Nowotny N-y 4bis

Last updated
N-y 4bis
Samolot Ny-4bis.png
RoleTwo seat trainer
National origin Poland
Designer Adam Nowotny
First flightApril 1934
Number built1

The Nowotny N-y 4bis was a tandem two-seat light aircraft, built in Poland, as a step towards a very light, low-powered training aircraft for flying clubs. Its designer was killed in a glider soon after the first flight of his trainer and its development was abandoned.

Tandem arrangement in which people, machines, or animals are in line behind one another facing forward

Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.

Light aircraft aircraft with a gross weight of 12,500 lb (5670 kg) or less

A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of 12,500 lb (5,670 kg) or less.

Poland Republic in Central Europe

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres (120,733 sq mi), and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With a population of approximately 38.5 million people, Poland is the sixth most populous member state of the European Union. Poland's capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw. Other major cities include Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Szczecin.

Contents

Design and development

In 1932 Adam Nowotny designed a low-powered, lightweight two-seat trainer, designated the Nowotny N-y 4, intended to help glider pilots convert to powered flight. The Lwów Aeroclub were willing to finance its building but no suitably low power engine was available. As the club had an elderly, 85 hp (63 kW) Walter NZ radial engine, Nowotny produced a completely new design incorporating it. Despite the changes, Nowotny designated it the Nowotny N-y 4bis as he regarded it as a step towards his conversion trainer. [1]

Radial engine reciprocating engine with cylinders arranged radially from a single crankshaft

The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" in some languages. The radial configuration was commonly used for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant.

The Lwów Aeroclub had the design tested in the local university's wind tunnel and in May 1933 contracted its construction to the C.W.A., a short-lived commercial venture of the Lublin Aeroclub. After C.W.A.'s collapse, the Nowotny N-y 4bis was completed in the Lublin factory of E. Plage & T. Laśkiewicz. Its first flight, piloted by its designer, was in April 1934. [1]

Lublin City in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland

Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship (province) with a population of 339,682. Lublin is the largest Polish city east of the Vistula River and is about 170 km (106 mi) to the southeast of Warsaw by road.

The N-y 4bis was a monoplane with a cantilever low wing built around a single birch box spar. Beyond a short centre section, an integral part of the fuselage with a carefully faired trailing edge, the wing tapered strongly in both plan and section out to rounded tips and had marked dihedral. Part of the wing was plywood covered, with fabric elsewhere. The ailerons, which reached the wing tips, were both slotted and balanced. [1] [2]

Monoplane Fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane, in contrast to a biplane or other multiplane, each of which has multiple planes.

Cantilever beam anchored at only one end

A cantilever is a rigid structural element, such as a beam or a plate, anchored at one end to a support from which it protrudes; this connection could also be perpendicular to a flat, vertical surface such as a wall. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs. When subjected to a structural load, the cantilever carries the load to the support where it is forced against by a moment and shear stress.

Spar (aeronautics) Main structural member of the wing of an aircraft

In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings while on the ground. Other structural and forming members such as ribs may be attached to the spar or spars, with stressed skin construction also sharing the loads where it is used. There may be more than one spar in a wing or none at all. However, where a single spar carries the majority of the forces on it, it is known as the main spar.

The Walter engine, with its fuel tank in the wing centre section, was enclosed with a Townend ring-type cowling. Behind it, the rectangular section fuselage was built from welded steel tubes and fabric covered apart from a rounded plywood upper decking which began immediately behind the engine, rising to fair-in the two tandem cockpits and provide them with headrests. Both cockpits, with the instructor's raised at the rear, were over the wing and fitted with dual control. Behind the cockpits the fuselage structure was internally wire-braced. The small, trapezoidal fin of the N-y 4bis had a steel frame and was an integral part of the fuselage. It was ply-covered but the very generous, rounded, balanced rudder, which reached down to the keel, was fabric covered like the rest of the empennage. Its horizontal tail was ground-adjustable and tapered in plan to rounded tips, with unbalanced elevators separated by a gap to allow rudder movement. [1] [2]

Townend ring

A Townend ring is a narrow-chord cowling ring fitted around the cylinders of an aircraft radial engine to reduce drag and improve cooling.

Balanced rudder

Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevators and ailerons; all three aircraft control surfaces may also be mass balanced, chiefly to avoid aerodynamic flutter.

Empennage Tail section of an aircraft containing stabilizers

The empennage, also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow. The term derives from the French language word empenner which means "to feather an arrow". Most aircraft feature an empennage incorporating vertical and horizontal stabilising surfaces which stabilise the flight dynamics of yaw and pitch, as well as housing control surfaces.

The undercarriage was conventional, with fixed mainwheels and a tailskid. The wheels were on split axles from the lower central fuselage; its landing legs, incorporating rubber disk shock absorbers, and drag struts were attached to the lower longerons. [1] [2]

Landing gear aircraft part which supports the aircraft while not in the air

Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft and may be used for either takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally both. It was also formerly called alighting gear by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin Company.

Longeron

In engineering, a longeron is a load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural frameworks.

Early tests showed the N-y 4bis handled well and out-performed estimates. Before it could go for official certification Nowotny died in a glider accident on 13 July 1934 and the aircraft was abandoned. [1]

Specifications

Data from J. Cynk (1971} [1] except where noted. Performance estimated.

General characteristics

Performance

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cynk, Jerzy (1971). Polish Aircraft 1893-1939 . London: Putnam Publishing. p. 640-2. ISBN   0 370 00085 4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Ny 4, 1934". Samolotypolskie.pl. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
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