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Unfair to Aeroplanes

Unfair to Aeroplanes Aircraft Engineering THE MONTHLY SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ORGAN OF THE AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING PROFESSION VOL XX No 237 NOVEMBER 1948 Unfair to Aeroplanes increased, the stalling speed goes up and the pilot is given a clumsy and, not to put too fine a point on it, potentially dangerous aeroplane E are becoming increasingly exercised over the continuance to' take off or land. of a trend in connexion with commercial transport aircraft to which we have, in fact, called attention in the past. The Basic Fault There can we conceive be no argument that, apart from weather, The difficulty is that no one is particularly to blame for these un­ and physical hazards on certain routes, the danger-times for aero­ desirable developments and therefore no one seems to charge him­ planes are at the take-off and when coming in to land. In recent years self with the responsibility for putting a stop to them. So far as research workers and technicians have devoted much ingenuity to Great Britain is concerned everyone connected with the operation producing devices to reduce the dangers. There is no need to cata­ of the three air transport Corporations is naturally concerned at logue these; suffice it to say that aerodynamicists have done much involving the unfortunate taxpayers in a recurring loss of £10,000,000 with the provision of flaps and slots to give increased lift and en­ a year through their activities. It is, of course, giving the impression hanced control at the moments when these are most needed, while that commercial aviation is a hopelessly expensive and uneconomical such aids as water injection are available to give the little extra power business. The obvious feature of the service to be saddled with the to the engines that may make all the difference in an emergency. responsibility for this state of affairs is the aeroplane; with the evil results we have indicated. Actually, the comparatively small incre­ ment to be gained by these foolish methods on the revenue side is Wrong Application mere petty cash compared with the balance-sheet type of savings that There is no question but that in this manner enormous advances could be effected by a thorough overhaul of the hopelessly top-heavy have been made in the potential safety of flying. Unfortunately, how­ organization of the Corporations. The money is wanted not in the ever, these precautionary measures are being prostituted to a purpose air—where, incidentally, it is wholly earned—but on the ground. for which they were never originally intended. The over-harassed operator in his eagerness to make the carriage of passengers and We should like to see designers and firms concerned take a strong freight a more competitive and successful business from the financial line about this matter—as should those responsible for issuing the point of view is far too prone when looking round for more efficiency licences. This is not a phenomenon to which Great Britain is particu­ in payload-carrying capacity to lay sacrilegious hands on devices larly prone; indeed there are other countries which have an un­ such as those to which we refer. Here, he thinks, is something from desirable habit of setting an example in this respect. The trouble is his point of view going begging, from which a few pounds of extra that with competition in commercial air transport becoming as lift can be obtained at the start of a flight. He looks upon them as a keen as it is, there is always someone—frequently, we regret to say, gift from the gods to provide him with more all-up weight to in the Press—only too ready to point out the fancied advantage of provide more pay load. There is scarcely any instance of a modern this or that type of aeroplane in the all-up weight with which it is air liner—or, for that matter, military aeroplane—which has not permitted by regulation to take off. This leads to pressure being had its all-up weight very considerably increased from the design brought to bear on those responsible to allow a similar increase in figure, shortly after being put into service. It would be invidious to another type so as to bring its performance more nearly comparable quote examples but any reader can supply hosts of instances from his with its competitor. own knowledge. A Related Matter A subject that is allied to this is more closely connected with the The Proper Way pure design side. We, again, do not propose to give examples, but it We cannot understand how this position is permitted by authority. is well known that there are certain aeroplanes which have an In our opinion, an aeroplane should in the design stage be assigned a enviable reputation for being pleasant and 'sweet' to fly. This is not limiting all-up weight, allowing a reasonable margin for inevitable increase during the development period, which should be an irre­ always a very clearly definable attribute but it is we believe very often due to such matters as good fuselage lines merging into the wings vocable figure in no circumstances to be modified after the type has leading to a general avoidance of interference between component been introduced into operational service. It is all very well for a parts to set up undesirable flow patterns. What we wish to urge is different practice to be followed with military aircraft, with which it that where such an aeroplane exists it should be left alone and not is permissible to take certain risks. But the habit of continually cramming more weight on to a commercial aeroplane is entirely have its desirable qualities spoilt either by the introduction of un­ necessary lift devices to improve its 'performance' or by subjecting wrong. The upshot of it is, as we all know, that the licensed gross it to overload. weight of an aeroplane is increased with each modification, or pro­ vision of extra engine-power, originally incorporated to improve the The position should of course be better when the excellent new handling qualities during the take-off and alighting period, so that and more stringent ICAO requirements come into effect in three in the end the margin of safety in the event of such an occurrence years' time; but meanwhile we fear that lives may be lost and as the overshooting of a runway is less than it was when the aero­ further harm done to the reputation of commercial flying as a safe plane first appeared. Wing-loading and power-loading are steadily means of transport. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology Emerald Publishing

Unfair to Aeroplanes

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology , Volume 20 (11): 1 – Nov 1, 1948
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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0002-2667
DOI
10.1108/eb031686
Publisher site
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Abstract

Aircraft Engineering THE MONTHLY SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ORGAN OF THE AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING PROFESSION VOL XX No 237 NOVEMBER 1948 Unfair to Aeroplanes increased, the stalling speed goes up and the pilot is given a clumsy and, not to put too fine a point on it, potentially dangerous aeroplane E are becoming increasingly exercised over the continuance to' take off or land. of a trend in connexion with commercial transport aircraft to which we have, in fact, called attention in the past. The Basic Fault There can we conceive be no argument that, apart from weather, The difficulty is that no one is particularly to blame for these un­ and physical hazards on certain routes, the danger-times for aero­ desirable developments and therefore no one seems to charge him­ planes are at the take-off and when coming in to land. In recent years self with the responsibility for putting a stop to them. So far as research workers and technicians have devoted much ingenuity to Great Britain is concerned everyone connected with the operation producing devices to reduce the dangers. There is no need to cata­ of the three air transport Corporations is naturally concerned at logue these; suffice it to say that aerodynamicists have done much involving the unfortunate taxpayers in a recurring loss of £10,000,000 with the provision of flaps and slots to give increased lift and en­ a year through their activities. It is, of course, giving the impression hanced control at the moments when these are most needed, while that commercial aviation is a hopelessly expensive and uneconomical such aids as water injection are available to give the little extra power business. The obvious feature of the service to be saddled with the to the engines that may make all the difference in an emergency. responsibility for this state of affairs is the aeroplane; with the evil results we have indicated. Actually, the comparatively small incre­ ment to be gained by these foolish methods on the revenue side is Wrong Application mere petty cash compared with the balance-sheet type of savings that There is no question but that in this manner enormous advances could be effected by a thorough overhaul of the hopelessly top-heavy have been made in the potential safety of flying. Unfortunately, how­ organization of the Corporations. The money is wanted not in the ever, these precautionary measures are being prostituted to a purpose air—where, incidentally, it is wholly earned—but on the ground. for which they were never originally intended. The over-harassed operator in his eagerness to make the carriage of passengers and We should like to see designers and firms concerned take a strong freight a more competitive and successful business from the financial line about this matter—as should those responsible for issuing the point of view is far too prone when looking round for more efficiency licences. This is not a phenomenon to which Great Britain is particu­ in payload-carrying capacity to lay sacrilegious hands on devices larly prone; indeed there are other countries which have an un­ such as those to which we refer. Here, he thinks, is something from desirable habit of setting an example in this respect. The trouble is his point of view going begging, from which a few pounds of extra that with competition in commercial air transport becoming as lift can be obtained at the start of a flight. He looks upon them as a keen as it is, there is always someone—frequently, we regret to say, gift from the gods to provide him with more all-up weight to in the Press—only too ready to point out the fancied advantage of provide more pay load. There is scarcely any instance of a modern this or that type of aeroplane in the all-up weight with which it is air liner—or, for that matter, military aeroplane—which has not permitted by regulation to take off. This leads to pressure being had its all-up weight very considerably increased from the design brought to bear on those responsible to allow a similar increase in figure, shortly after being put into service. It would be invidious to another type so as to bring its performance more nearly comparable quote examples but any reader can supply hosts of instances from his with its competitor. own knowledge. A Related Matter A subject that is allied to this is more closely connected with the The Proper Way pure design side. We, again, do not propose to give examples, but it We cannot understand how this position is permitted by authority. is well known that there are certain aeroplanes which have an In our opinion, an aeroplane should in the design stage be assigned a enviable reputation for being pleasant and 'sweet' to fly. This is not limiting all-up weight, allowing a reasonable margin for inevitable increase during the development period, which should be an irre­ always a very clearly definable attribute but it is we believe very often due to such matters as good fuselage lines merging into the wings vocable figure in no circumstances to be modified after the type has leading to a general avoidance of interference between component been introduced into operational service. It is all very well for a parts to set up undesirable flow patterns. What we wish to urge is different practice to be followed with military aircraft, with which it that where such an aeroplane exists it should be left alone and not is permissible to take certain risks. But the habit of continually cramming more weight on to a commercial aeroplane is entirely have its desirable qualities spoilt either by the introduction of un­ necessary lift devices to improve its 'performance' or by subjecting wrong. The upshot of it is, as we all know, that the licensed gross it to overload. weight of an aeroplane is increased with each modification, or pro­ vision of extra engine-power, originally incorporated to improve the The position should of course be better when the excellent new handling qualities during the take-off and alighting period, so that and more stringent ICAO requirements come into effect in three in the end the margin of safety in the event of such an occurrence years' time; but meanwhile we fear that lives may be lost and as the overshooting of a runway is less than it was when the aero­ further harm done to the reputation of commercial flying as a safe plane first appeared. Wing-loading and power-loading are steadily means of transport.

Journal

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology – Emerald Publishing

Published: Nov 1, 1948

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