Handley Page, Lachmann, Flow Control and Future Civil Aircraft
Handley Page, Lachmann, flow control and future civil aircraft John Green ABSTRACT Frederick Handley Page and Gustav Lachmann independently developed and patented the concept of the slotted wing as a means of increasing maximum lift. Subsequently they co-operated on the project and Lachmann joined Handley Page Ltd. The Handley Page slotted wing became used worldwide, generating substantial income for the company from use of the patent, and its descendents can be found on all modern transport aircraft. In the years following World War II, Lachmann led research at Handley Page to reduce drag by keeping the boundary layer laminar by surface suction. Handley Page led this field in the UK and developed a number of aircraft concepts, none of which came to fruition as full scale projects. However, looking to the future, the basic concept of laminar flow control holds out arguably the greatest potential of all technologies for reducing the fuel burn and environmental impact of future civil aircraft. 1. INTRODUCTION This is the story of two men of genius, Frederick Handley Page and Gustav Lachmann, Figs. 1 and 2. They were brought together by chance, as a result of having independently, and unknown to each other, invented and patented the same aerodynamic concept. During World War I they had been on opposite sides. Handley Page, who had been 28 at the outbreak of hostilities, established his company’s reputation as the designer of the large biplane bombers, the ‘bloody paralysers’ sought by the Royal Navy in 1914, that made a great contribution to the war effort in 1917 and 1918.
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