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The Beardmore Wee Bee was a single-engined monoplane built only once and specifically for the Lympne two-seat light aircraft trials held in the United Kingdom in 1924. This plane won the major prize. ==Design and development== The Beardmore W.B.XXIV Wee Bee I〔It often appears under this name, though W.B.XXIV was a constructor's number referring to that airframe; and the I after Bee turned out to be optimistic as only one was built and there were no variants〕 was the company's winning entrant to the Lympne Aerodrome light aeroplane trials of 1924. The competition rules were framed to encourage more robust designs than those that had competed as "motor-gliders" at Lympne the previous year; they were to be single-engined two-seaters, with engine capacities up to 1,1000 cc allowed. The total prize money was £3,600.; the first prize £2,000.〔''Flight'' 9 October 1924 p650〕 The Wee Bee〔''Flight'' 25 September 1924 p591-594〕 was a high-wing monoplane, its aerodynamically thick wing divided at the centre and braced, close to the fuselage, by pairs of parallel struts to the lower longerons. The wings were of two spar construction with plywood skinning between the two spars out as far as the bracing; outboard, only the leading edges were plywood covered, with fabric elsewhere.〔 The outboard ailerons were mounted on false spars as usual. In plan, the wings were almost rectangular, with an aspect ratio of about 5.5. The fuselage was built up on six spruce longerons, with bulkheads (formers) of spruce and three-ply.〔''Flight'' 25 September 1924 p593〕 Rather than the usual half round deck on the top of the fuselage, the Wee Bee's decking was concave as it reached the flat fuselage sides, making for a better view from the two tandem cockpits. These were positioned at the leading edge and just behind mid-chord, fitted with dual controls.〔 Both cockpits were semi-enclosed and faired neatly into the upper fuselage/ wing surface. The front one was entered by lifting up a small hinged part of the leading edge, which was locked down for flight; this gave excellent visibility with the help of the "hollow ground" decking.〔''Flight'' 2 October 1924 (p.639 fig.2 )〕 The aft cockpit had a roof hatch with a transparent celluloid window in the upper wings, with good views though openings in the sides below the wing.〔〔''Flight'' 2 October 1924 (p.639 fig.5 )〕〔''Flight'' 9 October 1924 (p.654 )〕 The 32 hp (24 kW) Bristol Cherub flat twin engine was hung from a duralumin sheet bracket fixed to the engine bulkhead and positioned below with a pair of duralumin tubes, themselves braced to the lower longerons with steel tubes.〔''Flight'' 25 September 1924 p594〕 It was enclosed in a smooth, streamlined cowling, with the upper cylinder heads protruding for cooling. The tail unit of the Wee Bee was fairly conventional. Fin and tailplane were both integral with the fuselage and narrow in chord, carrying wider control surfaces. Both horizontal and vertical surfaces were rather rectangular, but the rudder had a noticeable horn balance.〔 The main undercarriage was very simple, with two wheels mounted on a bent chrome-nickel alloy tube which passed through the fuselage bottom.〔 This placed the wheels well clear of the fuselage horizontally - the track was 3 ft 9 in (1.14 m) - but left the Wee Bee sitting close to the ground.〔''Flight'' 9 October 1924 (p.655 )〕 Landing loads were absorbed by elastic axle bending. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Beardmore Wee Bee」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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