Supermarine S 4.

[TASSE]

The Supermarine S 4 was one of the most aesthetic float planes ever designed.

More photos and a decent drawing would be very welcome.



TASSE.

[schneiderman]

This is one of around 60 - 70 1:72 scale drawings of Schneider racers I hope to publish in some form, with text, next year

Cheers

[TASSE]

Thank you kindly. Its the best that i have seen so far.

TASSE.

[TASSE]

Sometime about 30 years ago a friend and i built a radio controlled model of the S. 4. and on its first flight it turned over on its back and hit the water. Now an r/c model does not have aileron flutter. After rebuilding it it was put in the wind tunnel at Bristol University and it was discovered that as the wing was almost in line with the horizontal tail plane the tail plane was suffering from the down wash of the wing. Therefore i am in the opinion that this was the problem with the S.4. at Baltimore.

TASSE.

[schneiderman]

That's very interesting. A fair number of eye witness reports suggest that the aircraft appeared to sideslip badly on the turn, recovered, and then fell flat, falling leaf style, to the water. Not necessarily something you would associate with aileron flutter, or at least aileron flutter alone

[Kuni]

Hi,

a friend is currently constructing an rc-model from scratch and 3-views available. He also did a simulation of the airflow around all surfaces. As a result he enlarged the elevator some percent and set it higher. The airflow from the wing out-blends the elevator effectivity at high angles of attack.
Some care is needed too for a good wing section-blend, as the elliptical wing tends to airflow-separation at the tips.

Some very good photos are in the "Speed seekers"-book.

Regards,
Rene

[schneiderman]

Gents,

A 1/8 scale model of the S4 was tested in the 7ft windtunnel at the RAE in mid 1925. If you would like a copy of the report of this research send me an e-mail and I will send you one in .pdf format.

Cheers

Ralph

[TASSE]

Yes please, i would welcome a copy.

Roy.

[TASSE]

Hi Kuni, please let us know how your friends model behaves when he gets a chance to fly it.

Yes i have a copy of The Speed Seekers i regard it as a bible.

Perhaps your friend should join the forum.

TASSE.

[Kuni]

Hi Roy,

my friend dosn't like forums. I don't know how good his English is anyway.

He certainly will need some time to build the model, but I will keep you updated. At the other hand EVERY model he builds flies totally perfect.

Regards,
Rene