BUA/BCAL Wings
BEagle,
I wonder what the fuel flow was at M0.9 after you refuelled them... Were they also flying low for a higher TAS?
Hi Jhieminga,
Returning to more mundane matters: all you say about the wing changes after the initial run of BOAC "Standards" (1101s) makes sense, thanks. It seems that the "Super" wing that was fitted to the "Standard" fuselages of the BUA/BCAL and RAF C1 aeroplanes is defined by the chord extension, whereas the droop-snoot Kuchemann wing-tips may have been unique to the BUA order. My self-written notes from the talk-and-chalk course at the Bee-Hive in 1971 confirm the former, and mention a figure of about five inches at the leading edge. For whatever reason I failed to mention the wing tips, although the instructor did.
The first three BUA aircraft – G-ASIW, IX, and G-ATDJ, were designated 1103s with cabin freight doors. When BUA acquired G-ARTA, she was designated 1109, with no such freight door. But I'm confident she had the same wing as the other three, or we would have needed different cruise-performance data for the buffet margins, at least: we didn't. (Also, the 1101s were restricted to FL410, IIRC.) Therefore she must have had the wing-chord extensions, and I think that argument might also apply to the Kuchemann wing tips. Presumably, they would have been tested on her for certification purposes, and it would probably have been widely acknowledged if she hadn't got them.
Last edited by Chris Scott; 27th Sep 2011 at 12:10.
Reason: Minor improvements.