Buxton Hjordis

Last updated

Hjordis
Role Competition sailplane
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Slingsby Sailplanes
Designer G. M. Buxton
First flight 27 May 1935
Number built 1

The Buxton Hjordis was a single-seat sailplane built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd. in the UK to a design by G.M Buxton. Only one was constructed and was flown by Philip Wills at competitions in Europe between 1935-7.

Glider (sailplane) type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding

A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding. This unpowered aircraft uses naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. Gliders are aerodynamically streamlined and are capable of gaining altitude and remaining airborne, and maintaining forward motion.

Slingsby Aviation is a British aircraft company based in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England. The company was founded on the building and design of gliders and sailplanes. From the early 1930s to around 1970 it built over 50% of all British club gliders and had success at national and international level competitions. It then produced some powered aircraft, notably the composite built Firefly trainer, before becoming a producer of specialised composite materials and components.

Philip Aubrey Wills CBE was a pioneering British glider pilot. He broke several gliding records and was the 1952 Open Class World Champion. He remained a regular member of the British Team until 1958. He was second in command of the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War II. He was chairman of the British Gliding Association for 19 years and was appointed a CBE and the Lilienthal Gliding Medal for services to gliding.

Contents

Development

The sole Buxton Hjordis was a high-performance sailplane designed by G.M "Mungo" Buxton and built in 1935 by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd. It was a single-seater of all-wood construction. Its straight-tapered, cantilever wing was pedestal-mounted and was without flaps or airbrakes. The fuselage was circular in cross section with the cockpit immediately in front of the wing leading edge and a wheel-less, single-skid main undercarriage. Aft, the fuselage tapered to carry a very small triangular fin, on which was mounted a much taller, wide chord rudder of rounded triangular shape and with a vertical leading edge. The horizontal tail was small and essentially all elevator apart from a leading-edge hinge. [1]

Fuselage aircraft main body which is the primary carrier of crew, passengers, and payload

The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, and cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, as well, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage, which in turn is used as a floating hull. The fuselage also serves to position control and stabilization surfaces in specific relationships to lifting surfaces, which is required for aircraft stability and maneuverability.

Leading edge

The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air; alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil section. The first is an aerodynamic definition, the second a structural one. As an example of the distinction, during a tailslide, from an aerodynamic point of view, the trailing edge becomes the leading edge and vice versa but from a structural point of view the leading edge remains unchanged.

Rudder device to steer a vehicle

A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other conveyance that moves through a fluid medium. On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane. A rudder operates by redirecting the fluid past the hull (watercraft) or fuselage, thus imparting a turning or yawing motion to the craft. In basic form, a rudder is a flat plane or sheet of material attached with hinges to the craft's stern, tail, or after end. Often rudders are shaped so as to minimize hydrodynamic or aerodynamic drag. On simple watercraft, a tiller—essentially, a stick or pole acting as a lever arm—may be attached to the top of the rudder to allow it to be turned by a helmsman. In larger vessels, cables, pushrods, or hydraulics may be used to link rudders to steering wheels. In typical aircraft, the rudder is operated by pedals via mechanical linkages or hydraulics.

Buxton began the design of a development, the Hjordis 2 which was completed and built by Slingsby Aviation as the King Kite. [2]

The Slingsby T.9 King Kite is a British glider designed and built by Slingsby that first flew in 1937.

Operational history

The Hjordis first flew on 27 June 1935. It had been designed and built for the well-known British glider pilot, Philip Wills, and he flew it at the British National Gliding Competitions at Sutton Bank in September 1935. [3] He also flew it at the International Competition held between 14-47 July 1937 at the Wasserkuppe, Germany. [4] At that time it was registered as G-GAAA. The following year it went to South Africa as ZS-23. [1]

Sutton Bank mountain in the United Kingdom

Sutton Bank is a hill in the Hambleton District of the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire in England. It is a high point on the Hambleton Hills with extensive views over the Vale of York and the Vale of Mowbray.

Wasserkuppe Rhön mountain in Germany

The Wasserkuppe (help·info) is a mountain within the German state of Hesse. The elevation, which is a large plateau formation, is the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains. Between the First and Second World Wars great advances in sailplane development took place on the mountain during the interwar period. Near the summit there is still an airfield used by gliding clubs and pilots of light aircraft.

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

The name

Hjordis is a character in Norse mythology, the mother of Sigurd/Siegfried.

Norse mythology body of mythology of the North Germanic people stemming from Norse paganism and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia and into the Scandinavian folklore of the modern period

Norse mythology is the body of myths of the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Norse paganism and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Scandinavian folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition.

Sigurd fictional character in Germanic and Norse mythology

Sigurd or Siegfried is a legendary hero of Germanic mythology, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovingian dynasty, with Sigebert I being the most popular contender. Older scholarship sometimes connected him with Arminius, victor of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. He may also have a purely mythological origin. Sigurd's story is first attested on a series of carvings, including runestones from Sweden and stone crosses from the British Isles, dating from the eleventh century.

Specifications

Data from Ellison 1971, p. 94

General characteristics

Airfoil

An airfoil or aerofoil is the cross-sectional shape of a wing, blade, or sail.

Performance

  • Rate of sink: 0.61 m/s (120 ft/min) minimum
  • Lift-to-drag: 24
  • Wing loading: 18.9 kg/m2 (3.9 lb/sq ft)

Notes

  1. 1 2 Ellison 1971 , p. 94
  2. ↑ Ellison 1971 , p. 95
  3. ↑ Flight 12 September 1935 p.297-8
  4. ↑ Flight 15 August 1937 p.81

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References

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