Ideas and available technology don’t always go side by side.
The ever-reducing wing area of racers needed a solution to
avoid high speeds when they weren’t desirable, i.e. on landings.
One solution is a variable camber mechanism, intended to
deal with the speed envelope of a plane making the wing as efficient as
possible through the whole range of those speeds, especially during take-off
and landings, when slats and flaps are deployed to increase lift and be able to
fly at low speed without stalling.
The variable camber mechanism of the Dayton-Wright RB-1 racer
(Rhinehart-Baumann, pilot and designer, respectively), a wonderful concept,
didn’t quite make it in real life, adding mechanical complexity, weight, drag
and unreliability to an otherwise sound idea. Same for the retractable landing
gear, another seemingly good addition that didn’t pay off. The wing was solid
light wood further lightened by way of partial carving. A very Fellows, this
was 1920! and those ideas were very good ones, and are present today in almost
any plane.
The RB-1 was built to compete on the Gordon Bennett prize,
and those technical features were implemented to improve performance, and
although the plane quitted the race, in time they demonstrated their value.
The machine was powered by a Hall-Scott L-6 inline engine
and had the pilot hidden inside the fuselage with limited vision, a la Ryan
NYP.
There are a number of photos showing alterations on the
plane. If you are building a model of it, look at your references. The model
was Mattelized from basswood masters, and a styrene sheet endoskeleton was
built –see images-. Interior details and painting were done before gluing the
fuselage shells. A prop wood was carved, stained, and a photoetched boss added.
After some pondering I decided to cut the very front section
of the nose and build a separate unit made of two laminations. Aeroclub white
metal wheels of the proper style and diameter were used. I made a sill for the
windows inside the fuselage, so those could be added at a later time. For them,
masks were cut and laid on clear plastic. Aluminum color was sprayed, and then
the windows cut leaving a frame, as seen in the images, One pic shows the other
side of the clear plastic as I was being sure that no paint got under the
masks.
Decals were home made and layered decals were used to represent the
radiator, again as per in-process images.
As it is some times the case, all the plans and 3 views I
could get a hand on differed in some regard from the original photos, in a few
cases on somewhat important details.
This visionary design, although not smiled upon by the
goddess Fortune, is an example of cutting edge thinking on the very early
stages of aviation development, and points out to the important roll that air
races, record flights, good will flights and aviation meetings played on that
wonderful era (not in vain called “Golden”) of aviation.
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