Boulton Paul P.6

Last updated

P.6
RoleExperimental biplane for airfoil investigation
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Boulton & Paul Ltd
Designer J.D North
First flightlate 1918
Number built1

The Boulton & Paul P.6 was a one-off conventional single-engined biplane built by Boulton & Paul Ltd to test the aerodynamics of different airfoil sections. It was later used as the company sales machine.

Contents

Design and development

The P.6 was only the second aircraft designed and built by Boulton & Paul, [1] although during the First World War they had built many aircraft under contract, including 1,575 Sopwith Camels. [2] the P.6 was a wood and fabric two-seat single-engined single-bay biplane. Its wings were without stagger or sweep, with a constant chord of 5 ft (1.52 m) on both wings. [1] The intention was to explore the effects of different airfoil sections and the large interplane gap, also 5 ft, would have helped to reduce the complications of interference effects. The initial section used was RAF15. [1] There were ailerons on both upper and lower wings.

The fuselage was flat sided with a rounded top, rather similar in construction to that of the Camel and using many Camel parts. The fin and horn balanced rudder together were almost circular and the tailplane was braced to the fin. The large interplane gap put the upper wing well above the fuselage with the centre section braced to front and rear spars by outward sloping struts from the upper longerons. [1] The pilot's cockpit was under the trailing edge, where there was a cut-out for visibility and the passenger sat in a separate cockpit under the wing. The 90 hp (67 kW) RAF 1a engine drove a four bladed, 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) diameter propeller and was partly enclosed in a metal cowling, with the cylinder heads protruding as it was air-cooled. There was a simple single axle undercarriage and tail skid. [1]

The date of the first flight is not known, but it was probably towards the end of 1918. [1] The first drawings were dated April 1918 and the aircraft was certainly beyond its initial flight tests in March 1919 when it provided the wife of Dawson Paul, one of the company directors, with her first flight. Though shortly after that the P.6 received the civil registration G-EACJ (K-120), [3] it may well have never displayed this identity. In all known photographs it wears the experimental number X.25, the last one of this series inaugurated in 1917. In addition it was painted with RAF roundels and tail stripes. [1]

Operational history

It is not known if wings of other sections were fitted as originally intended, but useful aerodynamic data was gathered. [1] It flew rather well and by May 1919 Boulton & Paul were using it as their sales machine, with the company name in large print on the fuselage side in addition to the roundels. This corporate aircraft made perhaps the first business flight, from Boulton & Paul's airfield on Mousehold Heath at Norwich to Bury St Edmunds [1] about 36 miles (58 km) away.

Replica

A replica of this aircraft has been built by the Boulton Paul Association and is currently in store at Cosford. [4]

Specifications

Data from [5]

General characteristics

Performance

Related Research Articles

The Boulton & Paul P.7 Bourges was a prototype British twin-engined biplane day bomber built by Boulton & Paul to replace the Airco DH.10. Despite demonstrating excellent performance and manoeuvrability, only three prototypes were built, post World War I cost cutting leading to the DH.10 not being replaced.

Vickers Type 253

The Vickers Type 253 was a single-engined two-seat biplane general-purpose military machine built to a 1930 government specification. It won a production contract, but this was transferred to the same company's monoplane equivalent, the Wellesley. Only one Type 253 was built.

Boulton Paul P.32

The sole Boulton & Paul P.32 was a British three-engined biplane built to an Air Ministry specification for a long range night bomber. A lack of engine availability slowed construction and by the time it went for tests the thinking on bomber types had moved on.

Boulton Paul Partridge

The Boulton & Paul P.33 Partridge was a single seat single-engined biplane fighter designed to an Air Ministry specification. One prototype was ordered and built for trials in 1928, but it was not put into production.

The Boulton & Paul P.12 Bodmin was an experimental British twin-engined biplane bomber with its engines mounted in a fuselage engine room and with tandem pairs of tractor and pusher airscrews mounted between the wings. The two Bodmins built flew in 1924, proving the concept but the layout was not developed to production.

Boulton Paul Bolton

The Boulton & Paul P.15 Bolton was a one-off experimental twin-engined reconnaissance biplane ordered by the Air Ministry to sustain Boulton & Paul's development of steel framed aircraft early in the 1920s. It was the RAF's first metal-framed aircraft.

Boulton Paul Atlantic

The Boulton & Paul P.8 Atlantic was Boulton & Paul's attempt to adapt their well-performing Bourges bomber into an airliner. They hoped to gain publicity for it by winning the outstanding prize for the first non-stop Atlantic crossing but a first flight accident made them miss their opportunity. Two were built but none sold as airliners.

Boulton Paul P.10

The Boulton & Paul P.10 was a two-seat, single-engined biplane built just after World War I to develop techniques for the construction of all steel aircraft. It is also notable for its first use of plastic as a structural material. Only one P.10 was built and it attracted much attention; but it probably never flew.

Parnall Imp

The Parnall Imp was an unusual single-engined, two-seat British biplane built in 1927. It had a straight cantilever lower wing which supported the markedly swept upper wing. Only one was built.

Cranwell CLA.2

The Cranwell CLA.2 was a single-engined two-seat biplane built by staff and students of RAF College Cranwell as an entrant to the Lympne Two Seater Light Aeroplane Trials of 1924. It won the reliability prize.

Parnall Possum

The Parnall Possum was an experimental triplane, with a single, central engine driving wing-mounted propellers via shafts and gears. Two of these British aircraft were built in the mid-1920s.

Meyers Midget

The Meyers Midget was a one-off small, low-powered, sporting single-seat sesquiplane, designed and built in the United States in 1926, incorporating several innovative structural features.

The Starck AS-27 Starcky was a racing single seat biplane of unusual wing layout with full stagger and a small gap. It was designed and built in France in the 1970s; only one was made.

The Spijker V.3, sometimes anglicized to Spyker V.3 or Spyker-Trompenburg V.3, was a Dutch single-engine, single-seat biplane fighter, designed and built just before the end of World War I.

The Letov Š-13 was a single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed and built in Czechoslovakia in the early 1920s. A biplane, it had aerodynamically thick wings which were originally cantilever structures, though interplane struts were later added. Only one was produced.

Albatros L.71

The Albatros L.71 was a two-seat, single pusher engined biplane built in Germany in the 1920s.

Potez VIII

The Potez VIII was a French training aircraft which first flew in 1920. Originally it had a very unusual vertical inline engine and a four-wheeled undercarriage, though the production version was more conventional.

Aerial Engineering Corporation Standard 6W-3

The Aerial Engineering Corporation Standard 6W-3 was a commercial transport modification of the US Standard J-1 biplane military trainer aircraft, with new wings, engine and accommodation for four passengers. First flown in 1925, it was built in small numbers.

Skraba S.T.3

The Skraba S.T.3 was a two-seat Polish biplane built in 1928. It was the first all-metal aircraft designed in Poland; only one was completed.

Dabrowski D.1 Cykacz

The Dąbrowski D.1 Cykacz (Ticktock) was an unusual, small, low-powered, single-seat biplane, intended to provide wider access to flying. Though it was exceptionally aerodynamically clean, it was under-powered and had limited range. Only one was built.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Brew 1993 , pp. 145–7
  2. ↑ Brew 1993 , pp. 358
  3. ↑ CAA registration document for G-EACJ Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Boulton Paul Association". Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  5. ↑ Brew 1993, p. 147
  6. ↑ Brew 1993, p. 145
  7. ↑ Bruce 1957, p. 103

Bibliography

  • Brew, Alec (1993). Boulton Paul Aircraft since 1915. London: Putnam. ISBN   0-85177-860-7.
  • Bruce, J.M. (1957). British Aeroplanes 1914–18. London: Putnam.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.