The Twenty‐First S.B.A.C. Show: A Review of a Selection of the Exhibits at the Society of British Aircraft Constructors' Flying Display and Exhibition, Farnborough, 1960

Abstract

THE convincing demonstrations of smooth and completely controlled transition from vertical to horizontal flight by the Short S.C.1 must surely be regarded as the highlight of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors'Twenty‐First Flying Display and Exhibition held at Farnborough. The S.C.1 was built and designed as part of a Ministry of Aviation research programme and first achieved transition at the Royal Air‐craft Establishment at Bedford on April 6 of this year. The design of its control system followed on from the work done on the Rolls‐Royce Flying Bedstead and a rig constructed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and for hovering and low speed flight control is dependent on four nozzles, at the wing tips and nose and tail, which are supplied with high pressure air bled from the lift engines. These engines are specially designed lightweight units, the Rolls‐Royce R.B.108, of which four are used for lifting purposes and the fifth for forward motion. The fuselage is of monocoque construction composed of channel section frames about 7 inches apart and a minimum number of channel section longerons which are riveted to the skin sheeting. The delta wing of 10 per cent thickness cord ratio is a two‐spar structure with an auxiliary spar at the 76 per cent chord position and closely spaced chordwise ribs. This structure allows the four closely grouped lift engines to be accommodated between the main spars at the air‐craft centre of gravity. Medium strength aluminium alloys form the basic structural material of the S.C.1, with a certain number of titanium sheet components for fire‐walls. The wing centre‐section spars form an integral part of the bulk‐heads at the front and rear ends of the lift engines bay.

Citation

(1960), "The Twenty‐First S.B.A.C. Show: A Review of a Selection of the Exhibits at the Society of British Aircraft Constructors' Flying Display and Exhibition, Farnborough, 1960", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 32 No. 10, pp. 299-303. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb033312