WESTON HURLIN biplane or bimonoplane (Weston-Hurlin & Co., 191 Cambridge Rd., and 2 Edbrooke St., Paddington, London W. Office at PF Building, 13 Milford St., Strand, London WC)

   This company, which stemmed from the Hurlin Coachbuilding Co., became involved with the supply of materials and parts for models and later, in 1911, for full size aircraft. They advertised as an agency for the sale and exchange of aircraft, engines and accessories. In 1911 they announced their intention of constructing complete aircraft, starting with a monoplane and a biplane of original design. This probably referred to the Harper monoplane (q.v.) and the Weston-Hurlin biplane, also referred to as a bimonoplane, both of which were seemingly not completed, and the company faded away soon after. H. Hurlin, formerly the secretary of the Paddington Aero Club, was the designer and the machine was said to be the result of two years of experiment.
   The biplane was first described in March 1911, and the associated drawing showed an open braced girder fuselage with longerons curving up to meet the top members at the front, on which a forward elevator was mounted. The tail unit was comprised of elongated triangular dorsal and ventral fins, with an unbalanced rudder. The tailplane was fixed and similar in shape to the two fins, but with a scalloped trailing edge. The front portions of the bottom longerons were terminated halfway along the fuselage to form skids. A central skid formed the front of the single lower longeron, which continued to the tail; this skid carried a pair of wheels on a cross axle, sprung by five rubber wheels in a rubber band, which took the initial landing loads. There was a further skid to support the tail.
   The lower wing was parallel in chord and was swept back at a considerable angle, perhaps thirty degrees, and was mounted above the top longerons. The upper wing was straight and of short span and was mounted well above the center section of the lower wing. The pilot was seated on the front of the latter, and the engine was behind driving a pusher propeller, which revolved inside the top longerons, and which were widely spaced to clear the tips. The engine shown was a four-cylinder inline, probably a Green, with fuel supplied by gravity from a tank above.
   However, by September 1911, a new drawing was published which showed that various changes had been made. A major change was to reverse the engine and pilot's positions and to use a Webb-Peet rotary, instead of the inline engine. Certain dimensions now differed from those published previously.

   Data
   Span bottom 30ft
   Span top 10ft later 16ft
   Chord 6ft
   Length 38-40 ft approx.


HARPER monoplane (A.M. Harper, 2 Edbrooke Rd., St. Peter's Park, London W9)

   This two-seater side-by-side tractor monoplane, designed by Harper, was being built in 1912 by Weston-Hurlin & Co. of Paddington, and was entered as No.25 in the Military Trials, held at Larkhill in August. It did not take part and was probably not completed.

   Power: 60hp Green four-cylinder inline water-cooled.
   Data
   Span 35ft
   Length 27ft
   Speed 60mph