NRC tailless glider
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The NRC tailless glider, also called the NRL tailless glider, was a two-seat tailless research glider designed by the National Research Council of Canada and built by the National Research Laboratories, at the instigation of G.T.R. Hill who had previously designed the British
Westland-Hill Pterodactyl Pterodactyl was the name given to a series of experimental tailless aircraft designs developed by G. T. R. Hill in the 1920s and early 1930s. Named after the genus Pterodactylus, a well-known type of Pterosaur commonly known as the pterodactyl, a ...
series of tailless aircraft.


Development

To research the control and stability of tailless aircraft. The
National Research Council of Canada The National Research Council Canada (NRC; french: Conseil national de recherches Canada) is the primary national agency of the Government of Canada dedicated to science and technology research & development. It is the largest federal research ...
initiated a research programme using a specially designed glider, the NRC tailless glider. During the inter-war years
Geoffrey T. R. Hill Geoffrey Terence Roland Hill, (1895 – 26 December 1955) was a British aviator and aeronautical engineer. Early life Geoffrey Terence Roland Hill was born in 1895, the son of Michael J. M. Hill, Professor of Mathematics at the University Colleg ...
had designed and
Westland Aircraft Limited Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil, Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Limited just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915. Du ...
had built a series of tailless aircraft with support from the Royal Aircraft Establishment. During World War II Geoffrey Hill served as the British Scientific Liaison Officer at the National Research Council (NRC) in Canada, where he proposed the development of a tailless research glider similar to his Pterodactyl designs.


Design

The glider was constructed predominantly from wood with a single spar built from laminated wood supporting wooden built up ribs covered with a relatively thick plywood skin, which resulted in a smooth surface with minimal distortion. The wing had three distinct sections, comprising a constant-chord, unswept centre section flanked by swept tapered outer sections. Primary flight controls consisted of elevons on the trailing edges of the outer wing sections for pitch and roll, with fins and rudders on the wing-tips for yaw stability and control. Trim in pitch was achieved by adjusting the incidence of movable wing tips using screw jacks. For approach and landing split flaps were fitted to the wing centre section trailing edge. The undercarriage consisted of a retractable tricycle arrangement with auxiliary skids which could be lowered in case the undercarriage failed to extend. Differential brakes were fitted to the main undercarriage wheels. The pilot and flight test engineer were accommodated in two separate cockpits protruding from the top surface of the wing centre section with the pilot in the port cockpit and test engineer in the starboard cockpit. A comprehensive instrumentation package was fitted, with automatic recording of time, airspeed, altitude, wing tip incidence, flap angle, side-slip, roll rate, pitch rate, yaw rate, elevon hinge moment, elevon angles, rudder angles, ambient air temperature, normal acceleration (gy), longitudinal acceleration (gz), gyro attitude, pendulum attitude and bank angle. In addition radio transmissions from the pilot and test engineer were recorded on the ground.


Operational history

Flight testing of the aircraft began in 1946 at Namao, Edmonton, flown by S/L. Robert Kronfeld, A.F.C. RAF initially and continued by S/L. E. L. Baudoux, D.S.O., D.F.C., F/L. G. S. Phripp and F/L. G. A. Lee. Mr. T.E.Stephenson was in overall charge of the flying operations as well as scientific observations in the starboard cockpit. Ground handling of the glider was found to be good, using the differential brakes. Launches were carried out as aero-tows behind an RCAF
Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...
with a 350 ft nylon tow-rope, at a normal towing speed of 100 mph, but tows at 140 mph were found to pose no difficulties. Flight testing was carried out predominantly in the glide after a tow to between 6,000 ft and 10,000 ft, testing being terminated at 4,000 ft to allow positioning for entering the landing circuit. Flight characteristics were found to be good with the exception of poor yaw control at low speeds. In September 1948, the glider was towed across Canada to
Arnprior, Ontario Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Downtown Ottawa, at the confluence of the Madawaska River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Arnprior has experienced sig ...
for further testing, completing 105 hours before the project was terminated.


Specifications


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

*W.J. Cox, J.N. Siddall, T.E. Stephenson, (1949) "A Tailless Research Aircraft: An Account of the Structural Design, Manufacture and Flight Trials of the Tailless Glider of the National Research Council of Canada", ''Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology'', Vol. 21 Iss: 6, pp. 184 – 190 {{refend


External links

*National Research Council Canada: index of photographs of the tailless glide

Tailless aircraft Flying wings 1940s Canadian sailplanes 1940s Canadian aircraft Canadian experimental aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1946