in length and having an average width of 45in. The pump handle is placed between the two front seats, so that it can be operated from either.Īlthough the Phoenix is by no means a large machine, the cabin space is no less than 140 cu.
The hydraulically operated undercarriage, incidentally, can be retracted in about twenty seconds and lowered in about sixteen seconds.
#WHO FOUNDED THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX PLUS#
The instruments are placed in front of the port front seat and include the usual Smith equipment, plus a Smith turn indicator, a "Husun" compass and a very neat undercarriage indicator in which a small image of a wheel and strut swings across an illuminated screen, a red light showing until the undercarriage is in the "fully down" position.
#WHO FOUNDED THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX WINDOWS#
Rumbold, apart from the comfort of his chairs and the general attractiveness of his cabin upholstery, has managed to get the average noise level in the cabin down to just over 70 decibels, a figure which one associates with the type of aircraft which the lay Press is fond of calling a “giant airliner.” Conversation can be carried on without difficulty, and the size and placing of the windows are such that one has none of that “cooped-up” feeling which is likely to assert itself in a less well-lighted cabin.ĭual controls are provided, the wheel being mounted on a "swing-over" type of arm. The placing of the wing on top of the fuselage gives the passengers a very good view of the country over which the machine is flying, and Mr. The view from the two front seats is remarkably good, and the roof windows make it possible for the pilot to look back and ensure that no other machine is coming in to land just as he is about to take off. In any case, seating accommodation is likely to be subject to the wishes of individual purchasers and to corresponding changes. But as there is the whole cabin width available, the position of this seat can easily be altered as to provide all the comfort any one could ask for. The five seats, at present arranged two abreast in front, two more abreast behind them, and a single seat at the back, were very comfortable indeed, the only one not having quite as much leg room as one would like being the single seat at the back. per occupant.Ĭomfort having been the chief consideration in the design, we were naturally inclined to be critical during a trip in the new Phoenix, but in truth there is almost nothing on which to pin any criticism. Cornwall and Evans, and it is to their very great credit that without sacrificing one cubic inch, so to speak, of the cabin ideal which they had set themselves, they have succeeded in producing an aeroplane which is remarkably pleasing to the eye (as the illustrations show) and which is at the same time easy to fly, having no vices and giving a performance which must be considered quite satisfactory in view of the relatively low power expenditure of rather less than 40 h.p. In producing the Phoenix, recently completed by the Heston Aircraft Co., Ltd., the latter method was followed by Messrs. THERE are two distinct ways of setting about designing a civil aeroplane: One may evolve a very attractive-looking outline design, of good lines, high aerodynamic efficiency and generally pleasing appearance, afterwards trying how the desired accommodation may be worked into that outline or one may start with a cabin of certain dimensions and accommodation, and steadfastly refuse to depart from that cabin ideal for any reason whatever, structural, aerodynamic or financial.