P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)

Dunne-Huntington Triplane

   While the Blair Atholl experiments of 1906-9 were being undertaken, Lt. J. W. Dunne prepared sketches of a powered aircraft of a different lay-out from his sweptback tailless designs. The drawings were made during the winter of 1907-8, permission being granted by the War Office for them to be transferred, together with the patent, to Professor A. K. Huntington, under an agreement that he should prepare the final working drawings and then construct the machine immediately.
   Professor Huntington received the designs from Dunne in the spring of 1908, and the aircraft was completed early in 1910. The upper wings were of straight planform, while the lower pair were positioned to the rear and were sweptback. Outboard of the interplane fins, the lower tips were given sharp anhedral with their rear triangular portions hinged to provide flying controls. The fore-planes were mounted in line with the lower wings, being braced to the rear wings and fitted on the nose of the open fuselage. The twin propellers were borne on shafts extending forwards from the lower rear wings, and were driven by chains from the water-cooled engine set behind the pilot, who was seated in an opening in the centre of the fore-planes. The engine's radiator was installed mid-way along the fuselage, and the undercarriage comprised a pair of coil-sprung main wheels with a third wheel at the rear of the machine.
   Professor Huntington started testing the aircraft at Eastchurch during April, 1910, and although he managed to get it to take-off, the performance was not altogether satisfactory. For the next three years, during his spare time from his work in metallurgy at Kings College, London, he continued to experiment, altering the rear wings and changing the engine to a 70 h.p. Gnome rotary, so that by April, 1913, the Dunne-Huntington was flying well. Maximum speed, 43 m.p.h.