jVZ46OWtViMq5g14Z7r_qg6bZRFmNmdTTXDf02P0FqAUc/s320/Walrus++copy+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine Seagull V/Walrus (from a painting by the author)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thus the new machine was clearly no beauty and when, in June 1933, the prototype was seen by the Air Ministry Director of Technical Development, he said to Clifton: ‘Very interesting; but of course we have no requirement for anything like this’. Perhaps this reaction had some bearing on the test pilot’s performance at the second SBAC Show at Hendon. The <i>Aeroplane</i> described the event:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This boat made its maiden flight on 21 June, five days before its first public appearance, but Mr. Summers [Vickers chief test pilot] proved its qualities by throwing it about in a most carefree manner. Of its performance little is known but there can be little doubt about its amiability and general handiness in the air and on the ground. One must be prepared to see all sorts of aeroplanes looping and rolling with abandon nowadays, but somehow one has, up to now, looked to the flying-boat to preserve that Victorian dignity which one associates with crinolines, side whiskers, bell-bottom trousers and metal hulls. The Seagull V destroyed all one’s illusions.</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Henry Knowler, Chief Designer at Saunders Roe who watched the display in the company of Mitchell, reported the designer’s understandable surprise and anxiety at the low level antics of the five-day old prototype. ‘He looped the bloody thing,’ Mitchell kept repeating to everyone he met. </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Seagull V, as it was known to the Australian government, then underwent modifications and trials. Summers had criticised the rigidity of the undercarriage and its steering capacity and, after these deficiencies had been put right it went to the Marine Experimental Establishment at Felixstowe, five weeks after its maiden flight. Evaluation tests then lasted until the end of October, after which the Seagull went to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough for the catapulting trials required by the Australian Government. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Despite lengthy trials, including the successful catapult trials for the Australian order, no Air Ministry order was expected and so it would appear that the future of Mitchell’s design would rest solely with the Australian Government’s requirement. However, movements were afoot nearer to home, as reported in Caspar John’s Foreword to <i>The Supermarine Walrus</i> by G. W. R. Nicholl:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To the late Rear Admiral Maitland W. S. Boucher, D.S.O., Royal Navy [at that time serving in the Naval Air Division], goes the initiative for the introduction to the Fleet Air Arm of this somewhat improbable looking, yet highly successful flying machine.</div>
He said to me one day in late 1933, ‘I’ve just been to Supermarines. I’ve seen a small amphibian. It looks handy, tough and versatile … something the Navy needs. I want you to put it through its service trials. Off you go.' With a Supermarine Southampton flying-boat course at Calshot and some
tests at Felixstowe intervening, off I went to Woolston to collect
Seagull V N.2 early in 1934. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Caspar John, son of the artist Augustus John and later Admiral of the Fleet, took the Seagull to Gibraltar for rough weather take-offs and landings and for fleet co-operation exercises. The aircraft was then taken back to home waters for the continuation of trials at Sheerness and in the Solent until May when it was returned to Supermarine for the fitting of re-designed wing-tip floats to give better buoyancy, the removal of the wheel brakes for lightness and for an improved layout of the observer’s compartment. Further fleet operation trials continued, including landings in 30-knot winds and six-foot waves off the Kyles of Bute and underway recovery onto a warship making up to 13 knots through rough water. As a result, on the 27th of August, the Australian government ordered 24 production Seagull Vs, A2-1 to A2-24.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thereafter, the prototype was renumbered K4797 and, on New Year’s Day, 1935, handed over to the Fleet Air Arm. As the prototype had first flown in June, 1933, it is clear that the Admiralty had needed time to be convinced that open sea and catapult operation from their capital ships would work smoothly. In all probability, the earlier Australian initiative and the developing international situation had helped to overcome any doubters in the Admiralty and so an initial order was placed on 18 May, 1935, for 12, serial numbers K5772 to K5783, shortly followed by a second for eight, K8338 to K8345, and then a much larger order for twenty-eight, K8537 to K8564. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A name was now to be chosen for the British machine, unlike the Australian one – which retained the Seagull V appellation. In the past, Supermarine amphibians and flying boats had been favoured mainly with reasonably attractive seabird names: Sea Eagle, Sheldrake, Seamew, etc. whilst the name Sea Lion was a nod in the direction of the engine used. It is thus an interesting comment on what Caspar John had called its ‘somewhat improbable’ appearance that the far less glamorous name "Walrus" was now chosen. Nevertheless, it was not only the first of its type to be catapulted with a full military load but also the first British-designed military aircraft with a retracting undercarriage. The first British batches of 48 aircraft ordered was increased dramatically in 1936 with the requirement for another 168 machines, L2169 to L2336. Despite its initially very doubtful future and backward-looking appearance, the Walrus then became the last and the most successful of all Mitchell’s reconnaissance amphibians and the navy's standard fleet spotter.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<u><b>Source Material a</b>nd References</u>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<br />
<br />john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-26635579596941709232017-03-11T02:55:00.000-08:002017-09-24T06:53:20.279-07:00The Stranraer – Mitchell’s last flying-boat.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBfkEg-OZdS4ik7gDVT5VD4aMyymIJZMOa4gBoIomAaJe0LCDID0bbPFBbdTWsVxJc9mJtw-Ubj4FzPIcGsQb2y2eOTVejD7QGg9UXJFYhroqc0lCQPERV8t1LiqUG2SPYoxZ1weAZ0TpT/s1600/Stranraer++copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBfkEg-OZdS4ik7gDVT5VD4aMyymIJZMOa4gBoIomAaJe0LCDID0bbPFBbdTWsVxJc9mJtw-Ubj4FzPIcGsQb2y2eOTVejD7QGg9UXJFYhroqc0lCQPERV8t1LiqUG2SPYoxZ1weAZ0TpT/s1600/Stranraer++copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Supermarine Stranraer (from a painting by the author)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After Supermarine had received orders for the Scapa, the Air Ministry issued another specification, R.24/31, for another general purpose coastal patrol flying-boat but capable of carrying a 1,000 lb. greater load and of maintaining height on one engine with 60% of fuel on board. An enlarged and substantially altered version of the Scapa had to be projected but only the Saunders-Roe A.27 was accepted. Built as the 'London', it replaced the Southamptons and Scapas of Nos. 201 and 202 Squadron respectively. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At about this time, the Singapore III was ordered as a replacement for other Scapas with Nos. 204 and 240 Squadrons.This Short machine had about the same speed as the Scapa and was powered by twice as many engines.Thus, given an economic situation in which orders for larger flying-boats were likely to be kept to a minimum, it seemed a distinct possibility that a performance from Mitchell's smaller, twin-engined R.24/31 proposal might still stand a chance of winning some contracts, given the growing calls for British rearmament.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another reason for anticipating orders for the proposed new design was not simply based on the good performance figures that the Scapa had returned but on Mitchell’s having come to believe in the virtue of employing a thin-wing – for other than Schneider Trophy racers – contrary to the generally perceived wisdom of the day. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The engines chosen initially to pull the new machine’s thinner aerofoil through the air, and to give it the required one-engine performance required by the Air Ministry specification, were 820 hp Bristol Pegasus IIIMs providing a combined 590 hp more than the Scapa's Kestrels. The two engines were to be mounted with the same thrust line and in streamlined fairings but, being air-cooled radials, did not incur the extra weight and drag penalties of the Scapa's radiators; long-chord Townend drag-reducing rings surrounded the cylinder heads and their oil coolers formed part of the top centre-section leading edge. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
An extra depth of the new hull allowed the top of the enclosed cockpit to form a continuous line with the midship gunner’s cockpit which was now placed in the centre of the hull top – in the Southampton and Scapa there had been two midship gunner’s cockpits, offset from the centre-line. And now, for the first time, Supermarine were able to install the second rear gunner in a more faired-in cockpit in the tail. This had been proposed for the unsuccessful Southampton X prototype, with its wingspan of 79 feet, and so presented little difficulty for the new 85 footer. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The new prototype, K3973, was test flown by Summers on the 27th of July, 1934 and delivered in very short time to MAEE, Felixstowe for service assessment. The performance of the aircraft was such that an order for seventeen aircraft, K7287 to K7303, was placed with Supermarine by the following year. The standard service machine was fitted with the more powerful, 920 hp Pegasus X engines and could outperform all contemporary flying-boats. It had a maximum speed of 165 mph, making it the fastest biplane flying-boat to enter RAF service, yet had a stalling speed of only 51 mph. Its maximum ceiling was 20,000 feet and it could climb to the first 10,000 feet at a thousand feet per minute. As it was necessary to withhold these performance details because of the international situation, company publicity had to be content with the by-no-means despairing comment that the aircraft ‘passed all its tests brilliantly’ and went on to claim that ‘the outstanding feature of this flying-boat is that the performance obtained during a series of extended service trials, whether in respect of speed, climb, ceiling or take-off, is unequalled by any other British flying-boat. All the specification requirements were exceeded by large margins’.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The machine entered service as the 'Stranraer' and it must have been gratifying for Supermarine to see the Saunders-Roe London flying-boat replaced by their new aircraft with Nos. 201 and 240 Squadrons and to see another rival company’s aircraft, the Singapore III, superseded by the Stranraer with No. 209 Squadron. Other machines replaced the Scapas with No. 228 Squadron.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whilst it must be acknowledged that the Stranraer, being a fabric covered biplane, was an obsolescent type, as a stop-gap it was actually operated in World War II, serving with No. 228 Squadron when it was needed to patrol the North Sea. Additionally, some of the Stranraers of this unit were transferred to No. 209 Squadron and, fitted with extra fuel tankage under one wing and bombs under the other, they conducted patrols against enemy shipping between Scotland and Norway, until replaced in April 1941 by the ubiquitous Lockheed Hudson. No. 240 Squadron was also equipped with the Stranraer and made the last operational patrol of the type on 17 March, 1941.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In addition, the Royal Candian Air Force also adopted the Stranraer and 40 were built by Canadian Vickers and these saw a great deal more service than their British counterparts – in the battle against the U-boats in the Atlantic. They were finally replaced on active service by the Canadian Catalina, the Canso, in March 1941. The last RCAF Stranraer was retired as late as 20 January, 1946 and fourteen of the aircraft were sold to the civil sector, particularly to private airline companies in Canada. The last one of these Stranraers served in these spartan regions until 1958.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<u><b>Source Material and Ref</b>erences</u>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<br /><div class="normalUNindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="normalUNindented" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-21200524083207035202017-03-10T04:43:00.000-08:002017-09-24T06:54:04.291-07:00The Spitfire and its Predecessors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfQ3Qi01G9XeGJ9BwxbIVDvDyIO9R2iH_YXZ5pAdEQwkAfa7sbie8mXsX0qFhzDWK2Vq9IOEt3mW7Vvo3w5zCVwjtS1XSN38NjffP2RTvWUpU745O0SMe7Qr5UWFh4ovls8L1Cne5WoDX/s1600/bulldog+jks+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The Air Ministry Specification F. 7/30, which eventually led to the Spitfire, is well enough known (though there are inaccuracies in many accounts). In summary, the Specification called for a four-gun, single-seat day and night fighter with manoeuvrability and a "fighting view"; a speed of not less than 195 mph at 15,000 feet, a landing speed not more than 60 mph, and a climb to 15,000 feet in 8.5 minutes, were also specified. However, the night fighter consideration and current modest grass aerodromes of the RAF required a low landing speed that inhibited the design of a high speed machine.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqyxtB-Nqx0AfMo6LmPhzTKuyEEk8BeZFfR2mDbDpXeMJTTLGnvhOQYenD1UUQb0xgrJT70pgSWFG_CcvjYcI8Z2ioTzDeHmD_qXRJpbC735sfAt-gmKHtlsN9hoh36wRC6fJRLAJACXvH/s1600/gladiator+jks+copy.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqyxtB-Nqx0AfMo6LmPhzTKuyEEk8BeZFfR2mDbDpXeMJTTLGnvhOQYenD1UUQb0xgrJT70pgSWFG_CcvjYcI8Z2ioTzDeHmD_qXRJpbC735sfAt-gmKHtlsN9hoh36wRC6fJRLAJACXvH/s1600/gladiator+jks+copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gloster Gladiator (painting by the author)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Rj70HA8BSDAUHKEayrGKxMwPQ9T3vg7y-k75drGI4UfrFHexvapyUE1odNqB7Kqcn_4ZVHFLIGx1FFGCqC_LT4bIej2ojuh-jByFgcEo4zZhf2_ts_gFZJUbem8GAtZF5GOFRmhJX0bK/s1600/gamecock5+copy+2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Rj70HA8BSDAUHKEayrGKxMwPQ9T3vg7y-k75drGI4UfrFHexvapyUE1odNqB7Kqcn_4ZVHFLIGx1FFGCqC_LT4bIej2ojuh-jByFgcEo4zZhf2_ts_gFZJUbem8GAtZF5GOFRmhJX0bK/s320/gamecock5+copy+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gloster Gamecock </i><br />
<i>(painting by the author)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Nevertheless, the F. 7/30 Specification is something of milestone in Ministry thinking as we can see from a brief review of the performances of preceding RAF fighters. The Gloster Gamecock which entered squadron service in 1926 had a top speed of 155 mph and the Bristol Bulldog of 1929 was 20 mph faster – an average increase of about 7 mph per year. Thus, in 1930, the Ministry might not have expected more than, say, 185 mph if manufacturers responded to the F.7 with the usual biplane configuration, air-cooled radial engine, and fixed undercarriage – especially as double the number of guns was now required. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrhyphenhypheno3I1aHs5EMnOyGW8PrysYp12ckh3WRYhqmFYww3x94YkSIXaGLMr0xTx9ow0xf3JK2pslWUE-SLZCzdjG6LSSUH6V0fax2tHkwBmGdFBboWKsv3KklZHgznJMc1ADR9xdxuOQ89nh/s1600/bulldog+jks+copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrhyphenhypheno3I1aHs5EMnOyGW8PrysYp12ckh3WRYhqmFYww3x94YkSIXaGLMr0xTx9ow0xf3JK2pslWUE-SLZCzdjG6LSSUH6V0fax2tHkwBmGdFBboWKsv3KklZHgznJMc1ADR9xdxuOQ89nh/s1600/bulldog+jks+copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bristol Bulldog </i><br />
<i>(painting by the author)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In order to appreciate the achievement of the<i> <b>360 mph</b></i> Spitfire in 1937, it is necessary to look at previous increases in engine power. This rose from 425 hp (Gamecock) to 830 hp with the Gladiator, an increase of 95% for an improvement in performance of only 66%. Matters were worse later – the Gladiator showed a 12% top speed increase over the Gloster Gauntlet of 1936 for an increase of 30% in hp. Clearly, only an aircraft with a very different configuration would significantly improve matters. The Spitfire's cantilever flying surfaces, the additional improvement of a retracting undercarriage and with the in-line Merlin engine, was the well-known answer and this is shown starkly by a consideration of the present figures and calculations:<br />
(1) in 1937, the Gladiator could reach 257 mph whereas the Spitfire entered squadron service <b><i>the following year</i></b> with a top speed of<b><i> 362 mph</i></b>. Thus, instead of replicating the usual speed increase of less that 10 mph per year, Mitchell’s MkI fighter achieved <b><i>ten times</i></b> that figure; <br />
(2)
the hp figures are also very relevant – the Spitfire’s 1030 hp,
compared with the Gladiator’s 830 hp, represents an increase of 24% in
power but produced an increase in top speed of <i><b>over 40%</b>.</i><br />
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</span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8lGKa2bCqv00bcsLbCLE-ttbK6FDKjbcAmLIwS3XvcLc8OeJwsprzmNsfYXPFl_a0NQMx-HZBCKPgoAIwgXfEJSuz2ybQTUCU0qXNDVMLL-RjRb1C8zV-gRpX0CJJaSPgdXbfYQDMF3B/s1600/gauntlet+3+.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8lGKa2bCqv00bcsLbCLE-ttbK6FDKjbcAmLIwS3XvcLc8OeJwsprzmNsfYXPFl_a0NQMx-HZBCKPgoAIwgXfEJSuz2ybQTUCU0qXNDVMLL-RjRb1C8zV-gRpX0CJJaSPgdXbfYQDMF3B/s320/gauntlet+3+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gloster Gauntlet </i><br />
<i>(painting by the author)</i><br />
<br />
<i>* * * * * </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<u>S<b>ource Material and Refe</b>rences</u>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
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<tr><td><br /></td><td><br /></td><td><br /></td><td><br /></td><td><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td><br /></td><td><br /></td><td><br /></td><td><br /></td><td><br /></td></tr>
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<td><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>For reference sources see my "Blog Subjects, Sources and References".</b></span></span><br />
<div class="normalUNindented">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /><a href="mailto:schneiderspit@hotmail.com"></a> </span><br />
<div class="normalUNindented">
<br /></div>
</div>
</td>
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john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-42118574827541445082017-03-09T03:18:00.000-08:002017-09-24T06:54:43.862-07:00R. J. Mitchell’s Stuka – Type 224.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfQ3Qi01G9XeGJ9BwxbIVDvDyIO9R2iH_YXZ5pAdEQwkAfa7sbie8mXsX0qFhzDWK2Vq9IOEt3mW7Vvo3w5zCVwjtS1XSN38NjffP2RTvWUpU745O0SMe7Qr5UWFh4ovls8L1Cne5WoDX/s1600/bulldog+jks+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<div class="zCHAPTERHEAD">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Mitchell’s Stuka – the First ‘Spitfire’</span></b></div>
<div class="normalunind">
Thanks to his Schneider Trophy racers, Mitchell’s
qualifications for creating high-speed aircraft were outstanding but, as
we shall see, much of the under-performance of his first attempt at a fighter
was not of Mitchell’s making. Equally, its genesis contradicts any assumption
that the Spitfire developed directly from these machines or via some single imaginative
leap after the designer returned to work at the end of 1933, following his
operation for cancer.</div>
<div class="normindented">
Two years earlier, when the Air <sub>Ministry</sub>
specification F.7/30 appeared, Mitchell had had to turn his mind to a military
aspect of aviation that he had only briefly been engaged upon with the Sea King
II fighter of 1921 – and that aircraft was a flying boat, albeit a fast and
manoevrable one at the time. Additionally, armament on his slower
reconnaissance flying-boats was provided via gunners in cockpits not via guns
which would now probably need to be buried in the wings. Alan Clifton recalled
that Mitchell was uneasy about ‘his first venture into military aircraft’,
recognising that he was ‘no expert in the field’.</div>
<div class="normindented">
<br /></div>
<div class="aSUBHEAD">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Type 224.</span></b></div>
<div class="normalunind">
Mitchell’s resultant design, Type 224, was an all-metal
structure characterised by a thick cantilever, inverted, gull-wing and (surprisingly)
a short fixed undercarriage with large fairings (hence the comparison with the
Junkers Stuka (see below). Supermarine’s submission to the Air Ministry pointed
out how this cranked wing configuration would produce a short, low drag
undercarriage with a wide track for easy taxiing, and give ‘exceptional’
visibility for the pilot. Also, two of the four guns required by F.7/30 could
be housed in the undercarriage fairings (the leading edges of the wings were to
incorporate radiators for the chosen evaporative engine cooling system). In
addition, tanks to collect the condensed water coolant could be fitted low down
in these fairings. </div>
<div class="normindented">
A large air brake was provided but, nevertheless, the Air
Ministry, concerned about night operation and small, grass field landing strips,
felt that the estimated wing-loading of only 15 lbs. per sq. ft. was too high
(The wing-loading of Mitchell’s S.6B Schneider Trophy winner had been 42 lbs.
per sq. ft.). Therefore the wing was eventually drawn up with a generous
45ft.10in. span which, in combination with a fuselage about the same length as that
of the 28ft.10in. span Schneider floatplane, looked somewhat out of proportion. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjongYaqdhvTHrBwaNYMNXwbZXJrzrlyxGOqAOrjkEu6oPy6heXYZ7MNuVLdEaDtosygkAS2A-6YC2NqQhFvN3kU_fYerFV9BXJDQXc8RExf5Y2RhW_FiXnjfQf4gefIKkbt0_Gvb0sU6rz/s1600/8%252C2+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjongYaqdhvTHrBwaNYMNXwbZXJrzrlyxGOqAOrjkEu6oPy6heXYZ7MNuVLdEaDtosygkAS2A-6YC2NqQhFvN3kU_fYerFV9BXJDQXc8RExf5Y2RhW_FiXnjfQf4gefIKkbt0_Gvb0sU6rz/s400/8%252C2+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="normindented">
<br /></div>
<div class="normindented">
<span lang="EN-US">Type 224 first flew on 19 February 1933 and,
unfortunately, it was found that the low pressure side of the pumps for the cooling
system would often allow the coolant to turn into steam again, particularly
during rapid climbs. Test pilot Jeffrey Quill has recorded an undiplomatic
comment on the problem: ‘I said that with the red [warning] lights flashing on
all over the place, one had to be a plumber to understand what was going on.
[Mitchell] didn’t say anything, he just looked very sour. He was rather
sensitive about the aeroplane and obviously I had trodden on his toes.’ He,
understandably, was far from happy when the pilot had to level off until all was
working normally again – thus defeating the Air Ministry requirement of the
fastest possible climb to intercept enemy bombers.</span>
</div>
<div class="zUNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Apart from these cooling problems, the top speed of Type 224 also proved
to be a disappointment and so modifications were proposed, including a
retractable undercarriage, and elimination of the cranked wing. These proposals
were submitted in July 1934 and were expected to improve the maximum speed of
Type 224 by 30 mph but the Air Ministry officials were lukewarm and none were
implemented. Test flying continued and Vickers publicity even named the
aircraft ‘Spitfire’ but the way forward was unlikely to be with an imperfect cooling
system and with the conflicting ministry requirements of slow speed landing
performance and fighter agility. </span></div>
<div class="zUNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Meanwhile, Junkers were producing the similarly configured Stuka. with
an inverted cranked wing and fixed undercarriage; in the case of the early
models, the wheels were similarly encased:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhscVdkdFLQdWuHwEld_sJ597gOzPJYicndoY9nTmKMWYSHtNyxi831_11zsG-Xdc0_Hbe-2Pn9Eo2RUOLx7_BIy6TRilNf49xbtZaJmyJRI44GW-_XjseU-mqiG8ODF2Ttly6MQ_nmUpYX/s1600/Stuka+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhscVdkdFLQdWuHwEld_sJ597gOzPJYicndoY9nTmKMWYSHtNyxi831_11zsG-Xdc0_Hbe-2Pn9Eo2RUOLx7_BIy6TRilNf49xbtZaJmyJRI44GW-_XjseU-mqiG8ODF2Ttly6MQ_nmUpYX/s320/Stuka+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="zUNINDENTED">
<span lang="EN-US">It first flew on </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">17 September 1935 and, a</span><span lang="EN-US"> year later, Blohm und Voss produced their Ha 137, a fighter type
which also had a cranked wing and a ‘trousered’ undercarriage. As these
aircraft first flew after Type 224, Mitchell’s chosen configuration of a cranked
wing and a short fixed undercarriage was not an eccentric choice, nor derived
from other aircraft; no doubt the wing loading restriction must have been one
of the main reasons why the Vickers chairman subsequently claimed that he then
instructed Mitchell to design a private venture aircraft, the future Spitfire,
without any ‘interference’ from the Air Ministry.</span></div>
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<i>* * * * * </i><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<u>Source Material and References</u>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /><a href="mailto:schneiderspit@hotmail.com"></a> </span><br />
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john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1477056237698167967.post-68162046320617799442017-03-08T02:45:00.000-08:002017-09-24T06:55:34.096-07:00R. J. Mitchell's Spitfire – a Close Run Thing<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When Mitchell’s first fighter design, Type 224, was failing to satisfy the Air Ministry specification F.7/30, there was another monoplane which might very well have attracted favourable Ministry support instead: the Bristol Type 133, the first British fighter design with both retractable wheels and stressed-skin construction. But, when the aircraft was almost ready to go for competitive tests at Martlesham Heath, it entered into a flat spin; the test pilot had to abandon the one-and-only prototype and so time was available for Supermarine to try to improve upon their proposal – although it should be noted that, in view of the British manufacturers’ disappointing responses to F.7/30 that there was even talk in the Ministry of purchasing Poland’s all-metal monoplane, the PZL P.24. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Meanwhile personnel were changing in the Air Ministry: the Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard, who had favoured the bomber as a deterrent, had retired and his successor, Sir John Salmond and his Deputy, Sir Charles Burnett, were more sceptical of this approach. They were very actively supported by Hugh Dowding who joined the Air Staff in 1930 as Air Member for Research and Supply; as he later became the Commanding Officer of RAF Fighter Command, it is not surprising that he held the view that ‘the best defence of the country is fear of the fighter’. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was thus fortunate for Mitchell that the Air Ministry and its departments were headed by RAF officers who had by now come to the conclusion that fighter development had to be significantly stepped up. Whilst F.7/30 can be seen as the milestone specification which brought our seaplane designer into the reckoning, the future support of certain Air Ministry officials in some difficult days ahead for the Spitfire-to-be had much to do with the close and mutually respectful relations between Supermarine and the RAF since the Southampton and S.5/6 Schneider Trophy days. It might also be noted that two particular Ministry men were active at this time: Group Captain Cave-Brown-Cave, the Director of Technical Development from 1931 to 1935, who had led the Far East Flight in one of Mitchell’s Southamptons which had never let his team down, and Major Buchanan, who had been the Air Ministry representative at the 1925 Schneider Competition and vocal afterwards in his support for British participation in these events.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It should thus come as no surprise that, even before trials of the F.7/30 prototypes had been concluded, Specification F.5/34 was issued, which stated that a retracting undercarriage was required and eight machine guns to provide ‘the maximum hitting power’. It also specified that ‘the maximum speed at an altitude of 15,000 feet shall not be less than 275 mph and at 5,000 feet not less than 250 mph’; and ‘the time taken to reach 20,000 feet is not to exceed 7½ minutes’. As Mitchell’s Type 224 modification had only promised a top speed of 265 mph and a climb to 15,000 feet in over eight minutes, it is not surprising that it had only received a lukewarm response from the Air Ministry.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fortunately, the Air Ministry, in October, 1934, agreed to Supermarine submitting a quotation for a different machine and Rolls-Royce had, by then, decided that their current engines were not capable of being developed into the sort of power plant needed for the next generation of fighters. Something between their 22 litre Kestrel and Goshawk engines and their 37 litre Schneider Trophy ‘R’ engine, was thought to be appropriate and so the company had begun design work on a further 12-cylinder Vee engine, initially expected to deliver a healthy 1,000 hp. As this new engine had passed its 100 hour test in the July of 1934, the board of Vickers (Aviation) Ltd decided on 6 November to finance the design of a fighter, powered by this new engine. Sir Robert McLean, the chairman of the board, some time later described how he had decided that Mitchell and his design team, in view of the adverse effect of Air Ministry requirements on the Type 224 [see my Blogpost: '<b>R.J. Mitchell's Stuka'</b>], should design a ‘real killer fighter’ in advance of any Air Ministry specification and that ‘in no circumstances would any technical member of the Air Ministry be consulted or allowed to interfere with the designer’.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This intervention by Sir Robert was a result of his appreciation of Mitchell’s work which went right back to the take-over of Supermarine in 1928 – although McKinstry has recently pointed out that the chairman was, in fact, not unwavering before his support for the Supermarine designer finally won out. The alternative proposal which had attracted the attention of the chairman was the Venom, a development of the promising but ill-fated F.7/30 entry, the Vickers 151 Jockey, which had also succumbed to a flat spin. Like the Spitfire, the Venom had a stressed skin cantilever wing, retractable undercarriage and a metal monocoque fuselage (in fact, when it did fly, three months after the Spitfire prototype, it attained a top speed only 37 mph lower than the Supermarine prototype – with a less powerful radial engine). Clearly, this machine could have developed into a very serious challenge to the Supermarine project and, indeed, Beverley Shenstone, Mitchell’s aerodynamicist, later reported that ‘in my opinion the Spitfire would not have been born if Mitchell had not been willing to stand up to McLean, particularly in the era when McLean clearly preferred the Venom concept to the Spitfire concept because it was cheaper and lighter’.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But once Mitchell’s proposal had been agreed upon, the combination of a Vickers/Supermarine/Rolls-Royce/Mitchell design must have stirred things up within the Air Ministry, for events moved very quickly thereafter. On December the 1st, £10,000 was allocated for the building of a prototype and a full design conference was called at the Air Ministry on the 5th of the same month. The whole contract situation was quickly regularized when a very brief Specification F.37/34 was formally signed on the third of January, 1935. It should be noted that this new specification was headed ‘Experimental High Speed Single Seat Fighter (Supermarine Aviation Works)’ and it stated that, basically, ‘the aircraft shall conform to all the requirements stated in Specification F.7/30 – that is, Mitchell was permitted to design a four-gun ‘experimental’ aircraft but without other firms being invited to tender in the usual way. It would seem that the three successive Schneider Trophy wins by the Rolls-Royce/Supermarine combination had not been forgotten by the new Air Ministry officials. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Notwithstanding this initiative, three months later, the Air Ministry issued requirement F.10/35 in April 1935, which called for at least six, and preferably eight, guns to ‘produce the maximum hitting power possible in the short time available for one attack’. Thus the Supermarine fighter being designed had to offer something special, for F.10/35 called for a maximum speed of ‘not less than 310 mph.’ – and so one suspects that Supermarine and Vickers were looking well beyond their four gun model and towards new armament requirements when their elliptical wing shape was decided upon – the thin wing approach that Mitchell had come to believe in could only accommodate increased weaponry with a broad chord wing well outboard of the fuselage and beyond the required retracting undercarriage housing.<br />
In this connection, the later comments of Mitchell’s stress man, Clifton concerning Mitchell’s doubts about information derived from model testing deserve recording:</div>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
I think that Mitchell decided to make the wing as thin as he did, and I wouldn’t like to be positive about this, but my recollection was that it was against some advice from the National Physical Laboratory in that case where wind tunnel tests, I believe, showed that there was no advantage in going below a thickness chord ratio of 15%, whereas, the [Spitfire] wing was 13% at the root and 6% at the tip. . . subsequently it was found that when you made proper allowance for that, there was an advantage, as the testing could be shown to prove, in going thinner. </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At that time, Hawkers had been advised by the National Physical Laboratory that their recent wind tunnel results had shown no drag penalty with the thicker Hurricane wing; however, the Laboratory scientists later found this advice to be incorrect. Fortunately Mitchell’s instincts were proved correct.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was also fortunate that, about this time, F. W. Meredith of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, came up with a ducted under-wing radiator that not only made little difference to the lines of the machine but actually used the heat exchange of the radiator to produce some thrust at high speed rather than to create drag, as in previous practice, thus encouraging confidence in Supermarine’s predicted 350 mph for their new fighter.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoaYCGXmspmD6aBMFDvMMJPqYOiGrZB9fRw6npm3Gkkaigi5CtxQ33jEnVqll3cg54ILNmJyQE7pS03yb-R5KA9mrOH2nC-3ZoEtzVyefijJtGknFocO2pDP6MuGVEJUCEHT0ws-qGWC1g/s1600/Spitfire+Prototype+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoaYCGXmspmD6aBMFDvMMJPqYOiGrZB9fRw6npm3Gkkaigi5CtxQ33jEnVqll3cg54ILNmJyQE7pS03yb-R5KA9mrOH2nC-3ZoEtzVyefijJtGknFocO2pDP6MuGVEJUCEHT0ws-qGWC1g/s1600/Spitfire+Prototype+copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>K 5054 the Spitfire Prototype <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(from a painting by the author)</span></i></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nevertheless, when the new prototype first flew early in 1936, Mitchell confessed to being very disappointed that the top speed was ‘a lot slower than I had hoped for’ –– and, as its test pilot, Jeffrey Quill, said: ‘unless the Spitfire offered some very substantial speed advantage over the Hurricane, it was unlikely to be put into production. Thus the disappointing speed performance of our prototype at that early stage was something of a crisis and Mitchell was reported to be 'a very worried man’.<br />
And so the prototype was given a special new paint job and, by 9th May, 1936, re-emerged with a very smooth light blue-grey finish, thanks to fillers and to automobile paint supplied by Rolls-Royce. Yet the speed of K5054 was still less than hoped for, as the aircraft’s top speed of 335 mph was still too close to that of the Hurricane, rumoured to be achieving 330 mph. Just after the prototype Hurricane had flown, Mitchell saw it for the first time. ‘He did not see it close up but only at a distance. He came back to Itchen very worried, and walked into the erection shed and looked at the first incomplete Spitfire. He said, "Camm’s got a tiny little machine. Ours looks far too big"’.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In fact, the Hurricane had three feet more span than the Spitfire but the supposed narrow margin between the top speeds of the two new aircraft might very well have resulted in a contract going exclusively to the Hawker. Luckily, the fitting of a new propeller (Quill recalled the previous flight testing of ‘some 15 to 20 different designs’) on 15th May produced a dramatic increase to 349 mph – a very impressive leap of more than 100 mph over that of the Gladiator which, as a stop-gap, had eventually been awarded the F.7/30 contract.<br />
When one remembers how two promising F.7/30 contenders were eliminated
when the one-and-only models crashed, it is worth recalling that the
equally unique Spitfire prototype nearly came to grief when handed over
to Fl. Lieut. (later Air Marshall Sir) Humphrey Edwardes-Jones at the
test centre, Martlesham Heath:<br />
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There was no air traffic control in those days and I had no radio. As I made my approach I could make out a Super Fury some way in front of me doing S turns to lose height before it landed. I thought it was going to get in my way but then I saw it swing out to one side and land, so I knew I was all right. But it had distracted my attention at a very important time. As I was coming in to land I had a funny feeling that something was wrong. Then it suddenly occurred to me: I had forgotten to lower the undercarriage! The klaxon horn, which had come on when I throttled back with the wheels still up, was barely audible with the hood open and the engine running. I lowered the undercarriage and it came down and locked with a reassuring ‘clunk’. Then I continued down and landed. Afterwards people said to me, ‘You've got a nerve, leaving it so late before you put the wheels down’. But I just grinned and shrugged my shoulders. In the months that followed I would go quite cold just thinking about it: supposing I had landed the first Spitfire wheels-up! I kept the story to myself for many years afterwards.</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With hindsight, one wonders how a crash-landing of the one-and-only untried prototype would have affected its future, given the usual Air Ministry practice of only ordering one prototype from a firm [for the German contract exercise, equivalent to the British F.7/30 requirement, four firms had each been authorized to build three prototypes].</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Events in Europe were certainly now creating an even greater urgency to find an adequate replacement for the standard RAF fighters of the day and so Edwardes-Jones had been instructed to telephone the Air Ministry as soon as he got down from this first flight:</div>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
Normally, a firm’s test pilot would bring in a prototype aircraft for service testing, and it would be first handed over to the boffins who would weigh it very carefully and check that the structure was as it should be. It was usually about 10 days before it came out for its first flight with us. With the Spitfire prototype, it was quite different. Mutt Summers brought her over, and orders came from the Air Ministry that I was to fly the aircraft that same day and report my impressions…<br />
Once down I rang the number at the Air Ministry I had been given, as ordered. The officer at the other end [Wilfred Freeman, Air Member for Research and Development] said … ‘All I want to know is whether you think the young pilot officers and others we are getting in the Air Force will be able to cope with the aircraft’. I took a deep breath – I was supposed to be the expert, having jolly nearly landed with the undercarriage up! Then I realised that it was just a silly mistake on my part and I told him that if there were proper indications of the undercarriage position in the cockpit, there should be no difficulty. On the strength of that brief conversation the Air Ministry signed a contract for the first 310 Spitfires on 3 June [1936], eight days later.</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
For reference
sources, see my Blogpost: “<u><b>Source Material and Refe</b>rences</u>" – an
extended bibliography is included in my <i>R.J.Mitchell at Supermarine;
Schneider Trophy to Spitfire</i> which also provides material
for wider reading, grouped according to specific areas of interest. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<br />john sheltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14113642104439358854noreply@blogger.com0