Although similar in general outline and type of construction to the early Farmans, this English biplane was quite different in the method of transverse control, in the absence of any rear direction rudder, and in the structure of the wings.
Many successful flights were made by the Neale VII., and while the odd type of transverse control used appeared to work out well enough, it did not catch on. And airplane designers soon found that tail rudders (missing from the Neale) were the most efficient means of direction control.
Top Speed: n.a.
Engine: 35 horse-power four-cylinder Green
Wingspan: 34 feet
Weight: 1,000 pounds
Specifications from “Monoplanes and Biplanes,†by Grover Loening, 1911
The Frame
The framework is similar to the general wood and cross-wire main cell with outriggers now so commonly employed.
The Main Wings
The wings are rectangular, and directly suix-rposed and have an incidence of 9 degrees. They are made of one layer of fabric, sandwiched in between the flat faces of two semicircular ribs screwed together, and considerably cambered. Horizontal cross braces are used under the main spars. This construction gives great strength and is very simple and cheap. The wings have a spread of 34 feet, a depth of 6 1/2 feet, and an area of 400 square feet.
The Elevators
A single plane elevator in front, 24 square feet in area, and the trailing edge of the tail surface, are movable jointly, and are controlled by the front and back motion of a universally pivoted control lever (a In Fantian). To rise, the lever is pulled in.
The Direction Rudder
The main object in the design of this aeroplane was to construct a machine that could fly across the wind easier than most present machines, which tend to head up into the wind. Hinged to the front strut at cither end of tin- main cell are flaps, or balancing planes called “screens.” They are controlled by the side-to-side motion of the lever. These serve the double purposes of rudders and balancers. They are really brakes, and for steering act as such, merely retarding one side of the machine, while the other “skews” about. If the control lever is pulled over to the left, the left screen is pulled toward the center and thus “brakes” that side.
Roll Control
It was found in practice with this machine that a 5 deg. deflection of a screen sufficed for a sharp turn. If the screen on one end was sharply set at 45 degrees, however, the machine was found to tip down on that end. This is due to the. fact that a large mass of air is screened off suddenly from the planes, and this, with the decreased speed of this end, greatly decreases the lift on this end. The entire success of this operation, however, depends on its suddenness. The screen must he released immediately after deflection, for if held in place air would be drawn in on the other side, and the screening action destroyed. The operation is repeated in quick succession, the required pull on the lever being quite great. The screen rudders are 12 1/2 square feet in area. A sudden tip down to the left would be corrected by quickly moving the lever several times to the right.
Tail
There is a single horizontal tail surface at the rear, 52 1/2 square feet in area and having a spread of 10 1/2 feet.
Propulsion
A 35 horse-power four-cylinder Green engine drives a two-bladed wooden propeller, 7 feet 3 inches in diameter and 4 feet 1 1/2 inches pitch, at 95O revolutions per minute. The motor and propeller are at the rear, the motor being mounted on the lower frame. A distinctly H. Farman type wheel and skid chassis is used.
Weight, Speed, Loading and Aspect Ratio
The total weight is about 1,00O pounds: 28 1/2 pounds are lifted per horse-power and 2.5 per square foot of surface. The aspect ratio is 5.2 to 1