Twining Gamage Cup Winner (oz16167)

About this Plan

Twining Gamage Cup Winner. Free flight twin pusher model for rubber power. Wingspan 36 in.

Note this is not a full size plan. As originally printed, the drawings were meant to be enlarged by hand on paper.

Quote: "March 30, 1911. The Model Engineer and Electrician. The Gamage Cup Monoplane. By EW Twining. On July 27th of last year a model aeroplane flying contest was held at the Crystal Palace under the auspices of The Aerial League, and under the rules and regulations of the Kite and Model Aeroplane Association. The meeting was the most important one held during the year, the competition being open to the world, and was to decide the question of which was the best all-round model.

The stakes fought for were a fine silver challenge cup and gold medal put up by AW Gamage Esq. Now, although the monoplane entered and flown by the writer was the one with which the longest flight was recorded, which fact made me the winner of the coveted prize, it was, at the time it was flown, in my own opinion, not the best all-round machine. The model was only finished on the very morning of the meeting, and was only given one trial flight before it was time to make tracks for the Palace.

Each competitor was entitled to three flights, and in my first the machine met with an accident in mid-air, which I thought at the moment bad placed me hors de combat.

The mishap was a most curious one. We were flying on a spot situated between high trees with a strong cross wind blowing. Well, I launched the machine for its first flight and it started well, travelling gradually upwards, when a strong gust sweeping over the trees from one side and then, striking upwards, caught the main plane on its underneath side, bending up the two ends and allowing the warping cords to hang loose. These, owing to the speed of the machine, trailed backwards and were caught by one of the propellers. The cord was then wound up around the spindle until both the main spars on one side of the plane and one of the spars on the other snapped, and the machine dropped to earth.

It certainly looked as if it had made its last flight, but although my heart was in my boots, and I felt inclined to make a doormat of the beastly thing, I pegged away at it for about an hour, and by the end of that time had got three splints laced with thread on each of the breaks in the spars. I also rearranged the warping cords and braced the ends of the planes down to the skids at the back. I just managed to get done in time for what was, to other competitors, the third series of flights, but which was, of course, only my second.

This second flight was my last; there was no need to make another, for it was the longest of the day. It was only 236 yards, short by nearly a hundred yards of my own record with a machine of similar type flown about a week before the competition, but I am sure that had it not been for the too light construction of the framework of the main plane and the lack of sufficient stiffness in the spars to resist such wind gusts the accident would not have happened and the machine should have, and would have, flown between three and four hundred yards. I have had flights since last July with models of tnis size and type of a quarter of a mile in calm air; whilst, travelling with the wind, these machines have flown between six and seven hundred yards.

Readers must be good enough to pardon me for taking up so much space with the foregoing preamble, but the opening of the present article seems a fitting occasion on which to mention the difficulties under which the Gamage Cup was won..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "Hello, Ran across an article from Volume 24 (Jan-Jun, 1911) of Model Engineer that I thought might be of interest. At that time there was a contest in UK for flying model aeroplanes. The prize as the Gamage Cup, won by E.W. Twining. I had first read about him winning the very first Wakefield Cup in 1911 on the FAI website. There is a copy of a little booklet he produced named Model Aeroplanes: How to build and fly them that is available on a website called Endless Lift.

What follows are copies of the pages describing the aeroplane he used to win the Gamage Cup. Not sure where this fits into outerzone but will be interested to see it there. The pages are out of numerical order below but are numbered. Enjoy."

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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