Clayton Magnet
Staff Sergeant
- 902
- Feb 16, 2013
Probably a trim tab
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Probably a trim tabThere was also a Grumman Tracker there, it had two controls that crossed the joint. I assume that one was for aileron, but I have no idea what the second one would be for.
View attachment 791097
Edit: Maybe slats?
Integral air bags within the fuselage should address that. IIRC this was a common feature on carrier aircraft.I've not really heard that the radiator was a big issue in ditching. The worst thing about the Hurricane ditching I've read about many times is the fact that it sank like a stone.
When and why?Thoughts on a four blade Sea Hurricane?
Four blade Hurricane
Mk V Hurricane. Two prototypes were made with the 4 blade propeller as fitted to the Spitfire Mk IX.ww2aircraft.net
I recall the Royal Navy sawed about four inches off Seafire blades to reduce deck pecking.When and why?
4 blade prop on a Merlin III (or Merlin VIII) is just going to make it nose heavy and more likely to nose over on landing.
You don't need 4 blades until the 3 blade can't transmit the power anymore. Like up at 1300-1600hp depending on altitude.
I think Sir Sydney was looking ahead to newer designsThoughts on a four blade Sea Hurricane?
Four blade Hurricane
Mk V Hurricane. Two prototypes were made with the 4 blade propeller as fitted to the Spitfire Mk IX.ww2aircraft.net
Instead of a 4 blade prop, how about a wide chord 3 blade, with a tail wheel retract mechanism to perhaps make up for the slight CofG shift.Thoughts on a four blade Sea Hurricane?
Four blade Hurricane
Mk V Hurricane. Two prototypes were made with the 4 blade propeller as fitted to the Spitfire Mk IX.ww2aircraft.net
The question is when, as in what year and which Merlin are you trying to stick the prop on.Instead of a 4 blade prop, how about a wide chord 3 blade, with a tail wheel retract mechanism to perhaps make up for the slight CofG shift.
The two pitch prop is actually quite adequate for 1938 as it gives good TO performance although a CS prop was always in the Fulmar specs. 4 x Vickers .5in would make a nice armament, especially as the RN already used that gun. Merlin X would be optimal for 1938 - this engine would have been of huge benefit in the Fulmar as well, since the MkVIII and XXX was restricted to low altitude making interception of high altitude snoopers problematic.
Manual wing fold would add ~200lb or more.
Another interesting item was that two RN carriers were laid up in Norfolk VA for repairs at the same time, which led to their fighter control people getting together and actually developing real fighter control, with considerable assistance from the American made radios they were able to obtain at the same time.
"Bombers Versus Battleships" is a fascinating book, and the author, an RN officer, is highly critical of the way his service responded to the air threat.
It needs more than that. Hurricane wingspan 40ft.Manual wing tip fold like on the A6M would only weigh a few pounds and would probably make enough of a difference for the aircraft to fit many more carriers.
Turning it sideways doesn't help. Hurricane was 32ft long. The lifts in Ark were 45x22ft & 45x25ft. Illustrious class both 45x22ft.Okay. I saw one post that said that some carriers had long lifts so rotating the aircraft 90* allowed bigger aircraft to fit. In that case the three feet saved by folding the tip would be of value in some cases.
— Hugh Popham: Sea Flight: The Wartime Memoirs of a Fleet Air Arm PilotOur Hurricanes, having to go down the lift sideways on, are mounted on little trolleys which run on rails the full length of the hangar and on to the lift. This enables them to be pushed sideways up the hangar, straight on to the lift ready to be ranged. But there are only three sets of trolleys, so each aircraft has to be manhandled on to its trolley when it's ranged, and manhandled off again when it's struck down. The distance between the wingtip of one aircraft and the fuselage of the next is about a foot; between the elevators and the hangar bulkhead three inches or less; between our spinners and the Fulmars on the other side, perhaps three feet. So there isn't much room to play about with.
Turning it sideways doesn't help. Hurricane was 32ft long. The lifts in Ark were 45x22ft & 45x25ft. Illustrious class both 45x22ft.
Indomitable was redesigned in 1938 with a larger forward lift 45x33ft, that could accommodate the Hurricane if loaded sideways. That larger lift was also fitted in the two Implacables. But those larger lifts only accessed the upper hangar in those ships.
— Hugh Popham: Sea Flight: The Wartime Memoirs of a Fleet Air Arm Pilot
You are thinking of the SCR-522 VHF set and the first airborne microwave radars. In both cases I think the Brits gave up on building those themselves when they saw how fast we could make them. But those were not the radios those carriers would have used.Many of the American radios of the time were British radios manufactured under licence as the British had invented many new avionics as a result of their actual experience at war.
There was also a Grumman Tracker there, it had two controls that crossed the joint. I assume that one was for aileron, but I have no idea what the second one would be for.
View attachment 791097
Edit: Maybe slats?