Gloster VI
Gloster VI | |
---|---|
Role | Racing seaplane |
Manufacturer | Gloster |
Introduction | 1929 |
Primary user | Royal Air Force, High Speed Flight |
Number built | 2 |
The Gloster VI was a racing seaplane developed as a contestant for the 1929 Schneider Trophy by the Gloster Aircraft Company.
The aircraft was known as the Golden Arrow, partly in reference to its colour, the distinctive three-lobed cowling of the 'broad-arrow'
Design and development
The Gloster VI was Gloster's final evolution of a series of racing floatplanes, designed specifically for the Schneider Trophy. It progressed from the Gloster II, through the successful Gloster III (placed 2nd in 1925), and Gloster IV biplanes. While Henry Folland, Gloster's chief designer commenced work on a further revised biplane, the Gloster V, to enter the 1929 competition, centre of gravity problems led to the design being discarded and this meant a monoplane configuration was chosen for the new design.[1]
The Gloster VI was a low-winged braced monoplane. An obvious feature in photographs is the way that the wing roots tapered so as to reduce in thickness, designed to increase lateral control at low speeds.[2] It retained the Napier Lion engine that had powered the previous Gloster racers, but with power boosted to 1,320 hp (985 kW) by supercharging. Engine cooling was via thin surface radiators on each wing.[3]
Operational history
Two aircraft, with
On 10 September 1929, the day after the
Operators
Specifications
Data from [8]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m) overall
- Wingspan: 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m)
- Height: 10 ft 9.5 in (3.289 m)
- Wing area: 106 sq ft (9.8 m2)
- Empty weight: 2,284 lb (1,036 kg)
- Gross weight: 3,680 lb (1,669 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Napier Lion VIIDW-12 water-cooled supercharged piston engine, 1,320 hp (980 kW)
- Propellers: 2-bladed Gloster fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 351.3 mph (565.4 km/h, 305.3 kn) the fastest speed run recorded on the world record course
- 336.3 mph (292.2 kn; 541.2 km/h) World speed record over four runs on a measured mile course
- Stall speed: 92 mph (148 km/h, 80 kn)
- Wing loading: 34.7 lb/sq ft (169 kg/m2)
- Power/mass: 0.36 hp/lb (0.59 kW/kg)
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
References
- ^ James 1971, pp. 30–31.
- ^ ISBN 0-7524-0766-X.
- ^ Mondey 1981, pp.46–48.
- ^ James 1981, p.187.
- ^ "The Schneider Trophy - 70th Anniversary: The 1929 Race". Royal Air Force. 7 April 2003. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
- ISBN 1-870519-57-4.
- ^ "The Schneider Trophy - 70th Anniversary:1931 - Squadron Leader Orlebar's Report". Royal Air Force. 7 April 2003. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
- ^ James 1971, p.188
- James, Derek J. (1971). Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-00084-6.
- Mondey, David (1981). "Britain Captures Schneider Trophy". ISSN 0143-5450.
External links
- Selected Schneider Trophy Aircraft Royal Air Force.