© Wonders of World Aviation 2015-
Part 39
Part 39 of Wonders of World Aviation was published on Tuesday 29th November 1938, price 7d.
This part included a colour plate showing a two-seater pterodactyl aircraft . This was one of the illustrations in the article on Unconventional Aircraft.
The Cover
The cover on this week’s Part shows a four-engined De Havilland Express Air Liner belonging to Qantas Empire Airways, Ltd. This Australian company uses Express Air Liners between Darwin and Brisbane, and flying boats for the Singapore-Sydney service.
Contents of Part 39
A Spectacular Record Breaker
(Part 2)
Unconventional Aircraft
Unconventional Aircraft
(colour plate)
Unconventional Aircraft
A TWO-SEAT PTERODACTYL AIRCRAFT of fighter type powered by a water-cooled engine driving a tractor propeller. The first tailless aircraft was produced by J. W. Dunne in Scotland in 1911 and was successfully flown, After this the tailless aircraft was neglected until 1926, when Captain G. T. R. Hill produced his first tailless aeroplane. This first Pterodactyl was a single-seat light aeroplane driven by a pusher airscrew. The aileron controls of a Pterodactyl can be used in unison when it is desired to make the aircraft climb or dive. An American design of tailless aircraft has one semicircular wing in place
of two swept-back wings in the form of an arrowhead.
This illustration previously appeared on the front cover of Part 26.
