Flight, November 1934

TOWARDS THE "FOOLPROOF" IDEAL
The Hammond Model Y: A Two-seater "Pusher" for the U.S. Department of Commerce

   ABOUT a year ago Mr. Vidal, of the U.S. Department of Commerce, startled the American aircraft industry by stating that he believed that there was a market for 10,000 easily flown, safe aeroplanes, provided they could be sold for 700 dollars each. It subsequently appeared that he might be granted a fund to assist him in proving the truth of his contention, but the money was not forthcoming, and so he called for bids on twenty-five small economical aircraft to replace the machines in use by inspectors of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Last month a contract was awarded to the Hammond Aircraft Company, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, for fifteen of the originally specified twenty-five at a cost of 2,190 dollars each.
   According to Western Flying, it was stipulated that the machine to be ordered must be capable of clearing a 35-foot obstacle 800 ft. from a standing start; that it must be capable of being brought to a stop within 400 ft. of the same obstacle, cleared in a straight and controlled glide by a private pilot; that no movement of the control or sudden loss of power should cause either a spin or a steep recovery dive; that the undercarriage should withstand a landing with a vertical velocity of twenty feet per second; that both pilot and passenger should have an uninterrupted view; and that the machine should be capable of being brought to a stop in 150 it. from a ground speed of 45 m.p.h.
   The Hammond Model Y will resemble few aeroplanes that have been produced during the past few years - with the exception, perhaps, of the Stout "Skycar." It will be a low-wing three-wheeled "pusher" cabin monoplane of all-metal construction with the pilot and passenger seated side by side. The tail will be carried on two booms and the engine specified is a four-cylinder inverted Menasco.
   But it is in the three-wheeled undercarriage that the real interest lies. By arranging two normally braked wheels, braced through the wing by four struts to the cabin top, and an additional fully-castoring wheel in the nose, a number of operational advantages should be obtained, the most noticeable of which will be the ability to use the brakes really hard at all speeds without nosing over.
   It is claimed also that the gliding angle can be made very steep for landing in small spaces, and that the actual landing can be made simply by pulling tho stick back. In any control position it will be impossible to stall the machine.
   A good, but not exceptional speed range is promised - 35 to 110 m.p.h. Demonstrations will be made in March next year.