[WWI] Maurice Farman Aileron Control Question

[ernest thomas]

From: cwgf at flash.netTo: wwi at wwi-models.orgDate: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 05:19:41 -0700CC: cacarr1960 at gmail.comSubject: Re: [WWI] Maurice Farman Aileron Control Question




Thank you Ernest. Surely not all WWI aircraft worked this way? Some photos show the ailerons tilted in the same direction.
 
Clay
 
There were some very early designs where the ailerons didn't work in opposition to each other(one goes up while the other goes down), such as the Bristol Boxkite. In the situation of the Boxkite, when the aircraft was parked othe ground, both ailerons would hang down. When in flight, the ailerons would be lifted into flying position by the relative wind. When the pilot wanted to bank, the control input would cause one aeliron(the one outboard of the direction of turn) to drop down, which increases the angle of attack on that side of the wing, creating more lift which raises the wing and makes the airplane bank. This is just a fact of aircraft performance. As anyone who's ever been at the controls of an aircraft can attest, you can't really make a proper turn on rudder alone. The aircraft needs to bank and the only way to acheive that is to create assymetrical lift. 
But the boxkite was a pre-WWI design. I may be missing a few odd specimines but by say, 1916, the only designs I can think of that didn't have ailerons that work in what is now the traditional sense were types like the Fokker E-III and Moran N types, which used wing warping, And after 1916, I can't think of any types that were rigged to work like the Boxkite. There may be a few that I'm just not aware of, or all that familiar with, Caudrons and Voisins for example. But on the whole, I feel safe in saying most WWI aircraft had proper ailerons. Those without such controls would be at the mercy of the more maneuverable types with ailerons. 
As for the Farman, I'm just not familiar enough with the type. So check your references. 
E.
 
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