Année du premier vol (ou de design, si seul projet)
1946
Pays
Australie
Designer(s)
POWELL, Arthur
Premier constructeur
Arthur POWELL & Canberra Soaring Club members, Canberra (AU)
Type d'appareil
Planeur
Fonction
Entraînement
SPÉCIFICATIONS TECHNIQUES
Envergure
13.71 m
Longueur
--
Hauteur
--
Allongement
--
Surface alaire
--
Profil aile
Clark Y-18
Masse à vide
150 kg
Masse maxi
--
Charge alaire
--
Vitesse mini
--
Vitesse maxi
--
Finesse maxi
Taux de chute mini
--
Nb sièges
1
Structure
Bois et toile
[Sailplane and glider, juillet 1949] [Pas de plan 3 vues connu]
AUTRES INFORMATIONS
Constructeur(s)
Constructeur
Construits
Arthur POWELL & Canberra Soaring Club members, Canberra (AU)
1
Nombre total de constructions
1
Infos techniques
This secondary referred to is [a] “home-designed crate”, plywood covered fuselage (square section), set up on its corner with the diagonals perpendicular and horizontal, somewhat similar to the “British Scud”. The tail surfaces are full cantilever and so are the wings. The wing is in three sections, parallel centre section (15 ft.) and tip sections tapering sharply for another 15 ft., making a 45 ft. span. The Currawong wing mounting was entirely different to that of the Scud. The centre section was secured by “U” shaped saddles to longitudinal tubes on the top of the fuselage. This was supplemented with dual struts on each side from the underside of the fuselage to the outer underside of the centre section. The wing position was adjustable forward and aft to suit the centre of gravity with the pilot seated. In contrast, the Scud wing was fixed above and clear of the fuselage on a cabane of steel tubes. The pilot in the case of Currawong was seated under and forward of the leading edge of the wing rather than underneath the wing. The wing aerofoil was Clark Y-18 instead of the heavily cambered Goettingen 652. And the tail end was conventional with fin / rudder and tailplane / elevators instead of the all moving stabilisation surfaces of the Scud. Further, the Currawong was a larger glider and weighing in empty at about 150 kg was significantly heavier than a Scud 2.
Histoire résumée
Currawong was designed by Arthur POWELL of Canberra. Construction commenced in 1945 and, with the assistance of Canberra Gliding Club members (including Roy Raymond, Vic Southwell, Ron Southwell and Gurth Kimber), Arthur Powell had the glider finished by April 1946. Currawong was first flown on 20 April 1946 and successfully thereafter by the Canberra Gliding Club for about 3 years.
The design and appearance of Currawong further departed from that of the Scud when a new streamlined and enclosed fuselage similar to that of a Grunau Baby was fitted by Martin Warner in 1949. Soaring flights were made in Currawong post modification before the glider was sold in 1950 to a Tasmanian club. It is understood that by mid-1951 the glider had been wrecked.
Liens personnalités
Pas de personnalité associée.
Remarques
Currawong = passereau australien de taille moyenne, du genre Strepera
Compléments docs
SOURCES DOCUMENTAIRES
Liens WEB
Pas de site référencé.
Livres
Pas de livre référencé.
Autres sources
Canberra Soaring Club, Sailplane and Glider juillet 1949, p 149-150, 157. Note + 4 photos L.E. Baynes’ Scuds in Australia, Australian Gliding Museum Newletter n° 34, été 2017, p 10-11. Texte + 3 photos
