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The Comper Streak was a single-engined, single-seat
/ref> The wings of the Streak were built up around a pair of spruce and plywood box section spars, carrying three-ply and spruce ribs and skinned with stressed three-ply sheet. They were gently tapering in plan with rounded tips. There was 5° dihedral outboard, but none on the centre section. Mass balanced ailerons filled more than half of the trailing edge. The mass balances, not fitted for the initial flights, were conspicuously mounted on extended upward arms from near the aileron root. The tailplane and split elevators were also of spruce and plywood, but fabric covered. The rounded fin and rudder, though fabric covered had a steel tube structure. Like the elevators, the rudder was not horn balanced; it extended to the bottom of the fuselage, operating in a cut-out between the elevators. The rectangular cross-section fuselage consisted of four spruce Warren girders, fabric covered behind the engine. The cockpit was at the trailing edge of the wing and behind there was a deep, rounded fabric covered decking. In front of the cockpit the decking was continued in aluminium, enclosing the fuel tank. Forward of this and beyond a firewall, the inverted in-line engine was mounted on a frame of square section steel members. It drove a two bladed metal propeller. Comper was an early adopter of retractable undercarriages for light aircraft at a time when the balance of advantage between drag loss and weight penalty was not obvious. The main wheels of the Streak were mounted at the end of the wing centre section, each between pairs of compression legs. Pairs of cross braced struts, joining the legs a little way above the axle and hinged at top and bottom, rotated to retract the wheels rearwards. In common with many aircraft of the time, the retracted undercarriage left a part of the wheel exposed, to give some protection in a wheels up landing. The wheels, which had brakes, were retracted manually via a heavily geared down, bicycle chain drive. At the rear there was a simple, sprung tailskid. The Streak first flew on 12 April 1934 with Comper at the controls. Apart from aileron flutter at speed, cured by installing the mass balances, the sole Streak, registered ''G-ACNC'' flew well enough, but made no impression in the King's Cup races of 1934 and 1935. On both occasions the Streak had to retire early. Its average speed in these races was about 175 mph (280 km/h). Comper Aircraft ceased trading in August 1934 and by the time of the 1935 race their affairs were in the hands of the Heston Aircraft Company, who had their own designs. The Streak was scrapped at Heston in 1937.
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
built in the UK in the mid-1930s. It was not successful as a racer and only one was produced.
Development
The Comper Aircraft Company's first product, the high wing single-seatComper Swift
The Comper C.L.A.7 Swift is a British 1930s single-seat sporting aircraft produced by Comper Aircraft Company Ltd of Hooton Park, Cheshire.
Design and development
In March 1929 Flight Lieutenant Nicholas Comper left the Royal Air Force and form ...
sold quite well and had some race success. Their second, the low wing three-seat Mouse
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
was a lone aircraft that won no races. Nicholas Comper had always hoped for wins in prestigious air races and the low wing, single-seat Streak was built to that end. It had a fuselage based on the Swift and its wings were scaled down versions of those of the Mouse.
Originally the Streak was intended to compete in the Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
International Races of 1933 but, owing to political and economic problems of the time, these were not held. So, instead, the Streak was entered into the 1934 competition for the Deutsch de la Muerthe Cup. This determined the choice of engine, as the competition rules set a limiting capacity of 8 litres, though supercharging was allowed. Comper's choice for the Streak was a special high-compression 146 hp (109 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major
The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major engines still power vintag ...
, a 6.1 litre, normally aspirated engine which left the Streak short of power compared with his competitors from France. He got through the first round at an average speed of about 187 mph (300 km/h), but was forced to drop out with undercarriage retraction problems; but the winner averaged 244 mph (393 km/h), so the Streak, the only non-French entry, was outclassed.''Flight'' 19 April 1934 p.377-81/ref> The wings of the Streak were built up around a pair of spruce and plywood box section spars, carrying three-ply and spruce ribs and skinned with stressed three-ply sheet. They were gently tapering in plan with rounded tips. There was 5° dihedral outboard, but none on the centre section. Mass balanced ailerons filled more than half of the trailing edge. The mass balances, not fitted for the initial flights, were conspicuously mounted on extended upward arms from near the aileron root. The tailplane and split elevators were also of spruce and plywood, but fabric covered. The rounded fin and rudder, though fabric covered had a steel tube structure. Like the elevators, the rudder was not horn balanced; it extended to the bottom of the fuselage, operating in a cut-out between the elevators. The rectangular cross-section fuselage consisted of four spruce Warren girders, fabric covered behind the engine. The cockpit was at the trailing edge of the wing and behind there was a deep, rounded fabric covered decking. In front of the cockpit the decking was continued in aluminium, enclosing the fuel tank. Forward of this and beyond a firewall, the inverted in-line engine was mounted on a frame of square section steel members. It drove a two bladed metal propeller. Comper was an early adopter of retractable undercarriages for light aircraft at a time when the balance of advantage between drag loss and weight penalty was not obvious. The main wheels of the Streak were mounted at the end of the wing centre section, each between pairs of compression legs. Pairs of cross braced struts, joining the legs a little way above the axle and hinged at top and bottom, rotated to retract the wheels rearwards. In common with many aircraft of the time, the retracted undercarriage left a part of the wheel exposed, to give some protection in a wheels up landing. The wheels, which had brakes, were retracted manually via a heavily geared down, bicycle chain drive. At the rear there was a simple, sprung tailskid. The Streak first flew on 12 April 1934 with Comper at the controls. Apart from aileron flutter at speed, cured by installing the mass balances, the sole Streak, registered ''G-ACNC'' flew well enough, but made no impression in the King's Cup races of 1934 and 1935. On both occasions the Streak had to retire early. Its average speed in these races was about 175 mph (280 km/h). Comper Aircraft ceased trading in August 1934 and by the time of the 1935 race their affairs were in the hands of the Heston Aircraft Company, who had their own designs. The Streak was scrapped at Heston in 1937.
Specifications
Notes
Citations
Cited sources
* * * {{Comper aircraft 1930s British aircraft Racing aircraft Streak Aircraft first flown in 1934 Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft