tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685907526691141099.post5242826236584684468..comments2024-03-05T09:28:47.377-06:00Comments on Tails Through Time: The Short and Deadly Career of the De Havilland SwallowJP Santiagohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02743418658732808826noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685907526691141099.post-11826754919055696532016-04-12T16:03:52.893-05:002016-04-12T16:03:52.893-05:00Eric "Winkle" Brown also retrieved himse...Eric "Winkle" Brown also retrieved himself from the violent oscillation. He had deliberately lowered his seat before the flight so he wouldn't bang his head on the canopy and break his neck. The broken neck and breakup were common to both Geoffrey DH Junior's and Mueller-Rowland's deaths. Why did M-R not learn from the experiences of the other two? Perhaps because he blacked out and slumped over the stick, initiating the oscillation.<br /><br />De Havilland joined the official Tailless Aircraft Advisory Committee in September of 1945, around the time that Vampire fuselage TG283 was being filched from the production line, saying that it "would be very helpful to us in our immediate programme".[TAAC correspondence, National Archive] Geoffrey de Havilland Sr. wrote to his old friend and tailless aeroplane pioneer J.W. Dunne in 1946, saying that he was constantly teasing his younger staff that Dunne had done it thirty years ago and had got it to work.[JW Dunne archive, Science Museum]<br /><br />In this context, the lethal oscillation was not a defect of the tailless aerodynamics but was due to the then utterly mysterious aileron flutter at transonic speeds and many a tailed American jet joined the DH.108s on the scrap heap for the same reason.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685907526691141099.post-33523890791012823232016-02-01T06:37:00.245-06:002016-02-01T06:37:00.245-06:00I believe that Muller-Rowland's death was orig...I believe that Muller-Rowland's death was originally mooted as the result of oxygen starvation although the severe pitching characteristics of the aircraft were well known within DH. John Derry, who broke the sound barrier in VW120 managed to recover the aircraft on one occasion following extremely violent oscillations. Muller-Rowland's official cause of death was a broken neck although the aircraft actually broke up in flight and scattered wreckage over a wide area, including my home village. The cockpit section coming down in the churchyard. MMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685907526691141099.post-84985297988634217262015-11-27T09:17:41.311-06:002015-11-27T09:17:41.311-06:00VW120. Muller Rowland was a friend of my parents. ...VW120. Muller Rowland was a friend of my parents. Dad told me that he blacked-out due to oxygen starvation, lost control and the plane broke-up in flight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685907526691141099.post-38661129850436800112012-06-20T23:45:02.672-05:002012-06-20T23:45:02.672-05:00I thought one was lost because of a bad oxygen sys...I thought one was lost because of a bad oxygen system to the pilot?joe duponthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14923210747844011931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3685907526691141099.post-1044272051383191102011-04-15T16:38:07.473-05:002011-04-15T16:38:07.473-05:00did the dh 108, like the dh 110 have no front spar...did the dh 108, like the dh 110 have no front spar, relying on a thickened d section?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com