Back - with a Boxkite!

JDK · **Posted:** Wed Feb 26, 2014 7:44 am

This is a rather neat bit of woodwork.

And, while obviously a wing section, it's also rather unusual as it is a foreplane, and as you'd expect in this thread, was the one built for the Boxkite.

One of the things that makes the Boxkite very unusual is the pitch control with this foreplane and an elevator, and the fact that, as well as the wings, it has a forward lifting surface (the controllable foreplane) and a (biplane) lifting-surface tail unit. Adds a little interest to lift calculations, I'm sure.

Regards,

Tiger Tim · **Posted:** Wed Feb 26, 2014 9:18 am

JDK wrote:

The second thing to note is that the front of the aircraft is to the left, and thus the rotary is hanging off the BACK of the propeller - even more removed from the airframe than your standard tractor-type rotary. We've not found a reliable reference as to why it has this configuration, but an obvious possibility is that the slipstream is desired / required to cool the engine; something there would be far less of if the prop were aft of the metal. Anyone know better?

I'm not an expert but I do like pictures from the dawn of flight. It seems to me like most (maybe all?) of the early Gnome rotaries had the prop on the airframe side of the engine. That is to say, tractor mounted Gnomes had the propeller behind the engine. I've always suspected they worried about any small propeller imbalance bending the crank.

-Tim

JDK · **Posted:** Wed Feb 26, 2014 9:35 pm

Got me there Tim; I'm struggling to think of one production or number-produced period type tractor with a prop aft of the engine. (I'm not thinking of all the weird and wonderful didn't fly or just flews) Can you elucidate?

We should also remember the Boxkite was a production type made in substantial numbers (for the era) and Bristol were licensees for the production Gnome - again, for the era, a robust and effective engine.

there's a page here, which has a list of types which used it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnome_Omega

It's certainly exercising the grey matter!

Regards,

JDK · **Posted:** Thu Feb 27, 2014 7:03 am

And here's some advice for Boxkite pilots of the period (1910s) that is relevant today, but not normally put in these exact terms...

"Always remember that it is not difficult to fly, you need "pluck" and coolness, take plenty of time to do everything and do not overdo it. The personal danger is very small as long as you do the right thing at the right time."

Trust all our aviators are using their 'pluck' and 'coolness' today and everyday...

JDK · **Posted:** Sun Mar 02, 2014 6:35 am

The Boxkite project at the RAAF Museum had many genuinely interested visitors today, Sunday 2nd March, eminent among whom was Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Quentin Bryce AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. Seen here with Group Captain Ron Gretton AM RAAF (Ret'd) on the left, and Wing Commander Geoff Matthews, RAAF (Ret'd) the builders of this remarkable, airworthy replica of Australia's first military aircraft.

JDK · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2014 7:34 am

Two natty-dress chaps. Front is Lieutenant Eric Harrison, the pilot of the first flight of the Australian military Boxkite on 1 March 1914. Here he is in the original Boxkite CFS 3 with Brigadier General John Gordon on 5 March 1914. Gordon was the Chief of General Staff at the time, and one of several early VIP passengers to fly from the new 'federal aviation station' at Point Cook, as The Age called it. [RAAF Museum Archive image]

airnutz · **Posted:** Fri Apr 04, 2014 11:58 am

Tiger Tim wrote:

It seems to me like most (maybe all?) of the early Gnome rotaries had the prop on the airframe side of the engine. That is to say, tractor mounted Gnomes had the propeller behind the engine. I've always suspected they worried about any small propeller imbalance bending the crank.

I've seen the comment about "many propeller behind on the Gnome tractors being produced" repeated on the internet, but I've not seen photographic or written evidence of that practice. In the following link is this photo which has been credited to the Seguin Brothers Gnome display at the 1st Paris Aeronautical Salon at the Grand Palais during December 1908. Presented on a Bleriot 11 chassis it is later attributed as going to sportsman Leon Delagrange...
http://www.uh.edu/engines/gnomerotaryenginephoto.jpg

The second photo of this link shows it's arrival at the meet at Doncaster UK in October 1909....
http://www.thefirstairraces.net/meeting ... planes.php

I've read through 1909 thru 1910 of backissues of the UK's "Flight" as well as the 1908-10 years of the French publication L'Aerophile and have not seen one photo or written account of another aircraft using that configuration.

Welcome back James!

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