Читать книгу H. G. Hawker, airman: his life and work онлайн

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Of the divers machines under construction at the Sopwith Works during June may be mentioned a “gun bus” for naval use. This machine, propelled by two 120 h.p. Austro-Daimler engines, had a span of 80 feet. Then there were the 100 h.p. Green-engined twin-float hydro-aeroplane, designed for the Daily Mail Circuit of Great Britain; and the air-boat which won the Mortimer Singer Competition, as described above, also engined with the 100 h.p. Green. When this machine passed its first tests on the sea a wind of 40 miles per hour was blowing, and the sea was correspondingly rough. The machine differed from the original “Bat Boat” exhibited at the Aero Show in the previous February, in that a pair of inclined struts were introduced between the engine and the fore part of the hull. So effective was the hull in hydroplaning over the water, that the front elevator, a feature of the original “Bat Boat,” was abandoned.

Then, during the month, a new Sopwith 100 h.p. Anzani-engined tractor hydro-aeroplane was tested by Harry and handed over to the Admiralty. The tests were passed very satisfactorily, the machine leaving rough water almost as quickly as the corresponding land machine left the ground. A speed of 68 miles per hour was attained, and the machine had particularly good climbing and alighting qualities. The machine was badly damaged immediately after being taken over by the Admiralty, a broken propeller and punctured float being the result of a collision with a mooring-buoy. The use of ailerons was now standard practice throughout the whole range of Sopwith machines, warping wings having been abandoned.