Supermarine page 5
| Supermarine page 5 | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
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| Type: | Seaplane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
June 7, 1927 |
| Commissioning: |
1927 |
| Number of pieces: |
3 |
The Supermarine S.5 was a British seaplane that was developed to take part in the 1927 Schneider Trophy - a race for seaplanes over a distance of 350 kilometers.
history
After the poor performance of the British team at the Schneider Trophy 1925 in Baltimore, the British Air Ministry provided funds for the 1927 competition - Great Britain did not take part in the 1926 competition. The RAF established the High Speed Flight department in Felixstowe to coordinate British activities and provide personnel support.
In Supermarine 3 aircraft were ordered by the engineer Reginald Joseph Mitchell with the type designation p.5 were designed and built in secrecy. The license plates were N219 , N220 and N221 .
Schneider Trophy 1927
For the 1927 race, which took place in Venice on the Lido , Great Britain registered several aircraft, including two S.5 with the registration numbers N219 and N220 .
The competition itself took place on September 26, 1927. Flight Lieutenant Sidney Norman Webster achieved first place with his N220 at 453.282 km / h. This machine was equipped with a stocky Napier Lion V-IIB engine developing 875 hp. The second machine was equipped with the same - but not reduced - engine that developed 900 hp. With this N219 Flight Lieutenant Oswald F. Worsley achieved second place with 439.45 km / h. All other participants gave up during the race.
Record attempts
On November 4, 1927, the Italian Mario de Bernardi set a new world speed record of 479.29 km / h with the Macchi M.52, who had previously been eliminated from the Schneider Trophy .
At the end of January 1928, the British Aviation Department announced that it would attack the record in early March 1928. The selected South African RAF pilot Flight Lieutenant Samuel Kinkead had a fatal accident with the N221 on March 12, 1928 off Calshot . His plane crashed into the sea at a steep angle; a clear cause of the accident could never be determined.
On March 30, 1928, Mario de Bernardi increased his world record with an optimized Macchi M.52 , the Macchi M.52R , to 512.78 km / h.
On November 4, 1928, Flight Lieutenant David D'Arcy Greig tried to set a new world speed record at Calshot with the N220 and was also slightly faster than Mario de Bernardi at 514.296 km / h - but the necessary improvement of 8 km / h to recognize a new one The FAI could not achieve a record. This left only a new British record until the world record was brought back to Great Britain on September 10, 1929 with a Gloster VI and a speed of 541.10 km / h recognized by the FAI.
Schneider Trophy 1929
The High Speed Flight department of the RAF used the N219 and N220 as training aircraft for the Schneider Trophy 1929 off Calshot, which has been held every two years since 1927 . David D'Arcy Greig used the N219 for the competition flights on September 7, 1927 and was able to defend third place behind a new Supermarine S.6 and the Macchi M.52R from 1928. Another page 6 did not circle a turning pylon correctly and was disqualified; two Macchi M.67s, also newly built for the Schneider Trophy 1929, were eliminated in the second round with technical problems.
construction
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The Supermarine S.5 was a single-seater with two swimmers , which was designed exclusively for use over short distances at maximum speed.
With the S.5 for Supermarine, the young designer RJ Mitchell created a trend-setting design that influenced aircraft construction until World War II. The drive by the Napier Lion was certain from the start because there were no realistic alternatives to this engine series in Great Britain. The fuselage cross-section with the three characteristic cowlings above the cylinder banks was therefore specified for minimal air resistance .
hull
The single-seat monocoque of the fuselage consisted mainly of duralumin and also included the tail fins. The cross-section of the fuselage from the engine mount was essentially determined by the body dimensions of the pilots - the pilot sat on the ground, the shoulders determined the width and height of the construction.
wing
The wing halves, each with two spars, were made of plywood, as were the oars. Due to lack of time, it was not possible to construct the wings in metal.
swimmer
Like the hull, the floats were also made of duralumin. The steel fuel tank was integrated into the right float and allowed a flight time of just over an hour. So the center of gravity was low and on the right-hand side - favorable for the partial compensation of the propeller torque, especially during takeoff.
drive
The engine was also developed with great effort to have a low frontal area. The two magnetos with complicated intermediate gears were moved to the front next to the propeller shaft, the connecting rods were shortened in order to be able to make the engine housing more compact - also at the expense of the service life of the pistons. In order to free up the space between the cylinder banks and to enable closer cowlings, short spark plugs and low ignition cable lugs were developed.
Napier Lion
The Napier Lion Mk.VII was a water-cooled W-12 with two inlet and two exhaust valves per cylinder. The valves were actuated by two camshafts, driven by a vertical shaft per cylinder head. From the capacity of 23.9 liters and with a compression ratio of 10: 1, the variant "A" developed without propeller gearbox 900 PS (about 660 kW) at 3300 min -1 . The variant "B" with propeller gearbox developed 875 HP (approx. 640 kW).
Fuel system
The three carburettors worked with a mixture of 75% gasoline, 25% benzene and 0.22% "TEL dope" ( tetraethyl lead ) as an additive. A pump on the engine delivered the fuel from the right float to a storage tank behind the right bank of cylinders. The carburettors were supplied from this small tank via a downhill pipe. In the case of increased g-forces - for example when going around the turning points - the storage tank also had to serve as a buffer because the pump's delivery rate was then insufficient.
cooling
The water coolers were designed as surface coolers above and below the wings. In front of the pilot, a cooling water tank was installed in the free space between the middle row of cylinders and the cockpit, and hot water flowed against it from the engine. From there the hot water reached the wing trailing edges and flowed through the surface cooler to the wing leading edge. Here the cooled water was collected in one line and fed back to the engine.
The oil coolers were also designed as surface coolers, which were arranged lengthways in the lower third of the fuselage.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 7.4 m |
| span | 8.15 m |
| height | 3.38 m |
| Wing area | 10.68 m² |
| Takeoff mass | 1475 kg |
| Fuel tank capacity | 55 Imp.gal. (250 liters) |
| Fuel consumption | approx. 50 imp.gal./h (approx. 230 liters / h) |
| Oil supply | 5 Imp.gal. (23 liters) |
| Oil consumption | 3 imp.gal./h (approx. 14 liters / h) |
| Engine | 12-cylinder W-engine Napier VII Lion
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See also
literature
- CF Andrews, EB Morgan: Supermarine Aircraft since 1914. Putnam, London 1987, ISBN 0-85177-800-3 .
- William Green (Ed.): Supermarine's Schneider Seaplanes. Flying Review International, Volume 10, No. July 11, 1967.
Web links
- Supermarine S5. Winner of the 1927 Schneider Trophy contest in Venice. In: Heritage. BAE Systems , accessed October 30, 2017 (English, manufacturer's website).
Individual evidence
- ^ The Schneider Trophy - 70th Anniversary. The 1927 Race. In: History. Royal Air Force , April 7, 2003, archived from the original on July 13, 2007 ; accessed on October 31, 2017 (English).
- ^ The Schneider Seaplane Race. (PDF) Editorial Comment. In: Flight, November 18, 1926. Flight International , September 29, 1927, pp. 741-742 , accessed on October 30, 2017 (English): "This machine is to be treated as" secret "for the moment [...] "
- ^ The Schneider Trophy Race. (PDF) A Magnificent Win for Great Britain. In: Flight, September 29, 1927. Flight International , September 29, 1927, pp. 684a – 684r , accessed on October 30, 2017 (English, special supplement to the race).
- ^ Mario De Bernardi (ITA) (11828). In: Records. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , accessed on October 31, 2017 (English): "Speed over a 3 km course - 479.29 km / h - 04 Nov 1927"
- ↑ a b Official Attempt on Speed Record Shortly. (PDF) In: Flight, February 2, 1928. Flight International , February 2, 1928, p. 62 , accessed on October 30, 2017 (English).
- ↑ 300 or 500? (PDF) Editorial Comment. In: Flight, March 8, 1928. Flight International , March 8, 1928, pp. 149–150 , accessed on October 30, 2017 (English).
- ↑ Flight-Lieut. Kinkead. (PDF) In: Flight, March 15, 1928. Flight International , March 15, 1928, p. 177 , accessed on October 30, 2017 (English): “It is with the utmost regret that we have to announce the death of Flight -Lieut. SM Kinkead, DSO, DSC, DFC, who was killed on March 12, while making an attempt on the world's air speed record in the Supermarine-Napier S.5 seaplane. "
- ^ Mario De Bernardi (ITA) (11827). In: Records. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , accessed on October 31, 2017 (English): "Speed over a 3 km course - 512.78 km / h - 30 Mar 1928"
- ^ FA de V. Robertson: The Attempt on the World's Speed Record. (PDF) In: Flight, November 8, 1928. Flight International , November 8, 1928, pp. 965–967 , accessed on October 30, 2017 (English).
- ^ GH Stainforth (GBR) (11829). In: Records. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , accessed on October 31, 2017 (English): "Speed over a 3 km course - 541.10 km / h - 10 Sep 1929"
- ^ FA de V. Robertson: Schneider Trophy Training. (PDF) In: Flight, September 13, 1929. Flight International , September 13, 1929, pp. 999–1003 , accessed on November 6, 2017 (English).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Winner of the Schneider Race. (PDF) First Description of the Supermarine page 5. In: Flight, February 16, 1928. Flight International , February 16, 1928, pp. 94-100 , accessed on October 27, 2017 (English, detailed building description with drawings and photos).
- ^ A b c d The Napier Lion Racing Engine. (PDF) 875 BHP for a Weight of 930 lbs. In: Flight, April 26, 1928. Flight International , April 26, 1928, pp. 280–284 , accessed on October 30, 2017 (English, detailed description with drawings and photos).
- ↑ a b Bryan R. Swopes: 26 September 1927. Flight Lieutenant Sidney Norman Webster, of the Royal Air Force High-Speed Flight, won the 1927 Schneider Trophy Race, flying a Supermarine S.5 floatplane, number N220. In: This Day in Aviation. Retrieved October 31, 2017 .