Seddon Mayfly | |
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Role | Experimental aircraft |
Manufacturer | Accles & Pollock, Oldbury |
Designer | Lieutenant John Wilfred Seddon, A G Hackett |
Number built | 1 |
The Seddon Mayfly was a tandem biplane of unusual construction. It was designed by Royal Navy Lieutenant John W. Seddon and A. G. Hackett [1] and built by Accles & Pollock. When built it was the largest aeroplane in the world, [2] but it failed to fly when tested.
Design of the Seddon Mayfly began in 1908, with the intention of attempting to win the prize for a flight between Manchester and London given by the Daily Mail. The design was based on a paper model, and Seddon took leave from the Navy to design and build and test the aircraft. [3] It was built in Oldbury by Accles & Pollock, a company who specialised in the manufacture of steel tubing, and its structure made extensive use of intersecting pairs of steel hoops: over 2,000 ft (610 m) of steel was used in its construction [2] The aircraft had two sets of biplane wings, the front pair of greater span than the aft pair. Control surfaces consisted of a forward-mounted biplane elevators and a pair of diamond-shaped rudders mounted between each set of wings. The aircraft was intended to carry five passengers in addition to the pilot.
It was powered by a pair of 65 hp (48 kW) N.E.C. water-cooled engines mounted side by side between the two sets of wings. Each drove a single Beedle type tractor propeller. These were made of sheet aluminium, with the semi-circular blades supported at the ends by attachment to a radial tube. [4]
It was tested at the Midland Aero Club grounds at Dunstall Park near Wolverhampton [5] but damaged an axle [6] and failed to leave the ground. It was eventually taken apart by souvenir hunters.
Data from [ citation needed]
General characteristics
Performance
Bibliography