Flight, January 1923

THE PARIS AERO SHOW 1922

DE MONGE-BUSCAYLET, ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX

   THE machine exhibited by M. Louis de Monge suffers from being placed in a very unfavourable position underneath the gallery, forming in this respect the "opposite number" of the Handley Page. And about both machines it may be said that they were deserving of a more prominent position. It would appear that both were late in applying for space, and that consequently all the large stands had been allocated. The de Monge machine, designed by M. L. de Monge, and constructed by Buscaylet et Cie., is a parasol monoplane chaser, known as the type "52 C-1." It is built almost entirely of metal, chiefly Duralumin, the only exception being the rear portion of the fuselage, which is of monocoque wood construction.
   The front portion of the fuselage is built-up of box formers or bulkheads of sheet Duralumin, reinforced by internal diagonal members. Carried on cantilever bearers, also of Duralumin, projecting forward from the front bulkhead is the 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine, which is entirely cowled-in, so much so that it was suggested that the only way to get at the engine for any adjustments would be by means of a tin opener. The cowling certainly makes for clean lines, but it appears that a very great number of set-screws would need to be undone before one could get at the engine. A feature of the engine housing is that it is entirely closed in front, the propeller shaft projecting through a small opening. On the front of the airscrew, which, incidentally, is one of the all-metal adjustable pitch Lumiere-Leitner-Watts propellers, built in France under licence, is a small spinner carrying the lines of the fuselage into a neat streamline head. The covering of the fuselage, up to the point aft of the pilot's seat, where the monocoque construction begins, is covered with sheet Duralumin.
   The undercarriage struts are in the form of box members built-up from Duralumin sheet. Their shape is indicated in some of our sketches. At the top, the "legs" of the undercarriage are joined to the main fuselage bulkheads by transverse hinges, while at the lower end they carry the rubber shock-absorbers and axle. An anti-bouncing device, in the form of a friction damper, is incorporated, and is indicated in a sketch. It will be noticed that the axle is "floating" in its slot, the shock-absorbers sloping upwards and outwards from their attachment.
   The centre-section of the wing is carried on struts of a construction similar to that of the undercarriage, at any rate, as regards the front spar. The rear spar is supported on Duralumin circular section tubes, and the structure is braced fore and aft by diagonal tubes, forming a letter N in side view. As exhibited, the box struts were uncovered, but it is, we believe, intended to cover the box strut and sloping the sloping strut and vertical rear strut through which the pilot can look. If the entire structure were covered-in, the view would be rather severely restricted.
   Constructionally, the wing is of Duralumin, with built-up box spars and ribs, the latter being made from metal varying from 1/2 mm. to 1 mm. in thickness. A specimen rib was shown, which was certainly very light, and appeared to be reasonably rigid. Inserted into this rib were short spar stumps, and one presumes that these represented the actual spar construction. If this be the case, it would appear that the spar construction is not all that it might be, being built-up of two vertical sides riveted to channel-sections top and bottom. The feature which appears open to criticism is that the channels have their open side facing outward. Thus, while riveting is undoubtedly facilitated, the edges of both flat sides and channels are at the maximum distance from the neutral axis, i.e., at the point of maximum stress. In this country, it has been found that, in order to obtain full advantage of the metal used, no edges should be near the top and bottom of the spars, but should be turned in towards the neutral axis. It is possible, however, that in the actual wing some additional material is added, in which case this criticism might fall away.
   In plan view, the fabric-covered wing has a pronounced sweep back, and it is braced by one large strut on each side, forked at its outer end to meet the spars, and secured on the fuselage to an enormous fitting of Duralumin, hinged to the two main bulkheads which also carry the undercarriage and centre-section struts. In order to improve the view forward, the centre-section of the wing has been made much thinner than the end pieces, so that the pilot can look both over and under the wing. The wing section used is bi-convex, with a slight negative camber on the underside.
   A Lamblin radiator of special design is secured to the "throat" of the fuselage, just in front of the undercarriage front struts. Just ahead of this radiator is a small oil cooler, also evidently of Lamblin production.
   The main dimensions of the de Monge "52 C-1" are as follows :- Length 7 ms. (23 ft.); span, 10.9 ms. (35 ft. 9 ins.); wing area, 24 sq. ms. (258 sq. ft.); total loaded weight, 1,350 kgs. (3,000 lbs.); power loading, 10 lbs./h.p.; wing loading, 11.6 lbs./sq. ft. The estimated performance is: Speed at ground level, 270 kms. (168 miles) per hour; at 2,000 ms. 260 kms. (161 miles) per hour; at 4,000 ms. 250 kms. (155 miles) per hour; at 6,000 ms. 230 kms. (143 miles) per hour; ceiling, 7,500 ms. (24,600 ft.); landing speed, 105 kms. (65 miles) per hour.
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