Later still, retractable wheels were added to create an amphibian that became known as the OWL (standing for "Over Water and Land"). Later that month, it was extensively rebuilt along the lines of the Curtiss Tadpole hull, thus becoming the Navy's first flying boat. In this configuration it set a seaplane flight endurance record of 6 hours 10 minutes on 6 October 1912. A-2 was converted into a floatplane the following June. Purchased by the Navy in landplane configuration on 13 July 1911, by August it was fitted with two long, cigar-shaped sheet metal cylinder pontoons beneath the bottom frame, about four feet from each aviator. The aircraft originally designated A-2 had an especially interesting career. These aircraft achieved a number of firsts for the Navy, including the first cross-country flight in a seaplane, a world seaplane altitude record of 900 ft (274 m) a much later national seaplane altitude record of 6,200 ft (1,890 m), and, significantly for later naval operations, the first catapult launch of a seaplane. In all, the Navy was to purchase some 14 Model Es, designating their earliest examples from A-1 to A-4, then redesignating these together with new purchases in the AH-1 to AH-18 block of serials. Theodore Ellyson became the Navy's first pilot when he took off from Keuka Lake near Hammondsport, New York on 30 June. A $4,400 Model E-8-75 floatplane became the Navy's first aircraft when ordered on and received the designation A-1, as well as the nickname "Triad" hydroaeroplane since it could operate from land and sea and in the air. The Model E achieved fame through examples purchased by the United States Navy. The increased weight and drag of the “amphibian” gear cost the Triad 5 knots of airspeed, so the more powerful 75 hp v8 was required to maintain the speed of the land plane configuration. CAPT Washington Irving Chambers expressed confidence in landing in “moderate seas”, but stated he would not attempt to land in them and further added that they could adapt the movements of the Triad to conform to the seas. Glenn Curtiss demonstrated a capability to skim along the surface in two-foot seas. Triad could skim the water at 50 mph and had an endurance of 150 miles. The front elevator on A-1 was at the aviators feet. On the bottom of each pontoon is a little hydroplane of wood measuring 3 inches wide by ¼ inch thick to further aid in balance and reduce friction. The Model E was designed and built as a two-seater, although in practice some of the lower-powered versions were converted to single-seaters.īlack pontoons on the wingtips of A-1 slanted diagonally backward toward the water to reduce friction on water and serve to balance aircraft on water. The large ailerons were mounted in the interplane gap, their span continuing past the wings themselves, and as before were controlled by a shoulder yoke accommodating sideways "leaning" movements by the pilot to operate them. Most examples of the Model E followed the pattern of the "headless" Model Ds, with elevators and horizontal stabilizer carried together in the cruciform tail unit. In landplane configuration, it was fitted with tricycle undercarriage, and as a seaplane with a large central pontoon and outriggers under the wings. Like its predecessor, the Model E was an open-framework biplane with two-bay unstaggered wings of equal span. Essentially a refined and enlarged version of the later "headless" Model D, variants of the Model E made important steps in pioneering the development of seaplanes and flying boats in America.
0 kommentar(er)
