Letter of the Month Load-bearing skin

摘要

Sir, David Carter writes in the March 2014 issue (page 91) offering information on stressed-skin design and suggests that the earliest use of the system included the Short Empires, the Ensign and the Albatross. I am afraid that Mr Carter is a good dozen or more years out. First, we should look at what "stressed-skin" means. Originally known as a "monocoque", it describes any structure where the outer covering is responsible for accepting and containing load paths. It does not automatically include mere "metal covering". The French discovered this before 1912 and Armand Deperdussin of Paris employed a plywood-covered monocoque in his 50 h.p. Gnome-powered P 1912-13 single-seat monoplane.