NRC tailless glider
NRC tailless glider | |
---|---|
Role | Research Glider
|
National origin | Canada |
Manufacturer | National Research Council of Canada
|
Designer | Geoffrey T. R. Hill |
First flight | 1946 |
Number built | 1 |
The NRC tailless glider, also called the NRL tailless glider, was a two-seat tailless research glider designed by the National Research Council of Canada and built by the National Research Laboratories, at the instigation of G.T.R. Hill who had previously designed the British Westland-Hill Pterodactyl series of tailless aircraft.
Development
To research the control and stability of tailless aircraft. The
Design
The glider was constructed predominantly from wood with a single spar built from laminated wood supporting wooden built up ribs covered with a relatively thick plywood skin, which resulted in a smooth surface with minimal distortion.[2] The wing had three distinct sections, comprising a constant-chord, unswept centre section flanked by swept tapered outer sections. Primary flight controls consisted of elevons on the trailing edges of the outer wing sections for pitch and roll, with fins and rudders on the wing-tips for yaw stability and control. Trim in pitch was achieved by adjusting the incidence of movable wing tips using screw jacks. For approach and landing split flaps were fitted to the wing centre section trailing edge.[2]
The undercarriage consisted of a retractable
The pilot and flight test engineer were accommodated in two separate cockpits protruding from the top surface of the wing centre section with the pilot in the port cockpit and test engineer in the starboard cockpit.[2] A comprehensive instrumentation package was fitted, with automatic recording of time, airspeed, altitude, wing tip incidence, flap angle, side-slip, roll rate, pitch rate, yaw rate, elevon hinge moment, elevon angles, rudder angles, ambient air temperature, normal acceleration (gy), longitudinal acceleration (gz), gyro attitude, pendulum attitude and bank angle. In addition radio transmissions from the pilot and test engineer were recorded on the ground.[2]
Operational history
Flight testing of the aircraft began in 1946 at
In September 1948, the glider was towed 2,300 mi (3,701 km) across Canada to
Specifications
Data from RCAF[3]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 18 ft 0 in (5.48 m)
- Wingspan: 46 ft 8 in (14.22 m)
- Gross weight: 4,150 lb (1,882 kg)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 140 mph (225 km/h, 120 kn)
- Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
- Armstrong-Whitworth AW.52G
- General Aircraft GAL.56
- General Aircraft GAL.61
- Lippisch Delta series
References
Notes
- ^ a b "Flying Wings history". century-of-flight.net. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g "NRC Flying Wing" (PDF). flightglobal. com. 7 October 1948. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
- ^ "NRC Flying Wing". rcaf.com. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
Bibliography
- W.J. Cox, J.N. Siddall, T.E. Stephenson, (1949) "A Tailless Research Aircraft: An Account of the Structural Design, Manufacture and Flight Trials of the Tailless Glider of the National Research Council of Canada", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 21 Iss: 6, pp. 184 – 190
External links
- National Research Council Canada: index of photographs of the tailless glider.[1]