Addyman Zephyr
| Zephyr | |
|---|---|
| Role | Single seat sailplane |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | E. T. W. Addyman at Harrogate |
| Designer | E. T. W. Addyman |
| First flight | 1933 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Addyman Zephyr was a one-off, single seat sailplane designed and built by Erik Addyman in the UK for his own use in the 1930s.
Design
Erik Addyman designed and built the single seat Zephyr, his first design, in 1933. It was intended as a light wind sailplane,[1] combining a wing of modest aspect ratio with a nacelle cockpit and a open truss girder fuselage of the kind more common on primary gliders. It was a wooden structured, largely fabric covered aircraft.[2]
The two spar wing had a straight leading edge and constant chord out to a little over half span, where the trailing edges of the ailerons, hinged at a slight angle to the spar, curved inwards to the wingtips. It was braced form above with pairs of wires from the spars to a central, inverted V strut pylon and below by wires to the lower nacelle longerons. There were no flaps or airbrakes. The central wing rib was continued rearward with the the upper member of the open, flat, converging Warren girder fuselage, whose lower member joined the keel of the plywood and fabric covered nacelle just aft of the wing trailing edge. This placed the open single cockpit just forward of the wing leading edge. A central keel skid formed the main undercarriage, with assistance from a tail bumper. A narrow span, triangular tailplane, wire braced above and below, carried longer span elevators with rounded tips and a cut-out for the deep, rounded rudder hinged to small, triangular fin.[2]
The Zephyr flew for the first time in 1933.[2]
Operational history
Only one Zephyr was built.[2] Based at Harrogate,[3][4] where Addyman was Honorary Secretary of the Aircraft Club, it was often launched with a tow from a horse.[1] It flown by him from many fields in central and north-western England up to the early part of World War II;[2] from 1940 there was a government ban on recreational glider flying. The Zephyr seems not to have flown again,[2] though substantial parts of it still (2010) exist in store.[3]
Specifications
Data from Ellison[2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
- Wingspan: 41 ft 9 in (12.73 m)
- Wing area: 195.0 sq ft (18.12 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 9.5
- Empty weight: 185 lb (84 kg)
References
- ^ a b "Horse-towed flight" (PDF). Sailing and Gliding. 5 (3): 34. 1934.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c d e f g Ellison, Norman (1971). British Gliders and Sailplanes. London: A & C Black Ltd. p. 79. ISBN 0 7136 1189 8 5.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: length (help) - ^ a b Ellis, Ken (2008). Wrecks & Relics. Manchester: Crecy. p. 265. ISBN 9 780859 791342.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "News from the Clubs - a light wind sailplane" (PDF). Sailing and Gliding. 4 (8): 93. 1933.
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