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Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4
The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4 was a single-engined, single seat biplane designed and built at the Royal Aircraft Factory just prior to the start of the First World War. Intended to be as fast as possible, it recorded a speed of 135 mph (217 km/h), which made it the fastest aircraft in the world in 1914, but no production followed and it was soon written off in a crash. Development and design In April 1913, Henry Folland, one of the talented pool of designers assembled at the Royal Aircraft Factory started the design of a high-speed development of the earlier Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2 (designed by Geoffrey de Havilland), the S.E.3.Bruce 1982, p.468. The S.E.3 was abandoned in favour of the S.E.4, a more advanced aircraft intended to break the world air speed record.Bruce 1968, p.70. The S.E.4 was a tractor biplane powered by a closely cowled 14-cylinder, two-row Gnome rotary engine. The aircraft's fuselage was of wooden construction, and was carefully streamlin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Aircraft
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is an affinity group for contributors with shared goals within the Wikimedia movement. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within Wikimedia project, sibling projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by ''Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aircraft Canopy
An aircraft canopy is the transparent enclosure over the cockpit of some types of aircraft. An aircraft canopy provides a controlled and sometimes pressurized environment for the aircraft's occupants, and allows for a greater field of view over a traditional flight deck. A canopy's shape is a compromise designed to minimize aerodynamic drag, while maximizing visibility for pilots and other crewmembers. History Very early aircraft had no canopies. The pilots were exposed to the wind and weather, although most flying was done in good weather. Through World War I most aircraft had no canopy, although they often had a small windshield to deflect the prop wash and wind from hitting the pilot in the face. In the 1920s and 1930s, the increasing speed and altitude of airplanes necessitated a fully enclosed cockpit and canopies became more common. Early canopies were made of numerous pieces of flat glass held in position by a frame and muntins. The muntins reduced visibility, whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chief Of The Air Staff (United Kingdom)
Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) is the title of the professional head of the Royal Air Force, who is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Air Force Board. The post was created in 1918, with Major General Sir Hugh Trenchard as the first holder. The current and 30th Chief of the Air Staff is Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, who succeeded Sir Michael Wigston on 2 June 2023. Responsibilities As of June 2023, the responsibilities were described as follows: As the RAF progressively adopts responsibility for Air Capability planning and management from MOD Head Office, CAS will be responsible for commissioning RAF equipment, materiel and other support requirements. As a Service Chief of Staff, he has the right of direct access to the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister. CAS chairs the Air Force Board Standing Committee, and is a member of the Defence Council, the Air Force Board, the Armed Forces Committee, the Chiefs' of Staff Committee and the Senior Ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Salmond
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond, (17 July 1881 – 16 April 1968) was a British military officer who rose to high rank in the Royal Flying Corps and then the Royal Air Force. During the First World War he served as a squadron commander, a wing commander and then as General Officer Commanding the RAF on the Western Front towards the end of the war. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding British Forces in Iraq in the early 1920s when he halted a Turkish invasion and sought to put down a Kurdish uprising against King Faisal, the British-sponsored ruler of Iraq. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the early 1930s and bitterly opposed the position taken by British politicians at the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, which would have led to the UK's complete aerial disarmament. In the event the talks broke down when Adolf Hitler withdrew from the Conference in October 1933. Early life John Salmond was born the son of Major General Sir William Salmon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Henderson (British Army Officer)
Lieutenant General Sir David Henderson, (11 August 1862 – 17 August 1921) was the senior leader of British military aviation during the First World War, having previously established himself as the leading authority on tactical intelligence in the British Army. He served as the commander of the Royal Flying Corps in the field during the first year of the First World War, and was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force as an independent service. After the war Henderson was the first Director-General of the League of Red Cross Societies. Early and family life David Henderson was born in Glasgow on 11 August 1862 into a ship-owning family. His father, also called David Henderson, was a joint owner of the Clydeside ship builders David and William Henderson and Company. Henderson entered the University of Glasgow in 1877 at the age of just 15. While there, he read engineering and in his fourth year (1880–1881) he studied civil engineering and mechanics as well as offi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Aeronautical Society
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows, and Companions of the society can use the post-nominal letters MRAeS, FRAeS, or CRAeS, respectively. Function The objectives of The Royal Aeronautical Society include: to support and maintain high professional standards in aerospace disciplines; to provide a unique source of specialist information and a local forum for the exchange of ideas; and to exert influence in the interests of aerospace in the public and industrial arenas, including universities. The Royal Aeronautical Society is a worldwide society with an international network of 67 branches. Many practitioners of aerospace disciplines use the Society's designatory Post-nominal letters, post-nominals such aFRAeS CRAeS, MRAeS, AMRAeS, and ARAeS (incorporating the fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaf Spring
A leaf spring is a simple form of spring (device), spring commonly used for suspension (vehicle), suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, it is one of the oldest forms of vehicle suspension. A leaf spring is one or more narrow, arc-shaped, thin plates that are attached to the axle and chassis in a way that allows the leaf spring to flex vertically in response to irregularities in the road surface. Lateral leaf springs are the most commonly used arrangement, running the length of the vehicle and mounted perpendicular to the wheel axle, but numerous examples of transverse leaf springs exist as well. Leaf springs can serve multiple suspension functions: location, springing, and to some extent damping as well, through interleaf friction. However, this friction is not well controlled, resulting in stiction and irregular suspension motions. For t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conventional Landing Gear
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 133. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. From the Ground Up, 27th edition, page 11 The term taildragger is also used. The term "conventional" persists for historical reasons, but all modern jet aircraft and most modern propeller aircraft use tricycle gear. History In early aircraft, a tailskid made of metal or wood was used to support the tail on the ground. In most modern aircraft with conventional landing gear, a small articulated wheel assembly is attached to the rearmost part of the airframe in place of the skid. This wheel may be steered by the pilot through a connection to the rudder pedals, allowing the rudder and tailwheel to move together. Before aircraft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flap (aircraft)
A flap is a high-lift device used to reduce the stall (flight), stalling speed of an aircraft wing at a given weight. Flaps are usually mounted on the wing trailing edges of a fixed-wing aircraft. Flaps are used to reduce the take-off distance and the landing distance. Flaps also cause an increase in Drag (physics), drag so they are retracted when not needed. The flaps installed on most aircraft are partial-span flaps; spanwise from near the wing root to the inboard end of the ailerons. When partial-span flaps are extended they alter the spanwise lift distribution on the wing by causing the inboard half of the wing to supply an increased proportion of the lift, and the outboard half to supply a reduced proportion of the lift. Reducing the proportion of the lift supplied by the outboard half of the wing is accompanied by a reduction in the angle of attack on the outboard half. This is beneficial because it increases the margin above the Stall (fluid dynamics), stall of the outbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camber (aerodynamics)
In aeronautics and aeronautical engineering, camber is the asymmetry between the two acting surfaces of an airfoil, with the top surface of a wing (or correspondingly the front surface of a propeller blade) commonly being more convex (positive camber). An airfoil that is not cambered is called a ''symmetric airfoil''. The benefits of cambering were discovered and first utilized by George Cayley in the early 19th century. Overview Camber is usually designed into an airfoil to raise its maximum lift coefficient CLmax. This minimizes the Stall (flight), stalling speed of aircraft using the airfoil. An aircraft with wings using a cambered airfoil will have a lower stalling speed than an aircraft with a similar wing loading and wings using a symmetric airfoil. One recent cambered design is called the supercritical airfoil. It is used for near-supersonic flight and produces a higher lift-to-drag ratio at near supersonic flight than traditional airfoils. Supercritical airfoils employ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around the aircraft's longitudinal axis), which normally results in a change in flight path due to the tilting of the lift vector. Movement around this axis is called rolling or banking. Considerable controversy exists over credit for the invention of the aileron. The Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss fought a years-long legal battle over the Wright patent of 1906, which described a method of wing-warping to achieve lateral control. The brothers prevailed in several court decisions which found that Curtiss's use of ailerons violated the Wright patent. Ultimately, the First World War compelled the U.S. Government to legislate a legal resolution. A much earlier aileron concept was patented in 1868 by British scientist Matthew Piers Watt Boul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
