Burgess-Dunne AH-7
| Burgess-Dunne AH-7 | |
|---|---|
 AH-10 of the Canadian Aviation Corps |
|
| Type: | Float plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| Commissioning: |
1914 |
| Number of pieces: |
2 (1 AH-7, 1 AH-10) |
The Burgess-Dunne AH-7 was a floatplane modified American license build of the land plane Dunne D.8 . There were only two aircraft manufactured by the Burgess Company in Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1914: a single-seater AH-7 and a double-seater AH-10, which were intended for the US Navy . However, the second machine was sold to the Canadian Aviation Corps .
The designations AH-7 and AH-10 corresponded to the system used by the US Navy until 1920 in which the task identifier "AH" stood for float planes and the following number for the service serial number. The AH-7 was the seventh floatplane that the US Navy had procured.
history
The Englishman John William Dunne had been experimenting with airplanes with swept wings and pusher propellers since 1907 . Since the aircraft did not have a tail unit, it can be viewed as a flying wing in terms of its design. The wings had a sweep of 30 degrees. After the first short flights, the Dunne D.5 from 1910 was only able to convince. Finally, in 1912, the Dunne D.8 was an excellent machine to fly.
The American industrialist William Starling Burgess finally acquired a license for the Dunne D.8. Together they sold two copies of this model to the US Navy, one of which was the two-seater variant, which was given the designation AH-10 by the Navy.
Meanwhile the First World War had broken out. The Canadian Aviation Corps was urgently looking for a plane and so the two-seater Burgess-Dunne AH-10 was bought from the Americans for US $ 5,000. The plane was transferred by rail to La Motte Island in Vermont . On September 21, 1914, she was flown by Burgess pilot Clifford Webster and Canadian Captain Ernest Lloyd Janney as a passenger in the direction of Québec . Engine malfunctions forced a one-week break in Deschaillons-sur-Saint-Laurent until the spare parts arrived.
On September 29th they finally arrived in Quebec City and the machine was loaded onto the Athenia . On September 30th, Canadian troops were embarked on the Athenia to be brought to England. The machine was badly damaged during transport so that it could no longer be made airworthy.
The aircraft parts ended up being stored in Salisbury Plain along with a pile of junk. The Canadian Aviation Corps left the English site in 1915 and the aircraft wreck was left there.
The Burgess-Dunne seaplane was the first Canadian military aircraft. Previously there were tests with the AEA Silver Dart from 1909, but it was not bought.
Museum machine
There is a replica machine built by Barry MacKeracher. It is now in the 8th Wing RCAF Municipal Museum in Astra (near Trenton ), Ontario .
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 2 |
| length | 7.32 m |
| span | 14.17 m |
| Wing area | 44.7 m² |
| height | 3.35 m |
| Takeoff mass | 975 kg |
| drive | a Curtiss OX -8 cylinder with 100 HP (74 kW) |
| Top speed | 121 km / h |