The Cloudcraft Dickson Primary was a single-seat primary glider designed in the United Kingdom in 1930 to be constructed from plans. Many glider clubs in the UK and the British Empire flew them in the 1930s.
Dickson Primary
A replica, built in 1969, displayed at Old Rhinebeck
Like other primary gliders of the 1930s, the Dickson Primary was aerodynamically unambitious, with its emphasis on low cost and simplicity. It was a wooden high wing aircraft, carrying the pilot on an open seat with a largely open, flat truss girder fuselage behind.[1]
The wing had a two-spar fabric covered structure and was completely rectangular in plan. Ailerons occupied approximately ⅓ of the outer trailing edge. The wing was mounted on the horizontal upper beam of the three-bay fuselage Warren girder. The lower beam, angled slightly upwards rearwards, carried the pilot's seat and controls at its forward end. Pairs of landing wires ran from a longitudinally-orientated inverted V-shaped pylon above the centre of the upper wing to the two spars near the inboard edge of the aileron. Similarly arranged flying wires ran from the same wing points to the keel. Bracing wires from the rear spar, at the same point as the flying wires, were anchored to the lower rear corner of the flat fuselage girder to limit sideways flexing.[1]
The seat and exposed control column were located just ahead of the wing leading edge. A simple skid acted as undercarriage. At the rear, a fabric-covered tailplane, with swept leading edges and carrying rectangular elevators, was mounted on the upper fuselage beam over the whole of the aft fuselage bay. The rearmost vertical member of the girder carried a near-rectangular rudder, which projected above the fuselage led by a slender fin. Lateral stability was enhanced by the fabric covering of the rear bay of the fuselage.[1]
The Dickson Primary flew for the first time in 1930.[1]
Operational historyedit
Only nine Dickson Primarys have established individual identities.[1] However, a Cloudcraft advertisement from July 1931 claimed that there were "over one hundred in use at the present time" in the UK, United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.[2] Some of these may have been built from kits, others from plans published in books and in or by magazines like Flight or bought from Cloudcraft.[1] Certainly one example was built and flying in New Zealand by March 1931.[3] UK gliding clubs (GC) flying Dickson Primarys included the London GC,[4] operating at Dunstable, the Southampton GC[5] and the Stockport GC. The last built their Dickson from plans.[6] Seven years after the first flight, full working drawings were still on offer for 30/- (£1.50) from Flight itself,[7] as they had been in 1931.[3] A modified Dickson Primary was built by a Mr. Dunning at the Southdown Gliding Club, Lancing. After a first flight on 10 March 1934 the Dunning Sailplane was written off in a crash on 20 May 1934.[8]
Aircraft on displayedit
In 2010 a reproduction Dickson Primary was on display at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, New York.[9] The remains of an original aircraft are in storage in the UK.[10]
^Ogden, Bob (2011). Air Museums and Collections of North America (2 ed.). Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 445. ISBN978-0-85130-427-4.
^Ellis, Ken (2010). Wrecks & Relics (22 ed.). Manchester: Crecy. p. 265. ISBN978-0-85979-150-2.
^"Clark YH Airfoil" (gif). UIUC Airfoil Data Site. Illinois: UIUC Applied Aerodynamics Group. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
May 01, 2024
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The Cloudcraft Dickson Primary was a single seat primary glider designed in the United Kingdom in 1930 to be constructed from plans Many glider clubs in the UK and the British Empire flew them in the 1930s Dickson Primary A replica built in 1969 displayed at Old Rhinebeck Role Single seat primary glider National origin United Kingdom Manufacturer Cloudcraft Glider Co Southampton Designer Roger S Dickson First flight 1930 Number built c 30 Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational history 3 Aircraft on display 4 Specifications Dickson Primary 5 See also 6 ReferencesDesign and development editLike other primary gliders of the 1930s the Dickson Primary was aerodynamically unambitious with its emphasis on low cost and simplicity It was a wooden high wing aircraft carrying the pilot on an open seat with a largely open flat truss girder fuselage behind 1 The wing had a two spar fabric covered structure and was completely rectangular in plan Ailerons occupied approximately of the outer trailing edge The wing was mounted on the horizontal upper beam of the three bay fuselage Warren girder The lower beam angled slightly upwards rearwards carried the pilot s seat and controls at its forward end Pairs of landing wires ran from a longitudinally orientated inverted V shaped pylon above the centre of the upper wing to the two spars near the inboard edge of the aileron Similarly arranged flying wires ran from the same wing points to the keel Bracing wires from the rear spar at the same point as the flying wires were anchored to the lower rear corner of the flat fuselage girder to limit sideways flexing 1 The seat and exposed control column were located just ahead of the wing leading edge A simple skid acted as undercarriage At the rear a fabric covered tailplane with swept leading edges and carrying rectangular elevators was mounted on the upper fuselage beam over the whole of the aft fuselage bay The rearmost vertical member of the girder carried a near rectangular rudder which projected above the fuselage led by a slender fin Lateral stability was enhanced by the fabric covering of the rear bay of the fuselage 1 The Dickson Primary flew for the first time in 1930 1 Operational history editOnly nine Dickson Primarys have established individual identities 1 However a Cloudcraft advertisement from July 1931 claimed that there were over one hundred in use at the present time in the UK United States Australia New Zealand and South Africa 2 Some of these may have been built from kits others from plans published in books and in or by magazines like Flight or bought from Cloudcraft 1 Certainly one example was built and flying in New Zealand by March 1931 3 UK gliding clubs GC flying Dickson Primarys included the London GC 4 operating at Dunstable the Southampton GC 5 and the Stockport GC The last built their Dickson from plans 6 Seven years after the first flight full working drawings were still on offer for 30 1 50 from Flight itself 7 as they had been in 1931 3 A modified Dickson Primary was built by a Mr Dunning at the Southdown Gliding Club Lancing After a first flight on 10 March 1934 the Dunning Sailplane was written off in a crash on 20 May 1934 8 Aircraft on display editIn 2010 a reproduction Dickson Primary was on display at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome New York 9 The remains of an original aircraft are in storage in the UK 10 Specifications Dickson Primary editData from British Gliders and Sailplanes 1 General characteristicsCrew 1 Length 17 ft 4 in 5 28 m Wingspan 34 ft 3 in 10 45 m Wing area 170 0 sq ft 15 79 m2 Aspect ratio 7 0 Airfoil Clark YH 11 Empty weight 180 lb 82 kg See also editAircraft of comparable role configuration and era Other primary gliders from the early 1930s were B A C II SG 38 RRG Zogling plus many Zogling clones References edit a b c d e f g Ellison Norman 1971 British Gliders and Sailplanes London A amp C Black Ltd pp 99 245 ISBN 978 0 7136 1189 2 Cloudcraft advertisement PDF Sailplane and Glider 2 1 7 July 1931 Archived from the original PDF on 30 September 2011 a b Gliding Flight No 6 March 1931 p 203 London Gliding Club Flight No 25 March 1932 p 261 Southampton Gliding Club Flight No 23 January 1931 p 78 Stockport Gliding Club Flight No 21 November 1930 p 1261 Flight advertisement Flight No 13 May 1937 p 20 Ellison 1971 p 106 Ogden Bob 2011 Air Museums and Collections of North America 2 ed Air Britain Historians Ltd p 445 ISBN 978 0 85130 427 4 Ellis Ken 2010 Wrecks amp Relics 22 ed Manchester Crecy p 265 ISBN 978 0 85979 150 2 Clark YH Airfoil gif UIUC Airfoil Data Site Illinois UIUC Applied Aerodynamics Group Retrieved 11 August 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cloudcraft Dickson Primary amp oldid 1136881480, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
