DESIGNING OF AIRCRAFT

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22511, 20 September 1938, Page 3

DESIGNING OF AIRCRAFT

RESEARCH WORK IN i BRITAIN. r„ •

Address to

'Research work into the designing t „of aircraft for military, and; ciyil -uses was described by-"Dr. E. K. D.Sc, late of .the- staff .of- the Jtoyai' Aircraft England, when' he addressed the Businessmen's Club* at its luncheon yesterday*. "Dr. Cooper was working"in theyAerodyMunics"Uepartment of the Royal Aircraft" Estab-' hshment at Hampsjtead \ for -'three, years, and he revealed.details" J of the".'highly important work done 1 '. . J : A staff of abouti.2soo,£on#;tenth£of;; whoni were dra|wn ■} all over the - Empire^'with 'degrees^in. the sciences: of'' ; ''erfginee'irihg,:;'''pKy f s : chemistry, etc., was:' mairitjaihe"d; «tnd, these men were ; employed imakjng're-.'; search. in the fields of , aerodynamics;; airworthiness, «'> mechanical"' <stren'gth- t testing, defence, and 'arma'merits..; Research, Dr. Cooper '. said, J: 'might"' he called a luxury, but it;was an-essential, one, and though the* expense -might be great, the return was infinite. •'■■'• In the Aerodynamics,.Department'of the Royal Aircraft: Estabiishroent tiiere -, were several sections.- There?was.one for seaplanes, where -models were towed on a tank 150 yards, long at a speed of 45- miles., an, hour. ' for floats and hulls..:;were tested here. The. windrlunnel; section played a similar part -in- testing ;the shapes of land "aeroplanes and enabled the drag to be determined..< -The'-.dan* ger in ice-fbrmatibn on. - the'.'i' lifting surfaces was fought: here. ."•.';. the bugbear, of the..research experts,, however, was • that - scale models *..■ did not immediately* give" results that would apply to' tests with full-scale, models. Results with?.* ! ino4el.' one-

fifteenth-fUII size could not-merely be multiplied A large wind-tunnel 24 feet Tn diameter overcame-4his, and m -it* experiments were made* m engine-cooling, variable-pitch 'airscrews, „ and aerodynamics. Where, it was not to use enormous wind' speeds, tests were made in - a sfeei shell at a pressure 20 or 30 times atmosphere. Inline instruments section experiment * being madeJwath remote confexfl^which so far had been practicable as long" as the machine„-was in bight, and. another department worked serious,problem of