Biplane to Monoplane: Aircraft Development, 1919-1939

135 Pages·1997·70.45 MB·English

by  Kenneth Munson

PUTNAM' HISTORY OF AIRCRAFT
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Series Editor: Philip Jarrett
TillepagepllOlOgrapli:HalldLey Page H.P42l\"C- JAXC Hcraclcs,willi /;'lIsigll.flyillgalldellgilles rlll/Ilillg,
awails ils passellgersal CroydollAirport ill llie J930s,
Biplane to !v[onoIJ/ane
Aircmft Deve/olJment 1919-39
Contents
SeriesEditor: PhilipJarrett PeterI-learn Ch,-istophe,'Shores
PhilipJarrellisafrrdanccauthor,c.:ditor,sub GroupCaptainPeterIlearn,AFC.sen-cd30 /let'SffIgh:Tlu' /:,:1.thtt..,.,kfSoftheHrlllsht.1lld
eultoranticon~ultant~peciali")mgIn3\"iatioll. year~asan RAFParachuteJumplllg Instructor, Cn11l11loll'icfalthAi,.Forc..·fsi,1IrnrldIr£lrII,which
liebegan\\Tilingonm"imionhistoryin 196"", traillingJndsernng\\ithAirborne Forcesand Christopher hores\\rotc\\IthCli\"c\,\'iIIiams,
and in 19"'1 becameassistanteditorof theSA .lieistheauthorof,e"enhookson \\aspuhlishedin 1966.SlIlceIhenhehas'Hil
ACro.lipuCC,theRoyalAeronauticalSm.:icty\ m'iationtopics,including TheSky/lcople,his tcnorco-authoredlwcr30morebook~,indud
newspaper.liewasa...~:iistal1leditorofAcroplulIc internationallyacclaimedhistoryofparachut ingFigillen(h·c,.Ihe/)escrl,WoodyShall/bles
,J101llh(1'from 1973lO 1980,andproduction ing. lieisal;oanovcli't,apubli,hedpoetand and Tlte'(\/pIIOOllUllJ'IcmpesfStmy,aswellas
cdilorofI:figlllIIIIe,."aliollalfrom 1980lo1989. ateacherofcreativcwriting. dozensofarticles,profilesand thelikc,Several
ofhistitlcshavebeentranslated intoanumber
DrNomlan Barfield •\Iike Hirst oflanguages.r\chanereJSllf\'eyor.heiscur- .
7
Ilmoingjoined\'ickcrs-Armstrong!-.at Anaircraftsystcm")~pecialist,i\like Ilirsthas rentlyadirectorofthclargestfirmofcommer Introduction
\X'cyhridgc,Surrey,asana\'iationapprenticein spenlmorethan30yearsflight-tC'ting.devel cial propenyadvisorsin Europe,andi~hased
19r.~ormanBarfieldspenlthe\\holeofhis opinganddesigningaircrafte4uipment. lie in I.ondon.
11
42-ycarworkinglifethere,principallyCOI1 wa~atechmcalreponer,andlanerly"echnical 1 The Biplane's Fall from Favour
ccrncuwiththedesign,engineeringdC"clop Editor,ofFlight /ntenwti01w/in thelate 1970s, DrDal'rolStintol1
melll.promotionandgeneralmanagementof and no\nldaysisin\'olvedineduGnionalpro BorninNewZealand,DrStinton workedon
theuniquelydistinctive BritishAerospacenee grammesfortheaerospaceanusystemsindus de,ign for Blackburnandde Ilavillandbefore 2 The Evolution of theTransport Aircraft 29
Britishf\ircrafLCorporationlIeL'Vickers tries,centredatI,oughbnrough University. joiningthe RAI':Aftergraduatingfrolll the
Arm")trongspostwarcommercialand military Empire'lestI'ilotsSchoolin 1959hecom
aircrafLfamily, Ted Hooton mandedanexperimental testunitat 3 Military Aviation - the Slow Develop r 55
:"\owretiredaftcralifetimeina\'iation,pro J'arnborough. In 1969hejoinedtheAir
Ralph Barker gressingfrom mechanictoRAFnavigator. Registration Board.spending20yearsasthe
75
Aftertrainingasajournalisl.Ralph Barker pilot,boffin.ci,'ilianflighl testenginecrand. certificationte,tpilotonlightlandplanesand 4 Intenvar Airmobility
joinedthe RAJ'asalrcre\\ in 1940and\\'a, finally,airtrafficcontrolconsultant,"cdwrites seaplanes.lielecturesregularly,andi~the
latergrantedapermanentcommis~ion.lie occasionalpiecesonaviationhi~Lory.Ilisspe managingdirectorofhisO\\ncompanyof
continuedwriting,andhisearlyhookshada cial interestsarctheSpitfireand j\\osquito, aero-marineconsultant~. 5 The Age of the Flying Boat 89
wartimem'iationh::lckground,lieisaregular plusci,'ilandmilitaryaircraftofthe 1925-45
comributoroffeatureaniclestothe~)'lIllday period,aswellasmakingmodelaircraft. JohnStroud
107
h:xprlJss,andhistwenty-eightbookscovera JohnStroudha")~pent hi"iworkinglifein\'ol\'ed 6 The Aeroplane at Sea
widerangeofsubjec.::b,themostrecentbeinga Kenneth,\\unson withairtransport,havingjoined Imperial
l\\o-volumeaneedotalhistoryofthe RJ'C. Afreelanceaviation\Hitersince 1965,with Airway,in 1933.lieha;\\rillenmillion,of
some..JObookstohisname,Kennclh.\\unson wordsinnumerou~articlc!',andbooksonair 7 The tructural Revolution 127
:\onnan Fricdnlan hecameknownforhi~fifteen-\'olume Pocket transport,transportaircraftandairport'),and
:"Jorman Friedmanworksasanavalanalystat EIICydopcdlLloj1\'orldAircraftillColollr hasflown morethanamillionmilesinwell
141
thcIlud,on In'tilulein:-.lewYorkandlecture, (Blandford Press, 1966-75).liehasbeena lwer200lype,ofaircraft. liehasbeeneditor 8 Advances in Aerodynamics
around theworld, Describedas'America's majorcontributortoJalle'sAlltheI\'orld's ofthePutnamseriesofaeronauticalbooks
leadingna\'alwriter"heisthemahorofmore AircwIIsinee 1968,and itsdepulyeditorsince since 1961.JohnStroudi,avice-pre,identof
155
than20booksand numerousarticles,including 1989 theCroydonf\irporlSociety,apatronofThe 9 Sophisticated Systems
BritishCurrierlJ'viution, l,(iJrshipDesignamj NationalAirPageantandatrusteeofthe
f)C'/.'Ci0plIlellland.\'a1'alRadar.Theupdated Sebastian Ritchie FressonTrw~t.
173
editionofhisacclaimedXU1.'l.lllmtiwlCGuide Seba'tian Ritchierecei'Tda PhDIIIhistory 10 StowawayWheels
toIrodd.\'uvalt\'cupolls~)~VS1L'1IlSwa")published from King'sCollege.I.ondon.in 1994.and Harry"'oodlnan
recently, subse4uentlyIeclureuineconomichistoryat Ilarry\'\roodman'sinterest~co\'erearlyaviation
183
theCni,'ersityofj\hmchestcr.lieISnO\\ a andarmamcntuptothe 1930s,1\loren::ccnuy 11 Armament Development
PatrickHasscll historianatthcAirIli"torical Branchofthe hehasspcciali<;edin Imperial Russiana\'iation,
Anaerodynamicist,PatriekIla;;ellworkedfor ,\\inistr) ofDefence,Iii,firstbook.hldllSlry and inparticularthecarlycareerofIgor
Ilandlcy Page,BAC,Dougla,and aab.After alldAirPm,'er,waspuhli,heelinApril 1997. Sikorsky.lieha,wrillenand lecturedon this 12 Research and Test Flying 195
twenty-fiveyearsinindustryheleft Do\\'ty subjectin Britain,theUSA and Russia,and is
Propellersin 1994toconcentrateonresearch currentlyeditingabookon Imperial Ru;;ian
ingaviationhistory,particularlyin theareasof na\"ala\"iation, 13 Aircraft Production Betwe n theWars 217
aeronautical technology,airtran<;port,and Ule
politicalcontrolora\'iationdevelopment.
241
, PutnamAeronautical Books 199~ 14 Th panish Civil \X1ar
FirslpublishedinGrealBritainin 1997hyPutnamAeronautical Books,anImprmtofBrassev's(UK) I.td 258
Index
33JohnStreet
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1's'orthAmericanorelers:Bras;ey"s,Inc.,1'0Box960.llerndon.VA 22()~0. U'A. [Bibliographies are included at the end ofeach chapter]
Allrightsresen'ed,:'\0partofthisbookmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformwithoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromthcpuhli!',hcr.
ACII'cataloguerecord forthi,bookisa,'ailahlcfrom the British I.ibrary.
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ISBN 085177 8747
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Printedand boundIII ItalyhyI,EGOSpA
5
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Phi
n
Introduction
\TI
C
Philip Jarrett
C
di
Although the 1930s arc commonly regarded as the vehicle remained to be demonstrated. Moreover, while
19 'Golden ge of viation', things were far from rosy in military aircrew were expected to suffer tlle rigours of
the decade following the armistice of 1918. Factories open cockpits and exposed gun positions with fortitude,
rCt
cx which had thrived on the wartime mass production of fare-paying passengers were entitled to something
engines and airframes suddenly found their military bener.
rh'
contracts drastically cut or even cancelled as air arms Development was greatly accelerated by competitive
were reduced toa fraction oftheir wartimestrength,and flying, most notably trailblazing long-distance flights,
the slowly developing postwar market for civil aircraft speed, range and altitude records, and air racing. All of
was swamped with cheap surplus military machines. these demanded pioneering research in the allied sci
Four years of war had drained governmental coflers. ences and technologies: aerodynamics, structures, fuel,
There was no money to finance research and develop metallurgyand pressurisation.\X1hatwould nowbecalled
R ment or the re-equipment ofthe diminished forces. Air the 'spin-off' from these initial advances was incorporat
arms had to make do with obsolete wartime equipmelll, ed in the new airliners and military machines of the
and LOO ma ymanufaclUrers scrabbled for too few mili 1930s, and at last tlle dated wood-and-fabric biplane
p tary contracts,having found thatthe commercial market began to give way to the greatly superior monoplane.
alone was insufficient LO ensure their survival. In chapter 2 John troud describes the dramatic
p
Gradually the situation improved. Airlines stretched impact of these changes on the world of commercial
theirspideryroutesacross theglobe,and thedemand for aviation. Converted bombers could ne\'er make satisfac
bigger and faster passenger carriers, offering greater tory passengercarryingaeroplanes,and it was inevitable
1 safety and comfort, was met by leading manufaclUrers that purpose designed airliners would replace them,
such as Fokker, Farman, Handley Page, Curtiss,Junkers though some,like the Farman Goliatll,soldiered on into
I and Ford. As competition grew, a revolution took place the 1930s.This was the age when flying became accept
in the SA. From orthrop, Lockheed, Boeing and ed as a practical means of conveying passengers and
Douglascamea new breed ofadvanced all-metal mono cargo, albeit on a relatively limited scale. It was still be
planes heralding the dawn ofa new era in the history of yond the pocketofthe average wage-carnerin the devel
the aeroplane. The military aeroplane, too, improved oped nations, but by 1939airmail and passenger flights
steadily,and with war clouds gathering in the 1930sde were traversing the continents and the globe itself.The
signers and manufacturers stTove to replace outmoded Douglas DC-4E and Boeing 307 of that year represent
open-cockpit biplanes with sleeker and deadlier en the peak of this achievement, and illustrate Ule great
closed-cockpit monoplanes. strides that had been made.
Powering the new airliners and military aeroplanes Included in thischapterisartistFrankMunger's mas
were piston engines of unprecedented power and relia terly cutaway drawing ofthe greatestairliner ofall time,
bility; streamlined liquid-cooled in-lines and rugged air and one ofthe mostadvanced commercial transportair
cooled radials. Cockpits boasted new standards of craft of its day, ule Douglas DC-3, depicted in its late
insu'umenLation, and retractable undercarriages im 1930sconfiguration.Thisaircraftwasselectedbecauseit
proved already smooth lines. embodied most of the aerodynamic and technological
In this volume,leadingaviation writers record ule key advancesofthe interwaryears,and was truly represenLa
developmenLsofthisexcitingera. Previous histories have tive ofthe period.
taken a nationalistic or patriotic approach, or concen Military aviation had little incentive for development
trated on specific operational aspects, but in ulese pages after the armistice of 1918, though the third arm of the
the readerwill find abroad perspectiveoftheaeroplane's fighting services had proved its worth. Indeed, ule dras
deveiopmenL, concelllrating on significalll technical tic reductions in trength ofule various national airarms
landmarksand influential events. In his openingchapter, left tllem with a large surplus of machines and little
Kenneul /ov\unson looks at the silUation pre\'ailingat the justification or finance for the development or purchase
end ofthe First\XIorld\XIar, \I'ith the biplane established ofnew designs.-led Hooton describes how,after making
as the predominanL configuration and little incelllive for do with these aircraft through the 1920s, the air arms at
change. Ithough the aeroplane had shown its military last began LO re-equip with new machines incorporating
capabilities, its potenLial as a commercial transport tlle latest technology and operational equipment. By the
7
BII'I.A~E TO ,\\O:-lOI'LA, E INTRODUCTIOl\:
outbreak of the Second World War the leading powers bcncfits and problems which havc to be respecti\'cly ex One such innovation is dle subject of ule next chap designers. Moreover, they also flew in races and compe
were providing their Front-line units with advanced en ploitedandsolved.Likcwise,growthofengine powcr,in ter,by Dr orman Barfield.Theconflictingdemandson titions in which they Faced risks and dangers of a
closed monoplanes which had linJe in common with creascs in weight and wing loading, and the a retractable undercarriage require great mechanical different nature. However, as such events pushed ma
their FirstWorldWar Forebears. evcr-increasing overall performance parametcrs ofacro complexity and great ingenuity on dle part of the de chinesto theirlimits,theywere regarded as partand par
One of the most significant tactical developments of planes make constant demands on dcsigners, strcssmen signer. It mustgive acomFortable ride,yetbe able to ab cel ofme test pilots' duties, and much was learned From
the interwar years was the rise of the military transport and engineers.Twoofthcgrcat problemsofthe interwar sorb the concentrated loads imposedduring take-offand participation in them. In terms oflives the costwas high.
aircraft and the parallel creation of airborne forces. As pcriod were fluncr and metal fatiguc, both ofwhich had landing; it must be able to Fold into a small, restricted Although it has oFten been said dlat aircraFt produc
Group Captain Peter Hearn shows, the air ambulance cxisted earlier but were accenruated by technological space yet lockfirmly down and be resistant toside-loads tion stagnated during 1918-33, in chapter 13 Sebastian
and the airborne supportofground Forces had been ini advances. and unusual stresses. Initially, the increased weight ofa Ritchie shows that ulis was not the case. In Fact, apart
tiated during the earlierconflict,and the exercisingofair Allied to the abovc were the advances in aerodynam retractable undercarriage negated ule advantages, butas From ule immediate postwar period and the worst years
control by the British and French in their Foreign pos ics described by Patrick Hassell in chapter 8.The faster cruisingspeedsrose,ulebenefitsofule reduction indrag of the Depression, the industry grew continuously dur
sessions sho\\'ed that the aeroplanc madc law enForce an aeroplane flies, the greater thc drag, in all its forms. became worthwhile.The various ways in which these re ing the interwar years, the slow expansion ofdle 1920s
ment far less cosuy both financially and in terms of BcForc the problems could be overcomc it was first nec quirements were met arc surveyed here, and the Fore preparing ule ground For accelerated production in ule
human lives. essary to understand them, and in the 1920s significant most innovations arc highlightcd. 1930s. In addition, he shows that military demand pro
\X!hen itcame to airborne warFare, thc pioneer were strides were madc in this direction. The importance of Harry \X!oodman's chapter on aircraFt armament vided by Far dle greatest imperus For expansion, always
Italy and Russia, Ule laner nation leading the world in small but critical altcrations in arcas such as wing-Fuse serves rather to emphasise dle comparativelyslowdevel outsu-ipping me demand Forcivil aircraFt. Consequently
evolving the techniques oftroop transport, both by large lage junctions and radiator and carburenor intakes was opment in dlis sphere until the 1930s, when the early this made the aircraFt industry more dependent on the
powered aircraFt and by military gliders. Although the realised, and much was learntabout the Fairing ofradial signs of a new world conflict set rearmament pro State than any oUler industry apart From armaments.
British Failed to appreciate the usc ofsuch tactics, their engines and excresccnces such as aerials. In parallel, grammes underway. However,while leadingarmaments The change From wooden to metal aircraFt structures
value was not loston the Germans, who keenly pur ued much-improved aerofoil sections wcre cvolved, includ manuFacrurers devised new machine-guns and cannon posed great difficulties in an indusu-y which was hard
meir development and used them to grcat advantage in ing high-speed sections to counter the effects of com or new marks ofearlier weapons, and various classes of pressed to find dle finance to re-equip with the new ma
the initial stages ofthe ensuing world war. pressibility, first encountered in the late 1930s. As bomb were developed, bombsights were litde improved chineryand tooling required,and much had to belearnt.
The aeroplane type that enjoyed its heyday bctween aeroplanes became cleaner and speeds rose, it became overthoseof1918.Astraightand level run up to the tar Anouler problem was ule sheer numberofmanuFactur
the wars was Ule Oying boat. In a time when interconti necessary to devise means of reducing landing speeds, get was required, but while this might have been accept ers; however, official uncertainty regarding the quality
nental air routes were being opened up and there was a and numerous methods were tested. Most successFul able For peacetime war games, it was hardly realistic in and performance of new aircraFt types often led to the
greatlackofairfieldsin manyundevelopedcountries,the were slats and flaps in a variety ofForms,and by ule late wartime. Higher speeds broughtabout me need For tur orderingofseveral prototypesto meeteach requirement,
ability ofthese stately craFt to alight on open water pro 1930s these featured prominentlyon the vastmajorityof rets iFthe gunners were to haveany hopeofaiming their from which the most suitable could be selected aFter
vided a ready solution to the problem. AFter explaining aircraFt, From thc de Havilland Moth to the largest air weapons with any accuracy, and meir development was evaluation.
the principles and practices of flying-boat design, Dr liners. proceeding apace when war broke out. Nonetheless, In his concluding chapter, Christopher Shores out
orman Barfield looks at the varicty of roles in which Increasing complexity ofdesign, tougher opcrational many aircraftentered me war fined wim inadequate and lines the part played byaircraFt in theSpanish CivilWar.
they served. At the time it might have seemed that they requirements and an ever-growing concern with saFety poorlyshieldedweapons to defend meirtails.-Iorpedoes, The sheer variety of types used, especially by dle
had a promising Future, but the rapid worldwide spread demanded a similar increase in systems, and in chapter too, were subject to continued improvement, the Republicans, is amazing, but from ule point of view of
of airfields in the coming war was to seal their Fate. 9 tdike Hirst looks at the enormous changes both in the Japanese evolvinga particularly successFul weapon. aircraFt development me most interesting aspect of dle
onetheless,mc Oying boat's partin the evolution ofair aircraFtand on thc ground in this respect.While the air ltimately, ule task ofproving the efficacy and relia conflict is its usc as a proving ground for dle latest
transportwas significant. liner cockpits of the late interwar years were relatively bility ofall the new technology fell upon the test pilots, German, Italian and Russian combataircraFt. Su-angely,
AlIicd to thc Foregoing wcrc naval operations using simplecompared with thoseoftoday's transportaircraft, both in the companies and in the official test establish while much was learnt about combat requircments and
both landplanes and waterborne aircraFt, and thc inter they must have seemed complex to those who were ac ments of their respective countries. This was an acre tactics, some of the lessons were misleading, partly
wardevelopments in thisspherearecovered byNorman customed to the minimally-equipped cockpits of the when the behaviour of a new aircraFt could not be as owing to dle imbalances in the opposing Forces. The
Fricdman in chapter 6.Thc refincmcntofcarrier-borne First\X!orld War. In addition to increased instrumenta sessed with any certainty until it was taken into me air, Spanish Civil\X!ar was Ule ultimate test For many of the
aircraft, their roles and the tcchniques for opcrating tion for both aeroplane and engine, there were controls and the riskswereoFtengreat.As Ralph Barkerrelates in machines Ulat represented the acme ofinterwar military
thcm,plus theeffcctofnationaland intcrnational politics for trim tabs and Oaps, electrical systems and the re chapter 12, test pilots had to be ofa singular tempera aircraFt development, and which would be at the Fore
on carrier dcvelopment and construction, arc surveyed, tractable landing gear, as well as a gyro compass, radio ment,and have greatOying skills combined with an ana Front in the comingworld conflict.
as wcll as thc varying militaryattitudcs to navalairarms. range and other direction finding equipment. Ground lytical flair and the ability to convey their findings to dle PhilipJarren
Whilc some nations attached great importance to the based navaids, originating in the USA and following in
possession of a carricr fleet, oUlcrs, such as Germany, the wakc of more primitive chains oflight beacons, en
Italy and Russia, had Fcw or nonc, concentrating their abled pilots to fly a predetermined route without visual
maritime strcngm in shorc-bascd aircraFt. While this references, while the usc of radio communication by
might have enabled them to dcvotc a grcatcr portion of Morse code was pursued vigorously by dle commercial
thcir rcsources to a smaller numberofaircraft types, U1C airlines.
lack of a mobilc, seagoing air arm limited thcir rcach, This was also the period in which the specialistnavi
bOUl for dcfcnce and anack. gator and radio operatorcame into their own, the flight
In his chaptcr on su-ucrural developmcnts, Darrol deck evolved, and the autopilot became a practical
Stinton looks at the materials uscd in aeroplanc con device. Other systems brought into use as dle war ap
struction, and the structural tcchniqucs employcd.The proached were on-board power, air conditioning and
adoption ofncw materials brings in its wake a varietyof pressurisation.
8 9
s
1
The Biplane's Fall frolll Favour
Kenneth Munson
While it was a tremendous reliefto the major powers in two-dlirds and dle residue contained no funding for
volved, the endingofthe First\X!orld\X!ar wasa traumat any new military aircraft.
ic experience for the aircraft industries associated with Progress towards new postwar military aircraft de
them.Scarcelyoutoftheembryostagebefore 1914,they signs was therefore slow during dle first half of the
had grown rapidly during the ensuing four years into ]920s,during which period the main preoccupation was
tl' national assetsaccustomed to lucrativecontracts for mil what to do widl dle enormous numbers of now
itary aircraft in three- or four-figure quantities.Virtually redundant wartime aircraft. As industry quickly discov
overnight these were no longer available, and a com ered, aeroplanes designed for war do not necessarily
pletely new market, with entirely different needs, had to adapt well to a civilian or commercial environment.
be contemplated,wooed and won. Notwithstanding such technically satisfactory prewar
The problem was further compounded by the fact monoplane designs as the Antoinelle, Bteriot Xl,
that, simultaneously, huge numbers of existing military Deperdussin and EO'ich"laube,and the wartimeexploits
aircrafthad become surplus to requirements. Symptom ofthe Fokker Eindecker, dle FirstWorldWar had estab
atic of such force reductions was Britain's Royal Air lished the tractor biplane as the configuration norm in
Force, which possessed no fewcr dlan 188 combat aeroplane design. This was perfectly understandable,
squadronsat the time oftheArmistice,yet had cutthese since the main demand was for high speed,a fast rate of
to 33 (two-dlirdsofthem overseas) within monthsofthe climb and manoeuvrability in combat, requirements to
endofhostilities,on dle misguided premisedlatthe RAF which the biplane's short-span compactness, rigidity of
was unlikely to become involved in another major structure and low wing loading were well suited.
conflictwidlin the next ten years. Triplanes, notably dlose by Sopwith in England and
The other victorious powers reduced their armed Fokker in Germany, were more specialised develop
forces with no less haste, to a level more in line with ments for a specific purpose such as increasing a
peacetime budgets. Not all LOok such drastic action as fighter's 'edge'byenabling it to out-climb itsopponents,
the RAF, it is true: France's air force, for example, still and were relatively few in number. The monoplane
boasted some forty bomber squadrons alone after configuration therefore still attracted dle enthusiasm of
down-sizing, and ltaly's reductions soon began to be re only a small handful of aircraft designers. The begin
versed after Mussolini came to power in 1923. nings ofa change were to become apparent before dle
Nevertheless, the inevitable result was dlat many ofdle end of the 1920s, but meanwhile some usc had to be
smaller European aircraft manufacturers were obliged found for at least a proportion of the wartime leftovers.
either to diversify or to go outofbusiness. In the USSR The inevitable result was to prolong tlle life of the bi
the situation was somewhat different, owing to the up plane configuration as aviation accustomed itself to
heaval created by the October 1917 Revolution, but the using the aeroplane for o'ansporting passengers and
net eA"ect was much the same. The USA, entering the freight instead ofwaging war.
war only in 1917, had drawn its combat aircraft mostly Scheduled airline services,apart from dlose operated
from French and British sources, producing mainly by Zeppelin airships in Germany,had been non-existent
training aircraft within its domestic industry. It had before the war.The early 1920s therefore witnessed not
planned to undertake extensive licence production of only the beginnings of air transport as a business, but
such European designs as dle Bristol F2B and Spad also dle appearance of improvised 'airliners', many of
fighters, but widl dle signing of the Armistice these which exhibited only the minimum ofconversion from
plans were considerably curtailed in favour ofdevelop the wartime bombing or odlCr roles for which they had
ing designs of US origin, and only the de Havilland been designed. In some ofthem dle passengers were as
D.H.4 day bomber was built in America in any quanti much at the mercy of the elements as the pilots, having
ty after the war. A separate US Army Air Service to be killed out for their flight witll leather coats, flying
(USAAS) had been created from the former Signal helmets, gloves, goggles, and even (in some exo"eme
Corps organisation in April 1918, and by early 1919 cases) with a hot ,·vater botde. Even when enclosed
plans had been laid to build this into a postwar service cabins began to appear, accommodation was often
of some 24,000 personnel and just over 5,000 aircraft. cramped and uncomfortable. Operators also had to ac
But in 1920 the military aviation budget was cut by ceptthat,atthisearlystageofair transportdevelopment,
11
IlII'I.ANET0 1\\0 N 0 I'I.AN E T IIE IlJI'I.AN E.S FAI.I. FRO1\\ FAV0 UR
the public at large was not yet mentally prepared for the aeroplane's potential for travel between countries,some
notion ofair travel: people needed to be convinced that thing equally inspiring buton a much grander scale was
itofTered asafe,comfortableand economicalternative to needed,and with America and Europe the world leaders
other and more accepted forms ofpublic transport. in aircraftdesign, the ocean between them was the obvi
As far as operating economics were concerned, most ous target.
ofEurope's early pioneeringairlines were receivingsub Initial success came in May 1919, when a trio of
stantial subsidies from their governments and did not American C-TA (Navy Curtiss,TransaLiantic) flying
have to worry too much about the bottom line on their boats began their attempt to cross from ewfoundland
balance sheets.This was not the case in Britain, whose to Lisbon, with ell /"OlIle refuelling stops at Horta in the
four major airlines of the early 1920s received no such Azores and Ponta Delgada. Fogand heavy seasdefeated
assistance and struggled hard to survive before the gov the best efforts of two of them, but the third aircraft,
ernment amalgamated them into lmperial Airways in NC-4, successfully reached Lisbon with its six-man
1924.Today, the sobriquet lmperial would be regarded crew on 27 May. l-ourdays laterit flew on to Plymoudl,
as 'politically incorrect', but without the existence then England, in a flying time of53 hours 58 minutes for the
oftheempiresand coloniesofBritain,France,Germany, 4,320-mile (6,952-km) journey.
Iklgium and Holland it is doubtful whedler the global Wcll organised, and backed by full US Navy re
and transcontinental air routes that we take for granted sources that included a radio link, weather reports,
today would have been opened up in the same way or air/sea-rescue facilities and nearly 100 ships along the
with dle same speed. prescribed route, the NC-4 flight was a creditable
achievement.Yet little more than a fortnight later it was
The questfor safety,reliability and comfort totally eclipsed by the direct, non-stop flight by John
While operating costs could be underpinned, and pas Alcock and Arthur \Xlhinen Brown in their modified
sengeraccommodationcould beimproved bydesign,the VickersVimy bomber. Despite frightful conditions- the
vital characteristics of safety and reliability had to be airspeed indicator failed less than halfway across, and
Heavy pmlecliveclolhingwasessentialfor lhosepreparedLObravelheelementsin lheopencocl?pilsofsuchwar-surplus'lmns demonstrated,and dle first few years ofair transportop they flew 'blind' for most of the way owing to darkness
pons'as lhisconvenedAirco D.H.9 bomber. eration had produced an unacceptably high proportion and bad weather,includingseven hoursofunbroken fog
ofaccidents. Fortunately, however, aviation at that time - they covered the 1,890 miles (3,041km) from New
was also well blessed with individuals willingand able to foundland to Ireland on 14-15June 1919 in just under
show how far, fastor high theirchosen mountswereable sixteen and a half hours' flying time. Presenting them
to fly. Publicawarenessofwhatair transportcould even with their well-earned cheque for L10,000, first ofl-ered
tually mean to dle man in the street first became appar by the Dally Mail newspaper in 1913 for such a cross
ent with the first two aeroplane crossings of the North ing,the dlen SecretaryofState for\1(farandAir,Winston
Atlantic.Ten years after Blcriot's dramatic flight across Churchill, declared: 'I really do not know what we
the English Channel had first drawn attention to the should admire most in ourguesls - their audacity, their
This converledAEGJ /I Firsllf10rldII',arinfarmyconlaCl palmlaircraflofDeUlsche Lufl-Reedereiilluslratesanearlyallempl Alcock and Bmwn's Vicl?ers VilllY on Lesler's Field, 5lJohn's, Newfoundland, shorlly before ils deparl1lrefor ilS epic lrans
LOshieldpassengersji-OJil lhe wealher. allalllicflighl on 14June /919.
12 13
BII'LA;-':I: TO "\ONOPI.ANI: '1'111' BIPLANE'S FALL FRO,\! FAVOUR
determination, their skill, their science, their Vickers the Armistice. At that time it was o\'er\veight, well short
Vimy aeroplane, their Rolls-Royce engines, or their ofits promised 340hp outputand, worstofall, prone to
good fortune.' excessive vibration. An omciaI report concluded that
TO doubt each one of these factors played its part, Bradshaw 'had accidel1lally designed his engine to run
and the NC-.+ (with four .+OOhp Liberty 12s) and the exac8Y on its major critical vibration frequency; the
Vimy (two 360hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VlIls) were other builders ofradial engines at this time had escaped
equipped with two of the best engine types of the day; this difficulty sheerly by good luck'. However, whatever
butin terms ofthe wider nascentair transportscene the the meritsordemeritsofindi\'idualenainedesigns,com
key to reliability clearly lay in improving both the design mercial operatingeconomics werestill hamso'ung by the.
and the output ofthe chosen powerplanr. All too often, inability of 8leir fixed-pitch propellers (usually two
in these early days, more powerful or more reliable aero blade, one-piece SO'uctures of laminated wood) to ex
engines would have enabled an air transport accidel1l to tract the maximum efficiency from any aero engine
be avoided. By 1919 it was generally acknowledged that duringall phasesofoperation. Beingdesigned toachieve
the rotary engine, which had borne so much of the their maximum efficiency at the higher operating flight
wartime powering of military aircraft, had reached the speeds, they were thus intrinsically highly inefficient (at
limit of its development. Coincidentally, both Britain best,up to60 percentofmaximum) duringtake-off,just
and the USA had placed their faith in a single type of when maximum power is most needed; but aviation
aero engine for postwar military use.The latter's choice had to wait until the early 1930s before the solution, in
was the 400hp LibertyV-12, development ofwhich had the form of the conu'ollable-pitch propeller, became
begun during the war, and after early teething troubles available.
had been eliminated it was to sec regular use in many The attraction ofthe biplane configuration in the re
early postwar American aircraft until the appearance of cent war had lain in its small wing area, which was fine Tlte tremendol/sly Iltiel? wingseclioll ofliteFol?kercanlileverwingis evident in lliis view ofa KLM FokkerFI'Ila.
such successful air-cooled radials as the Pratt & for low weight, low wing loading and high flying speed,
Whimey Wasp and Wright Whirlwind. In Europe, the but inevitably also meanta high landing speed.This led surface,reducing turbulenceat high angles ofauackand Methods and matel"ials
Hispano-Suiza V-12, developed from a successful to the ino"oduetion of flaps on the wing trailing edge, a postponing the point at which 8le wing would stall. Theother factor that made Fokker'sdesigns particularly
wartime eight-cylinder model, became 8le staple power invention, with their dual value of increasing drag Handley Page Ltd took out a patent for this de\'ice in noteworthy was that, from the mid-1920s,he wasoneof
plant of many French military aircraft of the interwar during8lelanding phaseand significantly increasing 8le 1919and continued todevelop itduring8le 1920sto8le the first to build aircraftwith theirbasicstructure manu
years. liftofsmallwingsathighspeeds.Also makingitsappear point where, in 1928, the British Air ~linistry ordered factured from welded steel tube rather Ulan the wood
Britain,by contrast,had unforrunately backed a loser anceasalow-speedcontroldevicewasthe Handley Page that all aircraft for the country's armed services were to that had been used almost universally until 8len.Wood,
in the ABC Dragonfly nine-cylinder radial. It had been 'sloned' \\'ing, which consisted of a curved auxiliary be fined Wi8l leading-edge slats. and fabric, continued to be the usual materials from
designed during the war by Granville Bradshaw, and aerofoil or slat normally forming parr of 8le wing l\\eanwhile, with the availability of an increasing which most aircraft's secondary structures and outer
more 8lan 11,000 British aircraftofvarious designs had leading-edgewhen reo"acted. Itwas deployed byextend numberofnewengines,especially 8le new generationof skins were fabricated ul1lil the early 1930s, but a peep
been ordered based upon its use, but fortunately for ing it forwards to create a gap between the two surfaces air-cooled radials, it became apparent that choice of into the future had been given more than a decade earl
Britain's final wareffortithad notentered production by through which airwas forced backover8lewing's upper powerplant was very often the deciding factor in a cus ier.This was provided by the apdy named Short Silver
tomer's selection ofa particular type ofaircraft. Among Streakbiplane of 1920, the wings and fuselage ofwhich
the first to recognise this was that shrewd Dutchman were clad in a stressed (i.e., load-bearing) skin made of
Anthony Fokker, who adopted a policy ofdeveloping a duralumin, a lightweightalloy ofaluminium.
basic airframe design that could be adapted easily to Duralumin,awroughtalloy (in contrastto mostofits
mount a customer's choice of engine. Equally contemporaries, which were casting alloys), had been
significan8Y, l'okker's designs were monoplanes, begin available during the First World War and remained a
ningas earlyas October 1919with the completion ofthe standard constructional material until at least 1930. It
Ell and follovved quickly by theEIJI, also a high-wing proved the ideal metal alloy for heavy forgings and ex
design, which went into service in April 1921.'rhe real truded sections, combining light weight with strengul,
turningpoint,however,cameWi8l the I~VII,putintoser and in tube or sheet form could be worked fairly easily.
vice by KLM in 192.+ in single-engined form but in the It was also relatively cheap, and was unaffected by cli
following year succeeded by the tri-motor FVlla-3m, matic conditions orcorrosion.
which flew for the first time on .+ September 1925.Tri Perhap the most significant user ofduralumin in its
motors then enjoyed a briefvogue, notably the German early days was Germany's Dr HugoJunkers. As early as
Junkers-G 23/G 2.+ series (introduced by weden's AB 1910Junkers had taken out a patent for a ulick-section
Aerotransportin May 1925)and8le S Ford4-AT'Tin monoplane wing ofcantilever design and construction,
Goose', which made its first flight in June 1926. \\'hich found expression in an early-warprototypedesig
Coincidentally, 8le first overflight ofthe South Pole was nated J I and nicknamed the 'Blechescl', or 'Tin
made by an aircraft of this tri-motor type by Richard Donkey'. Laterduring the FirstWorldWar hisJ 10 (mil
Byrd,Bernt Balchenand twootherson 28/29 Q\'ember itary designation CL.I) had been a far-sighted all-metal
Tllis modifiedD.H.9A,laterdesignaledHandleyPageH.P20,isjiliedwillianearlyexampleofIlle Handley Pageslolledwing. 1929 in the Ford '+-AT Floyd Bellliell. attack monoplane design of similar construction. \X1iul
14 15
BIPI,AN" TO MONOPI,ANIO TIl" BIPLAN 10'S FAI.I, FROM rAV0 UR
WileyPOSIslandsinlhecockpilofhisfG1lZolts LockheedI~ga, fLs plywood lIwnocoquefuselage, closely cowled engine and
Winnie Mae, in which he accomplished seveml nOlable j'e/mc/ablemain wheels madelheLockheedOrion oneoflhe
flighls. aerodynamicallycleaneslaircmflofilS lime.
important than the carriage of the mails, the turning forLockheed,had designed a highlyattractivelittlehigh
point came in February 1925, with the signing by wing monoplane which, as theVega, made its first Aight
President Coolidge ofthe Air Mail Act (also known as in July 1927 and stayed in production in a number of
theKellyAct) underwhich the United States PostOffice models until 1934. Still fixed-gear, but with a cantilever
(USPO), which had run the service since August 1918, wing, theVega became a frequent race winneror record
was to hand over this responsibility to privateenterprise. setter,due largely to a beautifully streamlined,plywood
In the event the SPO continued to operate the main skinned semi-monocoque fuselage that was built in two
transcontinental service until September 1927,early pri halves insideaconcretemould.TypicaloftheVegas' per
vate operators concentrating on providing branch-line formance was the Model 5, capable of 185mph
services to feed the main east-westUSPO route. (298km/h) with apilotand four passengerson the power
Then,in 1927,came an event- or, rather, two events ofa450hpWaspengine.Theoutstandingexampleofthe
- that awakened American interest in the possibilities of marque, however, was the Vega Ulinnie Mae, in which
air transport as no other had done before. On 3 Wiley Postand Harold Gatty made the first-ever round
February there arrived on the desk ofT. Claude Ryan a the-world Aight inJuneJJuly 1931.TheVega went on to
telegram thatread:'Can you construct\Xfhirlwind engine spawn such derivatives as the Air Express, Sirius,Altair
plane capable Aying nonstop betvveen ew York and and Orion, which became known collectively as
Paris stop ifso please state cost and delivery date'.The Lockheed's'plywood bullets',MeanwhileNorthrop,who
Unlilw lhe Fok/~erlri-IIIOLOrs, lhe USA's Ford4-AT'Tin Goose'was IItelal-skinned. enquiry, byRobertson AircraftCorporation of tLouis, had left Lockheed to start his own company, had begun
was on behalf of a twenty-five-year-old airmail pilot to design a similar line of 'bullets' of his own, starting
the ending of the war, Junkers' chief designer, Otto The new monoplane generation named Charles Lindbergh, who wanted to try for a with the all-metal, low-wing Alpha of 1929, which first
Reuter, was charged with applying the same construc While comfort, safety and reliability all gradually im 25,000 prize first offered in 1919 and still unclaimed. Aew in the spring of the following year.There foLlowed
tional techniques and materials to the design ofa small proved as the 1920s unfolded, the one thing commercial Few people gave this unknown young upstart, who had the Beta (a scaled-down Alpha), the Gamma and the
transport aircraft. First Aown on 25 June 1919, the air transport was not yetoffering its clients was a means never Aown farther than 500 miles in his life before,very Delta.A feature oftheirdesign wasan attempt to reduce
prototypeoftheF 13was powered bya 160hpMercedes of u'ansport that was noticeably faster than its surface much ofa chance, until, on 12 May, he landed at New the dragofthe still-fixed main landinggear by enclosing
D.llIa engine. Truly all-metal, with a metal airframe, bound rivals, Biplane or monoplane, single- or multi York at the end ofa one-stop, coast-to-coast Aight from the legs in 'trouser' fairings.
multi-spar metal wings,and completely skinned (includ engined, the best cruising speeds of the majority of San Diego that made them think again. Nine days later,
ing the control surfaces) with corrugated duralumin airliners in operation in the mid-1920s were seldom at the end ofa 3,61O-mile (5,810km) Aight to Paris, he
sheet, the F 13 was not only a pioneering design but a much above 100-120mph (161-193km/h). Those that was '25,000 richer and the toast ofthe world.
major participantin the developing years ofcommercial could carry a realistic payload over a worthwhile range Neither Lindbergh's Spiril ofSl Louis nor its com I ' /'r-' f 1!~i!2
air transport. It typically carried a crew oftwo and four wereobsolescentas well asslow,while the comparatively mercial sister-ship,the Ryan Brougham,could becredit
passengers, and remained in service until well into the few faster types could carry only small payloads over ed with ofany great technological innovation. Both were
1930s, serving in more than twenty-four counu'ies in short ranges. Appeal to the travelling public had been strut-braced high-wing monoplanes with fixed landing
Europe,South America and elsewhere.With a variety of achieved only at the cost oflow (or non-existent) profit gears and modest powerplants, typical of many designs
engines ranging from 185 to 480hp, and wheel, ski or margins,with the result that manysmall operators failed of the period. It was the domestic reaction to
Aoat landing gear, there were more than sixty permu tosurvive,and manyofthose thatdidsurvivedidsoonly Lindbergh's success, in terms of the designs which ap
tations ofvariant among the three hundred and fifty or by merging themselves into largerand financially health peared almostimmediatelyafterwards,thatreinforced its
soF 13s built between 1919and 1932.As with the early iergroupings, significance as an inAuence on future design develop
Fokkers, u'i-motor derivatives appeared in the latter Paradoxically, since it took place in a country where ment. One,indeed, had begun in a Hollywood garage in The lroltsered undercarriageis welldepiCledin lhis sludyof
1920s in the form ofthe G 23 and G 24. passengerairtransporthad thus far been considered less the previous year whenJohn K. Northrop, then working aTWA Norlhrop Della.
16 17