| 词条 | Canadian Car and Foundry FDB-1 | |||||||||
| 释义 |
The Gregor FDB-1 was a Canadian biplane fighter, designed in 1938 by Michael Gregor and manufactured by Canadian Car and Foundry. Despite having some advanced design features such as flush rivetted all-metal construction and a retractable undercarriage, the final generation of biplane fighters was already being supplanted by monoplanes and the Gregor FDB-1 was obsolete before it flew. Despite the Royal Canadian Air Force's desperation for modern fighters, the sole example remained unsold and was eventually lost in a fire in 1945. The Gregor FDB-1's model designation stood for Fighter Dive Bomber indicating its intended roles. DesignIn 1938, Georgian-American expatriate designer Mikheil Grigorashvili (anglicized as Michael Gregor) joined with Canadian Car and Foundry, which at that time was Canada's leading manufacturer of railroad rolling stock, to design a fighter. They wanted to enter the aircraft market, but had no experience in that industry so instead of creating their own designs, Can-Car was producing other company's aircraft under license. In 1936, Grumman and Canadian Car & Foundry or "Can-Car" concluded an agreement for production of 50 revised Grumman SF-1 biplane carrier fighters known as GE-23s or Grumman Export 23s, that would be built in Canada. In 1938, there were still a few with doubted the merits of the monoplane over the biplane, and Michael Gregor was one of them. Many of the major powers still operated biplanes in front line fighter units however in nearly every case, they were being replaced with monoplanes. The hydraulically operated landing gear retracted into wells on the sides of the fuselage ahead of the lower wing. The fuselage of the Model 10 FDB-I was a monocoque shell of circular cross section with a flush-riveted aluminum stressed-skin. {{convert|95|gal|abbr=off}} of fuel was carried in a pair of semicircular tanks mounted side-by-side between the wheel wells. The structure was stressed 60 percent above requirements. A pair of fuselage-mounted .50 cal. machine guns, synchronized to fire through the Hamilton Standard propeller's disk, were part of the design, but the armament was never installed. Additionally, two {{cvt|116|lb}} bombs could be carried, one under each lower wing.[1] The cockpit was enclosed with a rearward sliding canopy and the engine was faired in with a NACA cowling reminiscent of the Seversky monoplane fighter designs that Gregor had previously been involved with. Among the new devices incorporated within the FDB-1 was an anti-spin parachute in the tailcone. The pilot activated the parachute from the cockpit with a switch that opened the cone, deployed the chute and released the connecting cable.[2] The metal wing structure was fabric covered behind the front spar as were the metal-framed control surfaces. The top wing featured full span slats, plus all-metal split flaps between the wingroots and ailerons. The bottom wing also incorporated split flaps. Like earlier Soviet and Polish aircraft, the center section of the top wing curved down to meet the fuselage, in a gull-wing configuration. The wings were braced with faired "V" interplane struts. Instead of flying and landing wires, a single strut ran between the root of the top wing and the foot of the V strut on the lower wing on each side. Torque tubes moved the control surfaces, except for the rudder, which was partially operated by cables. DevelopmentEarly in 1938, a wooden wind tunnel model was sent to Hawker Aircraft in England for testing. Construction of the prototype began in Thunder Bay shortly thereafter and aircraft c/n 201 was completed in December 1938, "amid an atmosphere of war jitters, well salted with tales of German spies visiting the factory in disguise."[3] When rolled out, the FDB-1 was registered CF-BMB, with the letters and ten horizontal rudder stripes in white over a gloss metallic dark gray. Can-Car test pilot George Adye carried out its first test flight on 17 December 1938, from Can-Car's Bishopfield Airport. He noted the gull wing severely restricted downward and forward visibility. Another test pilot succinctly described it as being "blind as hell."[4] While enthusiastic over its maneuverability, the controls were overly sensitive and the flaps lowered too far. On a subsequent landing, the prototype was flipped on its back, although the damage was minimal. RCAF testers acheived a top speed of {{cvt|261|mph}} at {{cvt|13100|ft}}, with the same {{cvt|70|hp}} Pratt & Whitney R-1535-72 engine used by the Grumman F3F-1 to attain {{cvt|231|mph}}, however this was without any military equipment such as guns, ammunition or armour, and was much lower than what had been claimed by Canadian Car and Foundry[5]. Top speed was anticipated to reach {{cvt|300|mph}} with a {{cvt|750|hp}} Pratt & Whitney R-1535-SB4-G however installation of military equipment would have more than eliminated any gains. At the time of testing Gregor was already redesigning it to accept the {{cvt|1200|hp}} Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp which he hoped would boost the top speed further. Designed, built and flown in under eight months, the FDB-1 Model 10 was sent to the Royal Canadian Air Force for testing. Severe canopy vibrations were experienced at speed or during aerobatics, and testing was restricted until this was remedied. Further tests showed that Gregor's claims were overly optimistic and the RCAF doubted further refinements would make any difference. As can be expected from a biplane without the weight of 8 machine guns, or armour to slow it down, the FDB-1 demonstrated amazing maneuverability and despite a speed advantage, the RCAF's Hawker Hurricane Mk.I monoplanes were unable to turn with it below {{cvt|15000|ft}}. DispositionCan-Car entered it in the January 1940 New York-to-Miami air race in a final effort to generate interest but shortly after takeoff oil pressure was lost, forced the FDB-1 to land, disqualifying it. During testing two months later its landing gear collapsed. Although Mexican authorities were interested and a registration was reserved, the Canadian government refused an export license and there were no other prospective customers. Gregor was quoted as saying: "They'll start this war with monoplanes, but they'll finish it with biplanes." Neither his prediction nor his aircraft survived the test of time. After several years in storage, the FDB-1 was destroyed in a Cartierville Airport hangar fire.[6] Specifications: Gregor FDB-1Aviation in Canada.[7] {{aircraft specifications|plane or copter?=plane |jet or prop?=prop |crew=1 |length main=21 ft 8 in |length alt=6.604m |span main=28 ft[8] |span alt=8.53 m |height main=9 ft 4.5 in |height alt=2.86m |area main=32.9 ft |area alt=10.02m |empty weight main=2,880 lb |empty weight alt=1,306 kg |loaded weight main=4,100 lb |loaded weight alt=1,859.7 kg |engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney R-1535-72 |type of prop=9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine |number of props=1 |power main=700 hp |power alt= 521.9 kW |max speed main=261 mph at 13100 ft |max speed alt= 420 km/h at 4,000 m |max speed more=(unarmed) |cruise speed main=205 mph |cruise speed alt=330 km/h |stall speed main=72mph/58mph |stall speed alt=116 km/h/93 km/h |stall speed more=(clean and with flaps and slats down) |climb rate main=2,800 ft/min at sea level |climb rate alt=850 m/min at sea level |climb rate more=(unarmed, RCAF figures[9]) |range main=985 mi |range alt=1,585 km |ceiling main=27,700 ft |ceiling alt=8,400 m |ceiling more=RCAF figures[10] |armament=
}} See also{{aircontent|similar aircraft=
}} References{{commons category|Gregor FDB-1}}Notes1. ^Milberry 1979, p. 111. 2. ^Burkowski and Beauchamp 1997, p. 12. 3. ^Burkowski and Beauchamp 1997, p. 10. 4. ^Smith 1981, p. 49. 5. ^Robinson, 1985 6. ^Burkowski and Beauchamp 1997, p. 14. 7. ^Milberry 1979, pp. 110–111. 8. ^Aero digest, Volume 34, 1939 p.90. 9. ^Robinson, 1985 10. ^Robinson, 1985 Bibliography{{refbegin}}
External links
6 : Canadian Car and Foundry aircraft|Canadian fighter aircraft 1930–1939|Gull-wing aircraft|Biplanes|Single-engined tractor aircraft|Aircraft first flown in 1938 |
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