Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52

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Contents

Type Description

• A.W.52G
• Two seat glider, a near 50% low speed test vehicle for A.W.50, mainly made out of wood, and comprised three sections, a central unit with a nacelle for accommodating its two pilots, and the two outer wing sections. The wing structure consisted of a single box spar built spruce and plywood, with ribs of the same materials. There was an auxiliary spar in the centre section to carry the nosewheel loads of the fixed undercarriage. The leading and trailing edges were covered in wood, with the rest of the structure being skinned in 'Plymax', a proprietory product consisting of plywood and light alloy bonded together. The central cockpit area accomodated pilot and observer under a large canopy. Control systems were mostly conventional, except for additional horizontal control surfaces called "correctors", plus a substatial, hydraulically operated one piece slotted flap. The wing centre section featured a 17.5 degree leading edge sweep with a straight traing edge, while the outer wing leading edges were swept at 34 degrees. Like the A.W.50, it featured wing tip fins and rudders and a tricycle undercarriage, albeit fixed.
  With the cancellation of the A.W.50, development of the A.W.52G continued as a research programme.

• A.W.52
• Two seat experimental tailless aircraft to Specification E.9/44, to research the flying wing design at higher speeds than the A.W.52G Glider. A stressed skin, light alloy structure, it was designed in such a way as to achieve laminar flow. As such, the contour had to be kept extremely accurate and clean; to achieve this, the top and bottom haves of the wing were built seprately, their ouside surface closely controlled within their jigs. Closely spaced spanwise stringers were used in order to minimise distortion. The wing was built in three parts, with the centre section featuring a 17.5 degree leading edge sweep and straight trailing edge, to which was fitted a full span Fowler-type slotted flap. The engine nacelles were located within the centre section, partially protruding below the lower surface. The outer wings featured a leading edge sweep of 34 degrees and trailing edge sweep of 22-3/4 degrees. The outer part of the wing trailing edge was occupied by the elevons, divided over their whole length at 50% chord into 'correctors' forward and 'controllers' aft. The function of the 'corrector' was to act as a powerful trimming device to counteract the pitching momoent cauded by the flap, while the 'controllers' were the actual elevons, providing pitch and roll control. An important feature of laminar flow is boundary layer control, and this was achieved via suction through slots in the upper wing skin just forward of the 'correctors'. The wing tips carried small (not full chord) end-plate fin and rudders, which operated differentially, with a greater angle on the outer one.
  The fuselage nacelle blended into the wing upper surace at approximately 30% chord, but continued to the trailing edge on the lower surface. The pilots cockpit was located 3 in. to port, with the observer within the fuselage to his right and behind. A freight compartment was located aft of the cockpit pressure bulkhead, with the idea of possible future use of the basic design as a freight or mail carrier. Dowty designed long travel main undercarrige units were located just outboard of the engine nacelles, fitted with twin low pressure tyres, while the single wheel nose unit was offset the same way as the pilots canopy. Two 5000 lbf Rolls-Royce Nene (first prototype) or 3,500 lbf Rolls Royce Derwent (second prototype) powerplants.

Production Details

Production References

1. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Since 1913, Oliver Tapper (Putnam, 1973)
2. Air Britain RAF Aircraft Register Series (Various Volumes)
3. British Experimental Jet Aircraft, Barrie Hygate (Argus Books, 1990)
4. Aeroplane Monthly Apr 2013