| Ford 14-A | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The Ford 14-A with wheels retracted | |
| Role | airliner |
| National origin | U.S. |
| Manufacturer | The Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company |
| Introduction | 1932 |
The Ford 14-A was a prototype three-engined, large, streamlined, 32 passenger aircraft built in 1932. Though apparently completed, it never flew.
The 14-A had only weak links with Ford's earlier, smaller Trimotor series, with a wingspan 50% greater, more powerful and differently mounted engines and nearly three times as many passengers in a much more spacious fuselage. [1]
It was an all-metal aircraft with a thick (4 ft 3 in (1.30 m) maximum), two spar shoulder wing. Each sub-wing, themselves in two parts, was mounted on a short, rectangular plan centre-section which was an integral part of the fuselage. Beyond this, the wings had tetrahedral plans out to rounded tips. Its ailerons filled the outermost panels and, like the other control surfaces, were dynamically, though not aerodynamically, balanced. [1]
The fuselage structure was of the open channel truss type with steel members in the central part carrying wing, engine and undercarriage stresses and with dural elsewhere. It was covered in corrugated Alclad sheet. The two pilots were given an excellent view from their enclosed position in the extreme nose, having entered through an external, port side door into the smoking room, then forward through an internal door. There were four passenger compartments, modelled after those used by railway passengers but divided into sub-compartments by a central corridor from the smoking room rear door. Each sub-compartment accommodated four passengers on double, face-to-face seats lit by a large window and was provided with sound insulation and heating. The two forward compartments were separated from the two aft by toilets under the wing. Further aft the corridor passed the galley on the port side and a starboard side baggage store, each with its own external door, on the way to the exit/entry area which had doors on each side. Overall the passenger cabin, excluding the toilets, was 41 ft (12 m) long, 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m) wide and 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) high, a volume of 1,948 cu ft (55.2 m3). [1]
The 14-A was unusual in having two different, though closely related, types of engines, very differently mounted. Ford had considered replacing the standard tri-motor nose engine by one on a pylon in the unbuilt Ford 12-A and the 14-A's central, 1,100 hp (820 kW) Hispano-Suiza 18Sb water-cooled W-18 was pylon-mounted, with each of its three well-separated cylinder banks individually cowled. It was cooled by edge-on radiators in the pylon and drove a three-bladed propeller. The outer engines, two Hispano-Suiza 12Nbr, water-cooled 60° V-12s, were buried in the thick wings. Geared down, they drove larger, four-bladed propellers on long drive shafts. Their edge-on radiators were mounted within the carefully faired landing legs underneath them. [1]
The 14-A's landing gear was also unusual: though the landing legs and the deep wheel fairings were fixed and braced with near-horizontal struts to the lower fuselage members, the wheels themselves could be retracted into their fairings. When the aircraft was stationary the wheels were retracted but before take-off they were lowered pneumatically, increasing the 14-A's height by 4 ft 1 in (1.24 m), then raised again in-flight. Their track was 26 ft 5 in (8.05 m). The tail wheel was unusually large and well ahead of the tail, helping to level the fuselage on the ground. Like the main wheels it was mounted on a shock absorber but, additionally, was free to caster. [1]
The tail unit was conventional, with a tapered tailplane mounted on top of the fuselage and braced to it from below and the fin was triangular. Its rudder was rounded and deep, requiring a cut-out in the elevator for movement. [1]
Though photos and a detailed description published in April 1932 appear to suggest it was complete, [1] there is no record of it flying. Despite the effort put into its construction, the aircraft was cut up in 1933. [2]
Data from Aero Digest (April 1932) [1]
General characteristics
The Bloch MB.160 was a fourteen-seat French airliner intended for use in the French African colonies. Three were built and two entered service with Régie Air-Afrique at the start of World War II. Developments included the Bloch MB.162 bomber which was too late for service and the Sud-Est SE.161 Languedoc, one hundred of which were built post-war.
The Potez 62 was a French twin-engine civil airliner, designed by Henry Potez in 1934. The French military adapted this airframe two-years later to create the Potez 650.
The PZL.4 was a Polish three-engine passenger aircraft for 10 passengers, built in PZL factory in 1932, which remained a prototype. It was the first Polish-designed and produced multi-engine plane.
The Adolphe Bernard AB was a twin-engined French biplane aircraft, built near the end of the First World War. Ten AB 1 BN2 bombers were produced for the Armée de l'Air but did not reach squadron service; post-war, two civil derivatives were considered but only one aircraft was built.
The Hispano Suiza E-30, later renamed Hispano E-30, was designed in Spain in 1930 as a multi-purpose intermediate trainer. It was a single engine, parasol wing monoplane. About 25 served with the Spanish armed forces until 1945.
The Dewoitine D.30 was a ten-seat cantilever monoplane built in France in 1930. The D.30 was a single-engine aircraft but the second was completed as a trimotor and redesignated D.31.
The Bernard 80 GR was one of three types built by different French constructors in response to a government call for an aircraft capable of setting new long-distance records. A single engine monoplane with a crew of two, the 80 GR set an absolute record for flight over a closed circuit in April 1931, covering 8,960 km (5,569 mi). Modifications led to a new designation as the Bernard 81 GR but no more records were set despite several attempts.
The Nieuport-Delage NiD 43 was a single-engine, two-seat biplane fighter aircraft designed and built for shipboard use in France in 1924.
The Potez 38 was a French single engine, eight or nine seat passenger aircraft flown in 1930. Only one was built.
The Caudron C.74 was a ten-seat, four engine passenger biplane built in France in 1922. It showed promise but the sole prototype crashed fatally in a competition and no more were completed.
The Amiot 110-S was an all-metal, amphibious military flying boat built in France in the 1930s. It was intended as a maritime reconnaissance and medium bomber aircraft but only two were built.
The Romano R.5 was a French reconnaissance flying boat built in 1932. It had a parasol wing, a single engine and hull stabilizing sponsons. Only one was built.
The four-engined Lioré et Olivier LeO H-27 was one of three French flying boats competing to carry mail over Air France's South Atlantic routes. Flying later than its competitors, it was not selected and only one was built.
The Weymann-Lepère WEL-80 R.2 was a French two seat reconnaissance aircraft built to compete for a 1928 government contract. It was not successful and did not enter production.
The Wibault 260 R.2 was a contender for a French government contract for a long range, two seat reconnaissance aircraft, issued in 1928. There were eight prototypes in the 1931-2 contest and the Wibault was not selected for production.
The CAMS 80 was an amphibious reconnaissance flying boat flown in the early 1930s. Two were built with different engines and were used by the Aéronavale for VIP transport and equipment development until 1938.
The Dornier Do S was a 22-passenger flying boat airliner flown in Germany in 1930.
The Lumière-de Monge racer was built specifically to compete in the 1921 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe and was flown at Etampes on 1 October 1921. In addition to its speed, it was unusual in being a high wing monoplane which could be rapidly converted into a biplane by adding a smaller lower wing. It crashed before the race, killing its pilot, and was unable to participate.
The Blériot-Spad S.45 was a large, four engine French airliner which appeared at the 1921 Paris Salon. It could carry fifteen passengers or be adapted as a bomber.
The Blériot 73 was a large First World War French heavy night bomber designed and built by Blériot to the BN3 specification. Only a single prototype was built, which crashed on landing from its first flight, killing the pilot. The Blériot 74, Blériot 75 and Blériot 76, respectively, a heavy bomber / airliner, airliner and heavy bomber, directly evolved from the Blériot 71 / Blériot 73 bombers.