RECORD-BREAKING MONOPLANES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22595, 28 December 1938, Page 9

RECORD-BREAKING MONOPLANES

GEODETIC PRINCIPLE OF CONSTRUCTION

LIGHTNESS AND STRENGTH

INCREASED

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LONDON. November 10.

A middle-aged man, who is unknown to the general public, made possible the great Royal Air Force recordbreaking flight of more than 7000 miles, which regained for Britain the world's non-stop long-distance record. He is Mr Barnes Neville Wallis, who invented the revolutionary “geodetic"* principle. The system as invented has been developed by him in conjunction with the Vickers Company. The details of the geodetic design are a secret that foreign air Powers would give fortunes to possess. It was forecast two years ago that aircraft built upon the geodetic principle would be able to fly amazing distances. It has also been stated that they could be riddled with bullets without collapsing. The Wellesley bomber has an extraordinary wingspan of 73ft Tin, compared with its length of 38ft 6in. This great wingspan, which was made possible by the lightness and strength cf the geodetic construction, gives the machine more “lift” than the more orthodox type of aeroplane, and enables it to carry a greater load of petrol and freight. The highest aspect-ratio of the wings Uhe length compared with the width! also gives the machine greater speed by decreasing drag. Mr Wallis never talks about his achievement. Ho was one of the builders of the airship RIOO. An old “blue-boat” boy. with a bent for mechanics, he is a Bachelor of Science, a non-smoker, and a vegetarian. Vickers Wellesley monoplane standard bombers, now in service in large numbers with the Royal Air Force, were detached for duty with the longrange development flight. Bomb gear was removed, and extra fuel tanks Installed. The Bristol Pegasus aircooled engine in each aeroplane is adapted to run on “100 octane” fuel a mixture which fires perfectly under exceptionally high compression in the cylinders: it augments output and reduces fuel consumption by some 10 per cent.

The Wellesley is a cantilever allmetal monoplane. Structurally, it consists in a “geodetic'’ basket-work of metal members which carry main loads and stresses and follow curved lines about the surface, and a fabric covering attached by a novel system devised to give great strength and rigidity. “Geodetic” building, socalled* because the members follow geodetic lines about the surface, is claimed to give great strength and light structural weight. It avoids the use of internal bracing members and thereby provides more room withia the aircraft.