12/28/2022 0 Comments Armstrong serial number chartThe take-off and landing distance was measured as 80 yards. The test pilot reported that the machine handled well, with good controllability and with very little tendency to spin. This may have been due to the fatter fuselage, but it is equally possible that the difference between the two aircraft arose because of variations in piloting skill and because of the somewhat imprecise methods of performance measurement then in use. These trials were undertaken in March 1917, and the performance seems to have been slightly inferior to that of the lower-powered version. In an attempt to overcome the undercarriage weakness of the previous aircraft, the longerons, from the undercarriage struts forward, were strengthened with plywood, but the structure was still not strong enough and it was reported that the diagonal struts within the fuselage, designed to take the compression loads from the undercarriage, were bent when the aircraft was delivered for official trials. The tail surfaces were also modified instead of the fixed tailplane and no upper vertical fin, the second aeroplane had balanced elevators without fixed surfaces and vertical fins above and below the fuselage supporting a conventional, if rather small, rudder. It had a similar wing arrangement but with the span increased by six inches, and, in order to give more room for the crew, the fuselage was both deeper and wider. This was, indisputably, designated the F.K.10 and it had a more powerful Clerget engine rated at 130 hp. In spite of the disappointing performance of the first aircraft, a second, much modified, version was built. O.Tapper Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft since 1913 (Putnam)
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