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The Albatros L 72 was a German transport aircraft of the 1920s, designed to carry newspapers between German cities for
"Albatros 72A
''Flight'' 15 April 1926 pp. 228–231
luftfahrt-archiv.de
{{Albatros aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes 1920s German cargo aircraft L 072 Aircraft first flown in 1926
Ullstein Verlag
The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and ''Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstein B ...
. A single revised example was built for the ''Hamburger Fremdenblatt''.
Design and development
The L 72 was a single-engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
of conventional configuration with unstaggered wings of equal span. It was the first German commercial aircraft to incorporate leading edge slot
A leading-edge slot is a fixed aerodynamic feature of the wing of some aircraft to reduce the stall speed and promote good low-speed handling qualities. A leading-edge slot is a spanwise gap in each wing, allowing air to flow from below the wing ...
s and trailing-edge flaps. The upper and lower wings were interchangeable. They were of all metal construction with fabric covering. The thickened centre section of the upper wing contained the fuel tanks. The upper wing was carried on a tubular cabane and one set of 'N' formation interplane struts
In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...
was provided with stream-lined wire bracing. The fuselage was built of welded steel tubing with diagonal wire bracing and was fabric covered. Aft of the pilot's cockpit was a cabin containing a conveyor-like device which could accept up to sixteen parcels of newspapers weighing each. These could then be dropped, either by an attendant travelling in the cabin or by the pilot, an indicator in the cockpit indicating how many parcels had been dropped. A novel feature of the tail was the rudder and fin which were both pivoted in such a way that when the rudder was turned the fin also turned around a vertical axis thus providing a more powerful rudder control for a smaller angular movement''Flight'' April 15, 1926 p.228–231
Variants
* L 72a * L 72b - two examples for Ullstein AG * L 72c Albis - one example for ''Hamburger Fremdenblatt''Specifications (L.72a)
See also
References
*"Albatros 72A
''Flight'' 15 April 1926 pp. 228–231
luftfahrt-archiv.de
{{Albatros aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes 1920s German cargo aircraft L 072 Aircraft first flown in 1926