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117-846: The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.27 Ensign was a British four-engine monoplane airliner and the largest airliner built in Britain during the Interwar period . The British airline Imperial Airways requested tenders for a large monoplane airliner with four Armstrong Siddeley Tiger engines in 1934. Armstrong Whitworth designed the Ensign to seat up to 40 passengers for the airline's European and Asian routes while also carrying airmail . It connected Britain with seaplane flights that continued on to Australia and South Africa . Early operations were hindered by mechanical problems and modifications only ever marginally improved performance and reliability. During

234-616: A jet-powered 100-seat design at the request of Geoffrey de Havilland , involved in the first jet fighters development. After a brief contest, the Type I design was given to the Bristol Aeroplane Company , building on a "100 ton bomber " submission. This evolved into the Bristol Brabazon but this project folded in 1951 as BOAC lost interest and the first aircraft needed a costly wing re-design to accommodate

351-437: A manoeuvring thruster in the bow, or be replaced entirely by azimuth thrusters . Boat rudders may be either outboard or inboard. Outboard rudders are hung on the stern or transom. Inboard rudders are hung from a keel or skeg and are thus fully submerged beneath the hull, connected to the steering mechanism by a rudder post that comes up through the hull to deck level, often into a cockpit. Inboard keel hung rudders (which are

468-407: A tiller —essentially, a stick or pole acting as a lever arm—may be attached to the top of the rudder to allow it to be turned by a helmsman . In larger vessels, cables, pushrods , or hydraulics may link rudders to steering wheels. In typical aircraft, the rudder is operated by pedals via mechanical linkages or hydraulics. Generally, a rudder is "part of the steering apparatus of a boat or ship that

585-656: A 3 February 1942 flight that had been following the Takoradi route between Egypt and the British colony in Ghana, Enterprise made a forced belly landing in the Vichy-controlled French West Africa desert about 300 mi (480 km) short of its destination, near Nouakchott , now the capital of Mauritania but at the time a small fishing village. Incriminating paperwork was destroyed, and

702-633: A Caravelle successor. The Super-Caravelle was a supersonic transport project of similar size and range to the Caravelle. It was merged with the similar Bristol Aeroplane Company project into the Anglo-French Concorde . The Concorde entered service in January 1967 as the second and last commercial supersonic transport , after large overruns and delays, costing £1.3 billion. All subsequent French airliner efforts were part of

819-623: A batch of nine. The Ford Trimotor had two engines mounted on the wings and one in the nose, and a slabsided body, it carried eight passengers and was produced from 1925 to 1933. It was an important early airliner in America. It was used by the predecessor to Trans World Airlines , and by other airlines long after production ceased. The Trimotor helped to popularise numerous aspects of modern aviation infrastructure, including paved runways , passenger terminals , hangars , airmail , and radio navigation . Pan Am opened up transoceanic service in

936-435: A combination of stressed skin, transverse frames, and longitudinal stringers . The wing was recessed into the top of a very deep fuselage, while tubular girders provided the floor with the necessary strength. The Ensign had a hydraulically retractable undercarriage which folded into the nacelles of the inner engines, and a castoring tail wheel . Considerable difficulties with the retraction mechanism were encountered and

1053-671: A common fuel type – kerosene-based jet fuel – is another advantage. Some variants of airliners have been developed for carrying freight or for luxury corporate use . Many airliners have also been modified for government use as VIP transports and for military functions such as airborne tankers (for example, the Vickers VC10 , Lockheed L-1011 , Boeing 707 ), air ambulance ( USAF / USN McDonnell Douglas DC-9 ), reconnaissance ( Embraer ERJ 145 , Saab 340 , and Boeing 737 ), as well as for troop-carrying roles. Modern jetliners are usually low-wing designs with two engines mounted underneath

1170-419: A continuation of the aft trailing edge of the full keel) are traditionally deemed the most damage resistant rudders for off shore sailing. Better performance with faster handling characteristics can be provided by skeg hung rudders on boats with smaller fin keels. Rudder post and mast placement defines the difference between a ketch and a yawl, as these two-masted vessels are similar. Yawls are defined as having

1287-462: A conventional fixed-wing aircraft, but much more slowly than if ailerons are also used in conjunction. Sometimes pilots may intentionally operate the rudder and ailerons in opposite directions in a maneuver called a slip or sideslip. This may be done to overcome crosswinds and keep the fuselage in line with the runway, or to lose altitude by increasing drag, or both. Another technique for yaw control, used on some tailless aircraft and flying wings ,

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1404-535: A cruise speed of 155 mph (249 km/h) at 5,000 ft (1,500 m), and a take-off distance of under 320 yd (290 m). During the late 1930s, production of Whitley bombers for the Royal Air Force had priority, which slowed work on the Ensign, and due to a lack of production capacity, assembly was not undertaken at Armstrong Whitworth's main factory in Coventry , but at another member of

1521-555: A few experimental or military designs, all aircraft built to date have had all of their weight lifted off the ground by airflow across the wings. In terms of aerodynamics , the fuselage has been a mere burden. NASA and Boeing are currently developing a blended wing body design in which the entire airframe, from wingtip to wingtip, contributes lift. This promises a significant gain in fuel efficiency . The major manufacturers with large aircraft airliners currently in production include: The narrow-body and wide-body airliner market

1638-523: A four-engine shoulder wing monoplane, as this was expected to be more popular with passengers. Imperial Airways paid £27,000 for the design work, and a further £43,300 for the construction of the first example on 22 September 1934, with delivery anticipated in 1936. In May 1935, an order for eleven more aircraft, at £37,000 each, was issued, and in December 1936, a final order for an additional two aircraft, priced at £39,766 13 shillings 4 pence each, brought

1755-932: A growth by 3.5 from 2004 to 2020 is unprecedented and highly unusual for any mature market. In 2016, the deliveries went for 38% in Asia-Pacific, 25% in Europe, 22% in North America, 7% in Middle East, 6% in South America and 2% in Africa. 1,020 narrowbodies were delivered and their backlog reach 10891: 4,991 A320neo, 644 A320ceo; 3,593 737 Max, 835 737NG, 348 CSeries, 305 C919 and 175 MC-21; while 398 widebodies were delivered : 137 Dreamliners and 99 B777 for Boeing (65%) against 63 A330 and 49 A350 for Airbus, more than 2,400 widebodies were in backlog, led by

1872-515: A higher gross weight of 5,500 lb (2,500 kg). Later aircraft were amongst the first airliners to be fitted with flaps for improved landing performance, along with downwards-facing recognition light and metal propellers, which were often retrofitted to older aircraft. It was also used in military roles; civil Dragon Rapides were impressed into military service during the Second World War . Metal airliners came into service in

1989-602: A small pin run through the stock of the steering oar, can be traced to the fifth dynasty (2504–2347 BC). Both the tiller and the introduction of an upright steering post abaft reduced the usual number of necessary steering oars to one each side. Single steering oars put on the stern can be found in several tomb models of the time, particularly during the Middle Kingdom when tomb reliefs suggest them commonly employed in Nile navigation. The first literary reference appears in

2106-584: A sternpost-mounted rudder. On their ships "the rudder is controlled by two lines, each attached to a crosspiece mounted on the rudder head perpendicular to the plane of the rudder blade." The earliest evidence comes from the Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Marifat al-Aqalim ('The Best Divisions for the Classification of Regions') written by al-Muqaddasi in 985: Oars mounted on the side of ships evolved into quarter steering oars, which were used from antiquity until

2223-1093: A survey by Inside MRO and Air Transport World , and this is a reason why Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation purchased the Bombardier CRJ program. It is an entry barrier for new entrants like the Xian MA700 and Comac C919 , with no credible previous experience with the MA60 , or the Irkut MC-21 after the Sukhoi Superjet 100 . The airliner fleet went from 13,500 in 2000 to 25,700 in 2017: 16% to 30.7% in Asia/Pacific (2,158 to 7,915), 34.7% to 23.6% in USA (4,686 to 6,069) and 24% to 20.5% in Europe (3,234 to 5,272). In 2018, there were 29,398 airliners in service: 26,935 passenger transports and 2,463 freighters, while 2,754 others were stored. The largest fleet

2340-401: A tiller that fits into the rudder stock that also forms the fixings to the rudder foil. Craft where the length of the tiller could impede movement of the helm can be split with a rubber universal joint and the part adjoined the tiller termed a tiller extension. Tillers can further be extended by means of adjustable telescopic twist locking extension. There is also the barrel type rudder , where

2457-400: Is dominated by Airbus and Boeing, and the regional airliner market is shared between ATR Aircraft , De Havilland Canada , and Embraer . Setting up a reliable customer support network, ensuring uptime, availability and support 24/7 and anywhere, is critical for the success of airliner manufacturers. Boeing and Airbus are ranked 1 and 2 in customer satisfaction for aftermarket support by

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2574-431: Is fastened outside the hull, " denoting all types of oars, paddles, and rudders. More specifically, the steering gear of ancient vessels can be classified into side-rudders and stern-mounted rudders, depending on their location on the ship. A third term, steering oar , can denote both types. In a Mediterranean context, side-rudders are more specifically called quarter-rudders as the later term designates more exactly where

2691-411: Is not the primary control used to turn the airplane. A rudder operates by redirecting the fluid past the hull or fuselage , thus imparting a turning or yawing motion to the craft. In basic form, a rudder is a flat plane or sheet of material attached with hinges to the craft's stern , tail, or afterend. Often rudders are shaped to minimize hydrodynamic or aerodynamic drag . On simple watercraft ,

2808-411: Is the ram type steering gear . It employs four hydraulic rams to rotate the rudder stock (rotation axis), in turn rotating the rudder. On an aircraft, a rudder is the directional control surface along with the rudder-like elevator (usually attached to the horizontal tail structure, if not a slab elevator) and ailerons (attached to the wings) that control pitch and roll, respectively. The rudder

2925-433: Is usually attached to the fin (or vertical stabilizer ), which allows the pilot to control yaw about the vertical axis, i.e., change the horizontal direction in which the nose is pointing. Unlike a ship, both aileron and rudder controls are used together to turn an aircraft, with the ailerons imparting roll and the rudder imparting yaw and also compensating for a phenomenon called adverse yaw . A rudder alone will turn

3042-634: The Airbus pan-European initiative. Soon after the war, most of the Soviet fleet of airliners consisted of DC-3s or Lisunov Li-2s . These planes were in desperate need of replacement, and in 1946, the Ilyushin Il-12 made its first flight. The Il-12 was very similar in design to American Convair 240, except was unpressurized. In 1953, the Ilyushin Il-14 made its first flight, and this version

3159-555: The Airbus A300 / A310 , A330 and A350 ; the 767 , 777 and 787 . Regional airliners seat fewer than 100 passengers. These smaller aircraft are often used to feed traffic at large airline hubs to larger aircraft operated by the major mainline carriers , legacy carriers , or flag carriers ; often sharing the same livery. Regional jets include the Bombardier CRJ100/200 and Bombardier CRJ700 series , or

3276-699: The BAC 1-11 , Vickers VC10 , and Hawker Siddeley Trident . The STAC committee was formed to consider supersonic designs and worked with Bristol to create the Bristol 223 , a 100-passenger transatlantic airliner. The effort was later merged with similar efforts in France to create the Concorde supersonic airliner to share the cost. The first batch of the Douglas DC-4s went to the U.S. Army and Air Forces, and

3393-614: The Bleriot-SPAD S.33 was introduced during the early 1920s. It was commercially successful, initially serving the Paris- London route, and later on continental routes. The enclosed cabin could carry four passengers with an extra seat in the cockpit. It was further developed into the Blériot-SPAD S.46 . Throughout the 1920s, companies in Britain and France were at the forefront of the civil airliner industry. By 1921,

3510-949: The Boeing 707 and its competitor the Douglas DC-8 . They were followed by smaller models : the Douglas DC-9 and its MD-80 / MD-90 / Boeing 717 derivatives; the Boeing 727 , 737 and 757 using the 707 cabin cross-section; or the Tupolev Tu-154 , Ilyushin Il-18 , and the Ilyushin Il-62 . Currently produced narrow-body airliners include the Airbus A220 , A320 family , Boeing 737 , Embraer E-Jet family and Comac C919 , generally used for medium-haul flights with 100 to 240 passengers. They could be joined by

3627-576: The Bristol Proteus engine. The Type II was split between the de Havilland Dove and Airspeed Ambassador conventional piston designs, and the Vickers model powered by newly developed turboprops : first flown in 1948, the VC.2 Viceroy was the first turboprop design to enter service; a commercial success with 445 Viscounts built. The Type III requirement led to the conventional Avro Tudor and

Armstrong Whitworth Ensign - Misplaced Pages Continue

3744-822: The Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12 ; or twin piston-powered aircraft made by Cessna , Piper , Britten-Norman , and Beechcraft . They often lack lavatories , stand-up cabins, pressurization , galleys , overhead storage bins, reclining seats, or a flight attendant . Until the beginning of the Jet Age , piston engines were common on propliners such as the Douglas DC-3. Nearly all modern airliners are now powered by turbine engines, either turbofans or turboprops . Gas turbine engines operate efficiently at much higher altitudes, are more reliable than piston engines, and produce less vibration and noise. The use of

3861-701: The Embraer ERJ family . Currently produced turboprop regional airliners include the Dash-8 series, and the ATR 42 / 72 . Light aircraft can be used as small commuter airliners, or as air taxis . Twin turboprops carrying up to 19 passengers include the Beechcraft 1900 , Fairchild Metro , Jetstream 31 , DHC-6 Twin Otter and Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante . Smaller airliners include the single-engined turboprops like

3978-771: The Fokker F.II , then the enlarged F.III . These were used by the Dutch airline KLM , including on its Amsterdam-London service in 1921. A relatively reliable aircraft for the era, the Fokkers were flying to destinations across Europe, including Bremen, Brussels, Hamburg, and Paris. The Handley Page company in Britain produced the Handley Page Type W , its first civil transport aircraft. It housed two crew in an open cockpit and 15 passengers in an enclosed cabin. Powered by two 450 hp (340 kW) Napier Lion engines,

4095-628: The Handley Page H.P.42 , and a new British Government policy stipulating that first class mail with the Empire travel by air. Imperial Airways also issued a specification for a large flying boat , which became the Short Empire . Imperial Airways approached Armstrong Whitworth directly and various configurations were examined including several low-wing monoplanes with two, three and four engines, but Imperial Airways' managing director insisted on

4212-526: The Hawker-Siddeley group, Air Service Training in Hamble . Throughout its development, changes were being requested by Imperial Airways, which delayed progress by up to two years, and the Ensign didn't make its first flight until 24 January 1938. The two Mark.IIs saw their service entry being further delayed by Imperial Airways and Armstrong Whitworth studying their use as piggyback motherships in

4329-523: The Middle Ages are known from various travellers to China, such as Ibn Battuta of Tangier , Morocco and Marco Polo of Venice , Italy . The later Chinese encyclopedist Song Yingxing (1587–1666) and the 17th-century European traveler Louis Lecomte wrote of the junk design and its use of the rudder with enthusiasm and admiration. Paul Johnstone and Sean McGrail state that the Chinese invented

4446-659: The Second World War , the Ensigns were operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), which had been formed out of the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways . The type would be flown between Britain and various locations in the Middle East , Africa and India , often in support of military operations. During 1940, two Ensigns were destroyed by enemy action, while one would be captured in 1942 and subsequently operated by

4563-444: The swept wings , while turboprop aircraft are slow enough to use straight wings. Smaller airliners sometimes have their engines mounted on either side of the rear fuselage. Numerous advantages and disadvantages exist due to this arrangement. Perhaps the most important advantage to mounting the engines under the wings is that the total aircraft weight is more evenly distributed across the wingspan, which imposes less bending moment on

4680-518: The "median, vertical and axial" sternpost-mounted rudder, and that such a kind of rudder preceded the pintle-and-gudgeon rudder found in the West by roughly a millennium. A Chandraketugarh (West Bengal) seal dated between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD depicts a steering mechanism on a ship named ''Indra of the Ocean'' (Jaladhisakra), which indicates that it was a sea-bound vessel. Arab ships also used

4797-581: The 'promenade' deck between the forward and rear compartments. On Empire routes a flight clerk replaced a steward. Aside from the interior setup chosen and the installation of a short-wave radio, there was little difference between the two variants. Imperial Airways named the prototype " Ensign ", which also became the Class name for the type, as was their standard practice. Three more Ensigns – G-ADSS Egeria , G-ADST Elsinore and G-ADSU Euterpe were completed by Christmas 1938, and were dispatched to Australia with

Armstrong Whitworth Ensign - Misplaced Pages Continue

4914-573: The 1930s, the British de Havilland Dragon emerged as a short-haul, low-capacity airliner. Its relatively simple design could carry six passengers, each with 45 lb (20 kg) of luggage, on the London-Paris route on a fuel consumption of 13 gal (49 L) per hour. The DH.84 Dragon entered worldwide service. During early August 1934, one performed the first non-stop flight between the Canadian mainland and Britain in 30 hours 55 minutes, although

5031-482: The 1930s. In the United States, the Boeing 247 , and the 14-passenger Douglas DC-2 , flew during the first half of the decade, while the more powerful, faster, 21–32 passenger Douglas DC-3 first appeared in 1935. DC-3s were produced in quantity for the Second World War and were sold as surplus afterward, becoming widespread within the commercial sector. It was one of first airliners to be profitable without

5148-527: The 1960s, airliners had expanded capabilities, making a significant impact on global society, economics, and politics. During 1913, Igor Sikorsky developed the first large multi-engine airplane, the Russky Vityaz . This aircraft was subsequently refined into the more practical Ilya Muromets , being furnished with dual controls for a pilot and copilot and a comfortable cabin with a lavatory, cabin heating and lighting. This large four-engine biplane

5265-657: The A350 with 753 (31%) then the Boeing 787 with 694 (28%). The most important driver of orders is airline profitability , itself driven mainly by world GDP growth but also supply and demand balance and oil prices , while new programmes by Airbus and Boeing help to stimulate aircraft demand. In 2016, 38% of the 25 years old airliners had been retired, 50% of the 28 years old : there will be 523 aircraft reaching 25 years old in 2017, 1,127 in 2026 and 1,628 in 2041. Deliveries rose by 80% from 2004 to 2016, they represented 4.9% of

5382-539: The American engines. This improved performance finally allowed the Ensign to be used in hot climates , however production of the engine ended early in the war, and not only did finding spares become difficult, but the rate of climb still generated complaints by the pilots. A boiler to produce steam was fitted to the engine exhaust, which was channelled through the aircraft to provide heat. An auxiliary petrol -driven generator supplied electricity for lighting and to recharge

5499-701: The Chinese stern-mounted rudder ( duò 舵 ) can be seen on a 2-foot (61 cm) pottery model of a junk dating from the 1st century AD, during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). It was discovered in Guangzhou in an archaeological excavation carried out by the Guangdong Provincial Museum and Academia Sinica of Taiwan in 1958. Within decades, several other Han dynasty ship models featuring rudders were found in archaeological excavations. The first solid written reference to

5616-462: The Comet took off on the world's first jetliner flight carrying fare-paying passengers and simultaneously inaugurated scheduled service between London and Johannesburg. However, roughly one year after introduction, three Comets broke up mid-flight due to airframe metal fatigue , not well understood at the time. The Comet was grounded and tested to discover the cause, while rival manufacturers heeded

5733-993: The Ensigns were used between Cairo and Calcutta and the final Ensign passenger flight was in June 1946 when G-ADSW Eddystone flew from Cairo to Hurn via Marseille, after being delayed in the Middle East by repairs. Conversion of the Ensigns was considered and they were offered for sale, but operating costs were too much for those who showed interest. The aircraft were broken up at Hamble in March and April 1947 and reduced to scrap. Converted to Mk.II Converted to Mk.II Written off November 1941 Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II , Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft since 1913 General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Airliner Regional airliners typically seat fewer than 100 passengers and may be powered by turbofans or turboprops . These airliners are

5850-633: The French, and its older Cyclone engines were more useful to them in the Douglas DC-3s they were still operating. The engines were removed from the airframe, which was scrapped by the Germans in Montaudran , near Toulouse in December 1943 without it being flown again. During their Certificate of Airworthiness overhauls it was found that the combination of camouflage dope and heat was accelerating

5967-447: The French. The Ensigns were retired following a final passenger flight in June 1946 and the remaining aircraft were scrapped the following year. The Ensign's origins can be traced to 1934 when Imperial Airways expressed a need for a large monoplane airliner powered by four Armstrong Siddeley Tiger radial engines . The airline was expanding and modernizing its fleet, driven in part by the obsolescence of its biplane airliners, such as

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6084-527: The Goliath flew 12 passengers from Toussus-le-Noble to RAF Kenley , near Croydon , despite having no permission from the British authorities to land. Dozens of early airlines subsequently procured the type. One high-profile flight, made on 11 August 1919, involved an F.60 flying eight passengers and a ton of supplies from Paris via Casablanca and Mogador to Koufa, 180 km (110 mi) north of Saint-Louis, Senegal , flying more than 4,500 km (2,800 mi). Another important airliner built in 1919

6201-433: The Joyce Green airfield in Kent on 13 April 1919. The world's first all-metal transport aircraft was the Junkers F.13 , which also made its first flight in 1919. Junkers marketed the aircraft towards business travellers and commercial operators, and European entrepreneurs bought examples for their private use and business trips. Over 300 Junkers F 13s were built between 1919 and 1932. The Dutch Fokker company produced

6318-423: The Mediterranean area and to London . The Sud-Aviation Caravelle was developed during the late 1950s as the first short range jet airliner. The nose and cockpit layout were licensed from the de Havilland Comet , along with some fuselage elements. Entering service in mid 1959, 172 Caravelles had been sold within four years and six versions were in production by 1963. Sud Aviation then focused its design team on

6435-416: The Mediterranean through a long period of constant refinement and improvement so that by Roman times ancient vessels reached extraordinary sizes. The strength of the steering oar lay in its combination of effectiveness, adaptability and simpleness. Roman quarter steering oar mounting systems survived mostly intact through the medieval period. By the first half of the 1st century AD, steering gear mounted on

6552-542: The US for military transport aircraft and the UK for heavy bombers . That such a policy was suggested or implemented have been disputed, at least by Sir Peter Masefield . British aircraft manufacturers were tied up to fulfill military requirements, and had no free capacity to address other matters though the war. The committee final report pushed four designs for the state-owned airlines British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and later British European Airways (BEA): three piston-powered aircraft of varying sizes, and

6669-465: The West by a thousand years. In China, miniature models of ships that feature steering oars have been dated to the Warring States period (c. 475–221 BC). Sternpost-mounted rudders started to appear on Chinese ship models starting in the 1st century AD. However, the Chinese continued to use the steering oar long after they invented the rudder, since the steering oar still had practical use for inland rapid-river travel. One of oldest known depictions of

6786-404: The aircraft's batteries while on the ground. The cockpit seated two pilots, side-by-side who were provided with dual controls, along with a radio operator seated sideways behind the copilot, on the right side of the aircraft. The radio operator had a Marconi wireless transmitter/receiver, radio direction finding (RDF) equipment, and on empire routes, also operated a short-wave radio . It

6903-475: The capacity of airliners needed to be increased to achieve more favourable economics. The English company de Havilland , built the 10-passenger DH.29 monoplane, while starting work on the design of the DH.32, an eight-seater biplane with a more economical but less powerful Rolls-Royce Eagle engine. For more capacity, DH.32 development was replaced by the DH.34 biplane, accommodating 10 passengers. A commercially successful aircraft, Daimler Airway ordered

7020-490: The crew were taken on to Bathurst in Gambia by an RAF Short Sunderland flying boat . Enterprise was found by a Vichy French patrol on 12 Feb 1942 and repaired at Dakar where it was briefly used by the Armée de l'Air de Vichy before being handed over to Air France in July 1942, when it was named Nouakchott , and the first letter of its registration was temporarily altered from a G for Great Britain to an F for France. After serving for several months in Mauritania, it

7137-415: The degradation of the fabric surfaces, and thereafter the Ensigns returned to a silver finish. After the end of the war, in part due to performance and maintenance difficulties with their fabric surfaces and the now obsolete engines, it was decided to withdraw them from service and to return them to the UK. Euterpe , which had been parked since February 1945, was cannibalized to repair the others. From 1944,

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7254-659: The direction of National Air Communications instead of being impressed into military service. It was at this time, in 1940, that several were operated by No.24 Squadron RAF crews, although no serials numbers were assigned. With the Germans invading the Low Countries, supplies were ferried to France, followed by evacuation flights ahead of the German occupation of France in June. Three Ensigns were destroyed by enemy action in 1940. G-ADSX Ettrick and G-ADSZ Elysian were lost in France, and G-ADTC Endymion at Bristol Whitchurch in November 1940. Ettrick had been abandoned at Le Bourget after being damaged by bombs on 1 June 1940, and

7371-550: The end of the Middle Ages in Europe . As the size of ships and the height of the freeboards increased, quarter steering oars became unwieldy and were replaced by the more sturdy rudders with pintle and gudgeon attachment. While steering oars were found in Europe on a wide range of vessels since Roman times, including light war galleys in Mediterranean, the oldest known depiction of a pintle-and-gudgeon rudder can be found on church carvings of Zedelgem and Winchester dating to around 1180. While earlier rudders were mounted on

7488-473: The end of the First World War, large numbers of ex-military aircraft flooded the market. One such aircraft was the French Farman F.60 Goliath , which had originally been designed as a long-range heavy bomber ; a number were converted for commercial use into passenger airliners starting in 1919, being able to accommodate a maximum of 14 seated passengers. and around 60 were built. Initially, several publicity flights were made, including one on 8 February 1919, when

7605-509: The first commercial plane to circumnavigate the globe during December 1941 and January 1942. In the United Kingdom, the Brabazon Committee was formed in 1942 under John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara to forecast advances in aviation technology and the air transport needs of the postwar British Empire (in South Asia, Africa, and the Near and Far East ) and Commonwealth ( Australia , Canada , New Zealand ). For British use, multi-engine aircraft types were allegedly split between

7722-476: The first scheduled international airline service from London to Paris. One aircraft was sold to the River Plate Aviation Company in Argentina , to operate a cross-river service between Buenos Aires and Montevideo . Meanwhile, the competing Vickers converted its successful First World War era bomber, the Vickers Vimy , into a civilian version, the Vimy Commercial. It was redesigned with a larger-diameter fuselage (largely of spruce plywood), and first flew from

7839-602: The fleet at the end of 2012 and 11.3% at the end of 2001. Since it began, the jet airliner market had a recurring pattern of seven years of growth followed by three years of deliveries falling 30–40%, except a steady growth from 2004 due to the economic rise of China going from 3% of world market in 2001 to 22% in 2015, expensive jet fuel till 2014 stimulating old jets replacement allowed by low interest rates since 2008, and strong airline passenger demand since. In 2004, 718 Airbus and Boeings were delivered, worth $ 39.3 billion; 1,466 are expected in 2017, worth $ 104.4 billion:

7956-417: The fleet in 2004 and 5.9% in 2016, down from 8% previously. Oil prices and airshow orders are trending together. Rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship , boat , submarine , hovercraft , airship , or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water ). On an airplane , the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and

8073-457: The flight testing, the type was issued a certificate of airworthiness , clearing it for operational use, following the completion of a redesign of the trailing edge covering, the installation of an engine-driven compressor to charge the brakes, throttle control locks, and additional passenger escape hatches. Once completed, the aircraft made its first airline service flight between Croydon Airport and Paris, France on 24 October 1938. The Ensign

8190-610: The holiday mail, but all three suffered mechanical problems that prevented them from reaching their destinations. Elsinore was returned home, over a distance of 2,500 mi (4,000 km), with its undercarriage lowered as they could not be retracted. Consequently, Imperial Airways returned all five to Armstrong Whitworth, where control runs were modified, rudder area reduced, new constant-speed propellers and more powerful 935 hp (697 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IXC engines were fitted to improve performance. The modified aircraft were evaluated at Martlesham Heath , during which

8307-453: The in-development Irkut MC-21 . The larger wide-body aircraft , or twin-aisle as they have two separate aisles in the cabin, are used for long-haul flights. The first was the Boeing 747 quadjet, followed by the trijets: the Lockheed L-1011 and the Douglas DC-10 , then its MD-11 stretch. Then other quadjets were introduced: the Ilyushin Il-86 and Il-96 , the Airbus A340 and the double-deck A380 . Twinjets were also put into service:

8424-583: The intended destination had originally been Baghdad in Iraq . British production of the Dragon ended in favour of the de Havilland Dragon Rapide , a faster and more comfortable successor. By November 1934, series production of the Dragon Rapide had commenced. De Havilland invested into advanced features including elongated rear windows, cabin heating, thickened wing tips, and a strengthened airframe for

8541-421: The interior could be reconfigured between each type, including the installation of partition walls and curtains, in 15 minutes. Chair cushions became bunk bed mattresses, and could serve as flotation devices in a ditching . The centre section had a large freight compartment aligned with the engines to reduce noise penetration, a pantry, a lavatory on the starboard side, and a narrow corridor sometimes referred to as

8658-461: The invention of the rudder. It is normally attached to the starboard side in larger vessels, though in smaller ones it is rarely if ever, attached. Rowing oars set aside for steering appeared on large Egyptian vessels long before the time of Menes (3100 BC). In the Old Kingdom (2686 BC – 2134 BC) as many as five steering oars are found on each side of passenger boats. The tiller , at first

8775-684: The late 1920s and early 1930s, based on a series of large seaplanes – the Sikorsky S-38 through Sikorsky S-42 . By the 1930s, the airliner industry had matured and large consolidated national airlines were established with regular international services that spanned the globe, including Imperial Airways in Britain, Lufthansa in Germany, KLM in the Netherlands, and United Airlines in America. Multi-engined aircraft were now capable of transporting dozens of passengers in comfort. During

8892-498: The lessons learned while developing their own aircraft. The improved Comet 2 and the prototype Comet 3 culminated in the redesigned Comet 4 series which debuted in 1958 and had a productive career over 30 years, but sales never fully recovered. By the 1960s, the UK had lost the airliner market to the US due to the Comet disaster and a smaller domestic market, not regained by later designs like

9009-579: The mizzen mast abaft (i.e. "aft of") the rudder post; ketches are defined as having the mizzen mast forward of the rudder post. Small boat rudders that can be steered more or less perpendicular to the hull's longitudinal axis make effective brakes when pushed "hard over." However, terms such as "hard over," "hard to starboard," etc. signify a maximum-rate turn for larger vessels. Transom hung rudders or far aft mounted fin rudders generate greater moment and faster turning than more forward mounted keel hung rudders. Rudders on smaller craft can be operated by means of

9126-498: The more ambitious Bristol Britannia , although both aircraft suffered protracted developments, with the latter entering service with BOAC in February 1957, over seven years following its order. The jet-powered Type IV became the de Havilland Comet in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wings, a pressurised fuselage, and large square windows. On 2 May 1952,

9243-496: The mouth of the Rhine near Zwammerdam featured a large steering gear mounted on the stern. According to new research, the advanced Nemi ships , the palace barges of emperor Caligula (37-41 AD), may have featured 14 m long rudders. The world's oldest known depiction of a sternpost-mounted rudder can be seen on a pottery model of a Chinese junk dating from the 1st century AD during the Han dynasty , predating their appearance in

9360-529: The non- mainline counterparts to the larger aircraft operated by the major carriers, legacy carriers , and flag carriers , and are used to feed traffic into the large airline hubs. These regional routes then form the spokes of a hub-and-spoke air transport model. The lightest aircraft are short-haul regional feeder airliner type aircraft that carry a small number of passengers are called commuter aircraft, commuterliners, feederliners, and air taxis , depending on their size, engines, how they are marketed, region of

9477-455: The number of aircraft ordered to 14. In October 1934, a final specification was drawn up with particular attention being paid to the positioning of the tailplanes in relation to the wing as well as avoiding wing flutter and tail buffeting. Mass-balanced flight controls were adopted to avoid flutter, while wing fillets smoothed airflow along the fuselage. The structure was built to meet military strength requirements. Performance guarantees required

9594-536: The planes. American planes were allegedly more comfortable and had superior flight decks than those produced in Europe. In 1936, the French Air Ministry requested transatlantic flying boats that could hold at least 40 passengers, leading to three Latécoère 631s introduced by Air France in July 1947. However, two crashed and the third was removed from service over safety concerns. The SNCASE Languedoc

9711-468: The project was abandoned due to a lack of customer demand and its high development costs. Rival planes include the Martin 2-0-2 and Martin 4-0-4 , but the 2-0-2 had safety concerns and was unpressurized, while the 4-0-4 only sold around 100 units. During the postwar years, engines became much larger and more powerful, and safety features such as deicing, navigation, and weather information were added to

9828-605: The prototype first flew on 4 December 1919, shortly after it was displayed at the 1919 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget . It was ordered by the Belgian firm Sabena , a further ten Type Ws were produced under license in Belgium by SABCA . In 1921 the Air Ministry ordered three aircraft, built as the W.8b, for use by Handley Page Transport , and later by Imperial Airways , on services to Paris and Brussels . In France,

9945-410: The rudder was mounted. Stern-mounted rudders are uniformly suspended at the back of the ship in a central position. Although some classify a steering oar as a rudder, others argue that the steering oar used in ancient Egypt and Rome was not a true rudder and define only the stern-mounted rudder used in ancient Han dynasty China as a true rudder. The steering oar can interfere with the handling of

10062-431: The sails (limiting any potential for long ocean-going voyages) while it was fit more for small vessels on narrow, rapid-water transport; the rudder did not disturb the handling of the sails, took less energy to operate by its helmsman , was better fit for larger vessels on ocean-going travel, and first appeared in ancient China during the 1st century AD. In regards to the ancient Phoenician (1550–300 BC) use of

10179-519: The same manner as the Short Mayo Composite 's Maia , carrying a smaller long-range parasite aircraft. However this idea was abandoned before any changes were completed. Due to this delay, Everest only flew on 20 June 1940 and Enterprise did not make its first flight until 28 October. The Ensign's first flight revealed heavy ailerons, and an excessively heavy rudder which was resolved with an adjustment to its servo. The undercarriage

10296-494: The ship's screw is enclosed and can be swiveled to steer the vessel. Designers claim that this type of rudder on a smaller vessel will answer the helm faster. Various types of rudders are used in the marine industry, including spade rudders, semi-spade rudders, high-lift rudders, and balanced rudders. Large ships (over 10,000 ton gross tonnage) have requirements on rudder turnover time. To comply with this, high torque rudder controls are employed. One commonly used system

10413-539: The start of the Second World War , the entire fleet was stored in October 1939, at Baginton Aerodrome while officials considered their contribution to the war effort. Each Ensign would be camouflaged and used on a new route from Heston Aerodrome to Le Bourget Airport , Paris. The aircraft returned to service after the formation of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in November under civilian control under

10530-477: The steering oar without a rudder in the Mediterranean , Leo Block (2003) writes: A single sail tends to turn a vessel in an upwind or downwind direction, and rudder action is required to steer a straight course. A steering oar was used at this time because the rudder had not yet been invented. With a single sail, frequent movement of the steering oar was required to steer a straight course; this slowed down

10647-522: The stern by the way of rudderposts or tackles, the iron hinges allowed the rudder to be attached to the entire length of the sternpost in a permanent fashion. However, its full potential could only to be realized after the introduction of the vertical sternpost and the full-rigged ship in the 14th century. From the Age of Discovery onwards, European ships with pintle-and-gudgeon rudders sailed successfully on all seven seas. Historian Joseph Needham holds that

10764-637: The stern were also quite common in Roman river and harbour craft as proved from reliefs and archaeological finds ( Zwammerdam , Woerden 7). A tomb plaque of Hadrianic age shows a harbour tug boat in Ostia with a long stern-mounted oar for better leverage. The boat already featured a spritsail , adding to the mobility of the harbour vessel. Further attested Roman uses of stern-mounted steering oars includes barges under tow, transport ships for wine casks, and diverse other ship types. A large river barge found at

10881-671: The stern-mounted rudder was transferred from China to Europe and the Islamic world during the Middle Ages. Conventional rudders have been essentially unchanged since Isambard Kingdom Brunel introduced the balanced rudder on the SS Great Britain in 1843 and the steering engine in the SS Great Eastern in 1866. If a vessel requires extra maneuverability at low speeds, the rudder may be supplemented by

10998-723: The support of postal or government subsidies. Long-haul flights were expanded during the 1930s as Pan American Airways and Imperial Airways competed on transatlantic travel using fleets of flying boats , such as the British Short Empire and the American Boeing 314 . Imperial Airways' order for 28 Empire flying boats was viewed by some as a bold gamble. At the time, flying boats were the only practical means of building aircraft of such size and weight as land-based aircraft would have unfeasibly poor field performance. One Boeing 314, registration NC18602 , became

11115-530: The type though, and was dropping the Eastern routes. Plans for four Ensigns to operate with Indian Trans-Continental Airways from Calcutta, were also cancelled, although registrations and new names had been assigned and, in the case of Euralus , the Indian registration VT-AJG was painted on the aircraft before being repainted again with its British identity. By September 1939, eleven had been delivered. Following

11232-424: The type's rate of climb was improved while the use of automatic mixture controls, modifications to the priming system, the installation of constant speed propellers and the replacement of bolts with studs in the engine rocker arm brackets greatly improved reliability. From June 1939, the Ensigns were re-delivered to Imperial Airways, along with the sixth aircraft built. The airline had changed its deployment plans for

11349-454: The use of a rudder without a steering oar dates to the 5th century. Chinese rudders are attached to the hull by means of wooden jaws or sockets, while typically larger ones were suspended from above by a rope tackle system so that they could be raised or lowered into the water. Also, many junks incorporated "fenestrated rudders" (rudders with holes in them, supposedly allowing for better control). Detailed descriptions of Chinese junks during

11466-430: The vessel because a steering oar (or rudder) course correction acts as a brake. The second sail, located forward, could be trimmed to offset the turning tendency of the mainsail and minimize the need for course corrections by the steering oar, which would have substantially improved sail performance. The steering oar or steering board is an oversized oar or board to control the direction of a ship or other watercraft before

11583-465: The wheels on the undercarriage were the largest to have been produced in the UK at that time, with Dunlop wheels and tyres 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall. While most components were designed and manufactured by Armstrong Whitworth, the 16 hydraulic jacks used for the flaps , undercarriage legs, locks and doors were Lockheed units sourced locally. Retraction was often uneven and unpredictable and took significantly longer than specified. The Ensign

11700-433: The wings and allows for a lighter wing structure. This factor becomes more important as aircraft weight increases, and no in-production airliners have both a maximum takeoff weight more than 50 tons and engines mounted on the fuselage. The Antonov An-148 is the only in-production jetliner with high-mounted wings (usually seen in military transport aircraft ), which reduces the risk of damage from unpaved runways. Except for

11817-590: The works of the Greek historian Herodotus (484-424 BC), who had spent several months in Egypt : "They make one rudder, and this is thrust through the keel ", probably meaning the crotch at the end of the keel (as depicted in the "Tomb of Menna"). In Iran , oars mounted on the side of ships for steering are documented from the 3rd millennium BCE in artwork, wooden models, and even remnants of actual boats. Roman navigation used sexillie quarter steering oars that went in

11934-511: The world, and seating configurations. The Beechcraft 1900 , for example, has only 19 seats. When the Wright brothers made the world's first sustained heavier-than-air flight , they laid the foundation for what would become a major transport industry. Their flight, performed in the Wright Flyer during 1903, was just 11 years before what is often defined as the world's first airliner. By

12051-465: Was a high-wing cantilever monoplane of light alloy construction and an oval fuselage with a conventional tailplane . The cantilever structure of the wings was built around a single massive internally braced box spar attached directly to both the front and rear ribs. The leading edge of the wing was metal, but aft of the box spar, the wing was covered by fabric, as were the tailplane and fin. Otherwise, it featured semi- monocoque construction, using

12168-622: Was based on the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, it had a double deck and a pressurized fuselage. Convair produced the Convair 240 , a 40-person pressurized airplane; 566 examples flew. Convair later developed the Convair 340 , which was slightly larger and could accommodate between 44 and 52 passengers, of which 311 were produced. The firm also commenced work on the Convair 37 , a relatively large double-deck airliner that would have served trans continental routes; however,

12285-526: Was equipped with much more powerful engines. The main contribution that the Soviets made in regards to airliners was the Antonov An-2 . This plane is a biplane, unlike most of the other airliners, and sold more units than any other transport plane. The most common airliners are the narrow-body aircraft , or single-aisles. The earliest jet airliners were narrowbodies: the initial de Havilland Comet ,

12402-474: Was flown to France in October 1942, and the French authorities issued a certificate of airworthiness in November 1942, however before it could return to revenue service, the Germans invaded Vichy France in December 1942, and despite being hastily relocated, it was captured by the Germans along with 1876 other French aircraft. Deutsche Luft Hansa was invited to evaluate the captured aircraft in early 1943, but they saw it as an obsolete model that had been restored by

12519-695: Was found to leave the aircraft underpowered, these were replaced when the aircraft were returned to Armstrong Whitworth to resolve numerous mechanical problems, with 855 hp (638 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Tiger XIC engines, and constant speed propellers although these didn't fully resolve the problem, and the final two aircraft ordered by Imperial Airways in 1936 were equipped with 1,820 cu in (29.8 L) 9 cylinder single bank 950 hp (710 kW) Wright GR-1820-G102A Cyclone geared radial engines and Hamilton constant speed propellers, as A.W.27A Ensign Mk.II s and all eight surviving Mk.I aircraft were upgraded between 1941 and 1943 to Mk.II standard with

12636-473: Was further adapted into an early bomber aircraft , preceding subsequent transport and bomber aircraft. It first flew on 10 December 1913 and took off for its first demonstration flight with 16 passengers aboard on 25 February 1914. However, it was never used as a commercial airliner due to the onset of the First World War which led to military applications being prioritised. In 1919, shortly after

12753-532: Was in Asia-Pacific with 8,808 (5% stored), followed by 8,572 in North America (10% stored), 7,254 in Europe (9% stored), 2,027 in Latin America, 1,510 in Middle East and 1,347 in Africa. Narrowbody are dominant with 16,235, followed by 5,581 Widebodies, 3,743 Turboprops, 3,565 Regional jets and 399 Others. By the end of 2018, there were 1,826 parked or in storage jetliners out of 29,824 in service (6.1%): 1,434 narrowbodies and 392 widebodies, down from 9.8% of

12870-503: Was initially powered by four 800 hp (600 kW) moderately supercharged Armstrong Siddeley Tiger XI 14 cylinder two-row radial engines of 1,996 cu in (32.71 L) displacement mounted ahead of the wing leading edge on a tubular steel framework with flexible rubber mountings and enclosed in Siddeley long chord cowlings . These engines drove de Havilland three-blade two-position adjustable pitch propellers. When it

12987-438: Was intended for the Ensign to be operated by a crew of five with two pilots, a radio operator, a steward, and a flight clerk. On the Eastern route a second steward replaced the flight clerk. Eight aircraft were fitted for Empire routes and four for European routes. The former carried 27 passengers in three cabins or 20 sleeping in bunks, while the latter spread 40 passengers across four main cabins. Armstrong Whitworth claimed that

13104-660: Was named the C-54 Skymaster . Some ex-military DC-6s were later converted into airliners, with both passenger and cargo versions flooding the market shortly after the war's end. Douglas also developed a pressurized version of the DC-4, which it designated the Douglas DC-6 . Rival company Lockheed produced the Constellation , a triple-tailed aircraft with a wider fuselage than the DC-4. The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

13221-491: Was narrowly averted on 8 March 1938, when all four engines cut out due to an incorrect fuel cock settings, and the aircraft glided to RAF Bicester , making a dead-stick landing. Flight testing of the prototype found its handling characteristics to be generally acceptable, although Royal Air Force pilots criticised its slow climb rate, which was attributable to the Tiger XI engines that left it underpowered. Upon completion of

13338-461: Was retracted for the first time on the second flight and was subject to exhaustive tests before being passed to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) for Air Ministry testing. During testing, the elevators intermittently jammed while at altitude, which was resolved by modifying the connecting wire runs, to account for the fuselage contracting due to the cold. A disaster

13455-445: Was rumoured to have been used by Germany , and even given Daimler-Benz engines. a myth refuted by photographs of the burnt out wreck taken shortly after the arrival of the Germans. All eight surviving aircraft were re-engined during 1941–43 with and as they were completed they were transferred to the Middle East on BOAC's Africa to India routes. Following engine trouble in which three engines lost power and began leaking oil during

13572-480: Was the Airco DH.16 ; a redesigned Airco DH.9A with a wider fuselage to accommodate an enclosed cabin seating four passengers, plus pilot in an open cockpit. In March 1919, the prototype first flew at Hendon Aerodrome . Nine aircraft were built, all but one being delivered to the nascent airline, Aircraft Transport and Travel , which used the first aircraft for pleasure flying, and on 25 August 1919, it inaugurated

13689-452: Was the first French post-war airliner. Accommodating up to 44 seats, 40 aircraft were completed for Air France between October 1945 and April 1948. Air France withdrew the last Languedoc from its domestic routes in 1954, being replaced by later designs. First flying in February 1949, the four-engined Breguet Deux-Ponts was a double-decker transport for passengers and cargo. Air France used it on its busiest routes, including from Paris to

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