The Edwards Rhomboidal was an early

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aircraft of extremely unorthodox configuration designed by E.W. Edwards.

Design and development

The Edwards Rhomboidal was an

annular wing A closed wing is a wing that effectively has two main planes which merge at their ends so that there are no conventional wing tips. Closed wing designs include the annular wing (commonly known as the cylindrical or ring wing), the joined wing, ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with identical upper and lower surfaces consisting of four surfaces in a diamond arrangement, the aft wings being of three times the

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

of the forward wings. It had been arrived at as a result of successful experiments with a rubber-driven model

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

. The main structure of the aircraft was formed by a pair of triangular section wire-braced

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

es arranged one above another, connected by five sets of paired struts. Each girder bore a pair of substantial flexibly mounted struts extending outwards, the wings being tensioned between the ends of the longitudinal girders and the outer ends of the struts by means of cables which formed the wing

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

s. The trailing edges were under less tension, the intention being that the wings would automatically deform to spread flight loads. They had no internal spars, being stiffened by ribs aligned with the direction of flight sewn into pockets in the single thickness of fabric. A rectangular

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ar ...

was mounted on the rearmost connecting struts, and a small

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

was mounted above the upper wing. There was no provision for lateral control. It was powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Humber water-cooled engine using chains to drive a pair of tractor propellers between the wings, with the pilot sitting behind the engine. The undercarriage consisted of a pair of skids each bearing a pair of wheels, supplemented by a castoring nosewheel and a tailskid. It was tested at

Brooklands Brooklands was a Auto racing, motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's fir ...

during early 1911,The New Edwards Rhomboidal Biplane
''Flight 18 March 1911 but there is no record of it having left the ground.

Specifications

Notes

References

* Lewis, P., ''British Aircraft 1809-1914''. London, Putnam, 1962. {{refend

External links

Side elevation and plan
''Flight'' 5 February 1910 1910s British experimental aircraft Closed wing aircraft Single-engined twin-prop tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft manufactured in the United Kingdom