Manuel 1929 Biplane
| Manual Biplane | |
|---|---|
| Role | Glider |
| National origin | UK
|
| Designer | W. L. Manuel |
| First flight | 18 May 1929 |
| Number built | 1 |
The second Manuel Biplane was a simple
UK in the late 1920s. It mostly flew tethered as a kite
, in the propwash of a stationary powered aircraft.
Design and development
The very basic Manuel glider was an all wood
wire braced from the wings against vertical deflections. The horizontal tail was all-moving and a rhomboidal rudder was attached to a slender triangular fin. The pilot sat, exposed, ahead of the lower wing on a short platform with the same width as the fuselage girder and extending a little behind the trailing edge.[1]
The first flight was at RAF Hawkinge in Kent, where Corporal Manuel was stationed, on 5 May 1929. In later tests the Biplane was tethered on a 20 ft (6.1 m) rope to a Gloster Grebe and flown in its propwash for a few minutes before the Grebe's Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar engine began to overheat. The Biplane was eventually destroyed in these experiments.[1]
Specifications
Data from British Gliders and Sailplanes 1971 p.141[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 14 ft 5 in (4.39 m)
- Wingspan: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
- Wing area: 160 sq ft (15 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 5.5
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7136-1189-2.