Broburn Wanderlust
Encyclopedia
The Broburn Wanderlust was a small, wooden, single-seat glider designed in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
just after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Only one was built, though it was well used.
Design and development
The Wanderlust glider was designed and built by T. E. Brown and K. W. Radburn, two employees of Miles AircraftMiles Aircraft
Miles was the name used to market the aircraft of British engineer Frederick George Miles, who designed numerous light civil and military aircraft and a range of curious prototypes...
, immediately after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was a single-seat, all-wood, shoulder-wing aircraft, with a short span for a glider of 34 ft (10.36 m) though with an aspect ratio
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
of over 15.
The wing of the Wanderlust was built around a single spar, which with plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
skin around the leading edge
Leading edge
The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air; alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil section. The first is an aerodynamic definition, the second a structural one....
formed a torsion box
Torsion box
A torsion box consists of two skins to carry the applied loads on either side of a core material usually constructed as a lightweight grid of thin beams. A hollow core door is probably the most commonly found example of a torsion box structure. Like an I beam or truss, the idea is to use less...
. Behind the spar the wing was fabric covered. There was 4° of dihedral and 2° of washout
Washout (aviation)
Washout refers to a feature of wing design to deliberately reduce the lift distribution across the span of the wing of an aircraft. The wing is designed so that angle of incidence is higher at the wing roots and decreases across the span, becoming lowest at the wing tip...
. The trailing edge
Trailing edge
The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge rejoins. Essential control surfaces are attached here to redirect the air flow and exert a controlling force by changing its momentum...
was spanned with aerofoil section flaps
Flap (aircraft)
Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
, split into two equal sections. Inboard, these acted as simple flaps; outboard, additionally, as drooping ailerons. The two NACA
NACA
- Organizations :* National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner of the U.S. federal agency NASA* National Association for Campus Activities, an organization for programmers of university and college activities...
airfoil
Airfoil
An airfoil or aerofoil is the shape of a wing or blade or sail as seen in cross-section....
sections used in the wing were chosen because they have centres of pressure
Center of pressure
The center of pressure is the point on a body where the total sum of a pressure field acts, causing a force and no moment about that point. The total force vector acting at the center of pressure is the value of the integrated vectorial pressure field. The resultant force and center of pressure...
that vary little with the angle of incidence
Angle of incidence
Angle of incidence is a measure of deviation of something from "straight on", for example:* in the approach of a ray to a surface, or* the angle at which the wing or horizontal tail of an airplane is installed on the fuselage, measured relative to the axis of the fuselage.-Optics:In geometric...
, which increases when the flaps are deployed. The Wanderlust also had upper surface spoilers hinged on the wing spar at about quarter span.
The rest of the Wanderlust was plywood skinned, with a cockpit which could be open or enclosed in a bubble hood. The fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
tapered aft, with the tailplane
Tailplane
A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer , is a small lifting surface located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes...
mounted on top and the small fin
Fin
A fin is a surface used for stability and/or to produce lift and thrust or to steer while traveling in water, air, or other fluid media, . The first use of the word was for the limbs of fish, but has been extended to include other animal limbs and man-made devices...
behind it. The elevators
Elevator (aircraft)
Elevators are flight control surfaces, usually at the rear of an aircraft, which control the aircraft's orientation by changing the pitch of the aircraft, and so also the angle of attack of the wing. In simplified terms, they make the aircraft nose-up or nose-down...
, with individual trim tabs
Trim tabs
Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aero-dynamic forces and stabilise the boat or aircraft in a particular desired attitude without the need for the...
, moved either side of the fin and the rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
was hinged behind their trailing edges. Both elevators and rudder were horn balanced
Balanced rudder
The balanced rudder was an innovation in warship construction used as early as 1862 in the USS Monitor, one of the Union's first ironclads during the American Civil War...
. The Wanderlust landed on a pneumatically-mounted central skid.
Operational history
Despite hopes of marketing the Wanderlust in finished and in kit form, only one was made. This was flown by many pilots including Lorne WelchLorne Welch
Patrick Palles Lorne Elphinstone Welch, , known as Lorne Welch, was a British engineer, pilot and Colditz prisoner of war....
. It was in at store at RAE Farnborough about 1970 and later donated to the Museum of Berkshire Aviation
Museum of Berkshire Aviation
The Museum of Berkshire Aviation is a small aviation museum in Woodley, a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The museum is on the edge of the site of the former Woodley Aerodrome, and many of its exhibits relate to Phillips & Powis and Miles Aircraft companies that...
.