Engineering:Smolkowski-Laviolette biplane
| Smolkowski-Laviolette biplane | |
|---|---|
| Role | Human-powered aircraft |
| National origin | Canada |
| Manufacturer | Alvin Smolkowski and Maurice Laviolette |
| First flight | 1964 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Smolkowski-Laviolette biplane was a Canadian human-powered biplane designed and built by two Calgary aeronautical engineers, Alvin Smolkowski and Maurice Laviolette, in the 1960s.[1]
Smolkowski and Laviolette were based at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology at Calgary, and they commenced design of the biplane in December 1960, with a view towards winning the Kremer prize then on offer.[2]
The aircraft had a primary structure made of aluminum alloy, and a secondary structure made of metal tubing, polystyrene, and foam sheets. It was a single-bay biplane, spanning 30 ft (9.1 m), with struts of metal tubing, and rigged with lift and drag wires. The airfoil section incorporated a deflected trailing edge.[3] Unlike contemporary HPAs, the craft was covered with doped fabric, which incurred a weight penalty.[4] The fuselage was of the pod-and-boom type. The pilot sat in a recumbent position, in a semi-enclosed cockpit, and powered the tractor propeller, positioned at the end of a boom, via a set of bicycle pedals powering a chain drive.[3] Both biplane wings and the propeller were fitted with end-plates, in order to mitigate issues with induced drag. The control system incorporated a T-bar column suspended from the upper-wing, operating the elevator and rudder.[3] There did not appear to be any form of lateral control, however the biplane wings were set at a slight dihedral.
Laviolette departed the project before completion, with Smolkowski continuing alone. The biplane was completed in 1964, and it was reported that even with the support of a grant from a Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute committee, and material supplied by Alberta aviation clubs, Smolkowski had to work overtime in order to finance the completion of the craft.[4][5]
When tested, the biplane proved unable to make un-assisted flights, however it did make a number of short flights towed behind an automobile.[1][2]
Specifications
Data from Western Wings[6]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Wingspan: 30 ft (9.1 m)
- Wing area: 300 sq ft (28 m2)
- Empty weight: 90 lb (41 kg)
- Propellers: 3-bladed, 6 ft (1.8 m) diameter
Performance
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
- Cook Musfly
- Goodhart Newbury Manflier
- HMPAC Puffin
- HPA Toucan
- Malliga 1
- MacCready Gossamer Albatross
- MacCready Gossamer Condor
Related lists
- List of Human-powered aircraft
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sherwin, Keith (1976) (in en). To fly like a bird: The story of man-powered aircraft. Folkestone, England: Bailey Brothers and Swinfen Limited. pp. 115-116. ISBN 0561002835.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Smolkowski- Laviolette biplane, 1964" (in pl). samolotypolskie.pl. http://www.samolotypolskie.pl/samoloty/14545/126/Smolkowski--Laviolette-biplane.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 R.G. Moulton (1964). Laidlaw-Dickson, D.J.; Moulton, R.G.. eds. "Muscle Power". Aeronautical Annual 1964-65 (Watford, Herts, UK: Model Aeronautical Press): 58-63, 137.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Reay, D.A. (1977). The history of man-powered flight. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press Ltd. p. 219. ISBN 0080217389.
- ↑ "L'homme volera Bientôt de ses propres muscles" (in fr). La Tribune Perspectives 6 (35): 8-10. 29 August 1964. https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3636904. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ↑ "Air Currents". Western Wings 4 (9): 12-13. September 1962. https://archive.org/details/N018205/page/13/mode/1up. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
Bibliography
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