The Day of the Delta By 6ROl!P CAPTAIN H. R. FOOTTIT "Men become attached to certain pa.iiUcu,lar sciences and specula- tions . " -Fl'ancis Bacon (1620) THE DEVELOPMENT of air· craft, like all mechanical de velopments, will fore\'er be em broiled in debate. We have only to turn the pages of history to know that this is no new thing under the sun. In the early part of the nine teenth century, for example, the American Philosophical Society asked the most eminent engineer in the U.S., Benjamin H. Latrobe, to sum marize the situation on steam engines. In his report, published in May, 1803, Latrobe made 3 scathing attack on the use of steam for ships. "A sort of mania began to preva~l," he saiJ, "which indeed has not entirely sub sided, for impelling boats by steam engines." He then went on to list December, 1955 six reasons why the steamboat would not be successful. He summed up by saying, "There are indeed general ob jections to the use of the steam engine for propelling boats, from which no particular application can be free." Four years later Robert Fulton launched the steamship Clermont in Ne\v York. This ship had been built, as he said, without "a single encourag ing remark, a bright hope, or a warm wish." From this time on the steam ship w.as on its way., And to Latrobe's undying credit, he ultimately became one of its warmest enthusiasts. Modern Parallel: !n this day of supersonic aeronautical developments almost a simibr situation pre\'ails whe:1 it comes to wing s.hapes. Should the fast fighter have a straight wing, such as the Lockheed F-104; or a swept wing, such as the North Americ111 F-100; or a triangular, delta wing, such as the Convair F-102? Without too much trouble you on dig up de baters who will throw facts and figures to support some particular stand. Yet, in spite o.f this, the delta wing has been gaining ground. There is ,che Avro "Vulcan" bomber, the Douglas "Skyray" fighter, -the Gloster "Javelin" interceptor, and others. Ts this the day of the delta? "It all depends on the aircraft's specification," says R. N. Lindley, Chief Designer for Avro Air craft. "One set of requirements, in terms of the .aircraft's speed, altitude, role, and other dem:tnds, will show the delta wing to be the best. For other requirements, a swept wing may be superior." The delta wing, howe\·er, has prob ably precipitated so much discussion since it is only in the last deca.de that derail design data on deltas started to trickle through. And it is only in the last few years that it has reached :11y great volume. Like so many of our 19 I Modern deltas include the Dou,e;Ia.s Skyray, the prototype XF4D being shown above, Avro's Vulcan (below) and GJoster's all-weather Javelin (R). modern aeronautical developments, the delta had its birthplace in wartime Germany. And it grew up as an off spring of other developments. There is no question that late in the last war the methodical Germans led the world in basic data on transonic and supersonic airflow and aircraft. Dr. Alexander Lippisch was one of their leading authorities. After com pleting a job of consulting engineer to Messerschrnitt on the design of the Me-163 rocket powered fighter, Dr. Lippisch became president of a research establishment near Vienna. Here he moulded his ideas on supersonic flight. Planting the Seed: Strange as it seems, Lippisch struck on the delta wing as an outgrowth of some work he was supenising on a Lorin ramjet engine. As the engine screecheJ through its early ground tests, Lippisch decided that he must have a high speed research aircraft to use as a flying test bed. After scouring the a \'ailable data he initiated the design of a 60 degree swept delta wing airplane. The center section of this aircraft housed the ramjet, which was to be run on refined coal. The airplane was esti mated to weigh 5,000 to 6,000 poun

The Day of the Delta

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