Abstract
THE first flights of a new racing monoplane, known as the Comet, designed and built by Messrs. De Havilland for the England to Melbourne race, have just taken place at Hatfield. These preliminary trials were successful, and there is every reason to believe that the machine will be ready for its official airworthiness tests in what is probably a record time, the decision to produce the machine having been made only in January last. Three machines of the type have been built, all of which are entered for the race. The most outstanding feature of the design is the thin tapering wing, in which all the shear stresses are taken by the wooden skin covering. This idea is not entirely new, but its use has been developed much further in this case than hitherto. The wing, entirely of wood, consists of one main girder member made up with three spars, distance pieces giving a cellular construction, and an amalgamating skin of thickness varying to suit the stresses applied. A leading and trailing edge are attached to complete the aerofoil form. The two pilots are placed well behind the wing, with the main fuel tanks filling the body in front of them. A further smaller tank occupies the space behind them. Two special Gipsy Six (230 H.P.) engines are placed outboard, practically buried in the wings, with such parts as are necessarily protruding below, carefully cowled. The undercarriage legs are masked behind the engines so far as possible, and the lower portions are retracted to the same space during flight.
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New Aeroplane for England to Melbourne Race. Nature 134, 452 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134452a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134452a0