LIFT 'PLANES

Evening Post, Issue 20, 24 January 1935, Page 11

LIFT 'PLANES

AUXILIARY SYSTEM

LAUNCHING OF OVER-LOADS

. Heavily-loaded, aeroplanes are difficult to get off the ground. If you •lighten them you dispense with part of tho motor spirit (which means reduced radius of action) or part of the load. Is there any other way to get an overloadc^d acroplauo off the ground? Why not a lifting aeroplane? Why not launch tho travelling aeroplane from the lifting aeroplane, in mid-air? The London correspondent of the , "Sydney Mornijig Herald1' writes under date "December 0 :<-*-»

So.:rapid is the progress of aviation that* few now developments, even the most revolutionary, arouse more than fleeting interest in tlio lay mind. There is, however, at least one recent invention which will appoal to the popular imagination bpcau&o it seems at once so fautastic and simple. It is the adaption to air transport of an auxiliary mnuhino, as in the case- of the auxiliary loeomotlvo which Is so commonly attached to a heavy train. We have all soon this aecoud engino fit work on tiio Australian railways helping to got a train in motion or nssisting it over a mountain track. The British invention about to be described is merely tho application of the same principle to aeroplanes. It is to" bo submitted to a practical test in tho very near future.

According to tho, "Morning Post," TV'hicU is ordinarily well informed,'on matters relating to civil aviation, Mr, R. H. Mayo, Ihe inventor, has taken out a pntcnt for h is ."composite aircraft," his idea boing to launch liigh-spcod aeroplanes of a special type from "carrier" aeroplanes in mid-air. The "carricis" will help to lift heavily-loaded machines lo their operational height and then uncouple.

: As all flying exports fire aware, It is 'difficult "arid, often dangerous to , get heavy machines into the air!. They require an enormous run before the "take-off," and the drain on. their engine power during the climb'for the first few hundred feet is tremendous^ Sometimes fuel has to be sacrificed; sometimos passengers ;'■'nnd even mail must: bo left behind. Under this scheme for "composite aircraft,!'' howover, the long, taka-oilf run for the, second (or principal) machine 'jvill.be eliminated, and it will be artificially furnished with a large margin of- engine power and wing surface. It' sliouldbe able to reach an operational height with a eonsiderubltv overload of fuel, In the case of bombing aeroplanes this would menn an increased radius of action^ and in tho case, ■of civil aircraft every machine would bo able to us© a.higher wing loading, and, therefore,-.attain a higher top speed. -"';

Itf is ■.■evidently ■ proposed'.,.to : attach' the "porter" aeroplano to the other machine by means of special locking devices, nnd ■it will be only' when the upper; machine haa sufficient lift to ensure safe' separation of the two component's and independent controlling flight of the upper inachine, that separation of the. two will take place.

The lower aeroplane will, have, mounted on the upper surface of its wings -sockets in. which the axlos of the undercarriage of the upper aeroplane will r'esh. Further aft of the lower aeroplane thero will be mounted another socket in which the fuselage of the upper machin^ will be supported at about mid-point,,- ■ ; ; ;

The .locking mechanism may be arranged to bo released only by the combined^ or'consecutive operation of controls located in both machines. Alevnatively, it may be arranged to be released, automatically' when a predotormine'd oxcess lift acts on the wings of the upper aeroplane.

If it bo assumed that, the : upper aeroplane is a long-rango aeroplane loaded up with pctro]'. to''such an extent that it would bo unablo to take-off within tho confines of tho ordinary aerodrome, tho function of tho lower machine -vi'ill be to help it to take ofl' quickly and to lift it to its operational height of 5000 feet, or more. ' When once there it can nvalntain level flight without difficulty for n long period.

No landing difficulty will occur bocause by the time it has reached its destination and is preparing to' land a sufficient jiveigl)t : of fuel will have been consumed\to, permit a reasonably slow gliding and landing speed. If-by any chance a forced. landing is imminent before much fuel has been consumed tho pilot would make use of some fueljettisoning device. ~ ' _ Catapulting has been proposed for this purpose of getting hoavily-loaded aircraft into the air; but a catapult does not have the game effect as would the Mayo scheme, because it does not assist the aeroplanq in .■ gaining.its.its' operational height. It only eliminates the take-off' run. .