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Subject: Northrop Delta
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Delta
The Northrop Delta was an American single-engined passenger transport aircraft
of the 1930s. Closely related to Northrop's Gamma mail plane, 13 were produced
by the Northrop Corporation, followed by 19 aircraft built under license by
Canadian Vickers Limited.
When Jack Northrop set up the Northrop Corporation as a joint venture with the
Douglas Aircraft Company in 1932, he set out to design two closely related
single-engined aircraft as the new company's first products: a
mailplane/record-breaking aircraft, which was designated the Gamma, and a
passenger transport, the Delta. The Delta was a low-winged monoplane, with a
fixed tailwheel undercarriage. It was of all-metal, stressed-skin construction,
with streamlining spats covering the main landing gear. While the Delta's wings
were common with those of the Gamma, it had a new, wider fuselage, which seated
the pilot in an enclosed cockpit immediately behind the engine, and had
accommodation for eight passengers in a cabin behind the pilot.
The first Delta was flown in May 1933, and received an airworthiness certificate
in August that year.
Role
Transport aircraft
Manufacturer
Northrop Corporation
Designer
Jack Northrop
First flight
May 1933
Introduction
1933
Primary user
Royal Canadian Air Force
Number built
32
Developed from
Northrop Gamma
Although it was intended that the Delta would be sold in both airliner and
executive transport (initially named "Victoria") versions, a change to the
regulations governing commercial air transport in the United States in October
1934, prohibiting the use of single-engined aircraft to carry passengers at
night or over rough terrain which would prevent a forced landing, stopped the
market for single-engined airliners in the United States, and only three
aircraft, all ordered before the passing of this regulation, were built as
airliners. These consisted of the prototype, leased to Trans World Airlines for
use to carry airmail, which crashed on 10 November 1933, one sold to Pan-Am for
use by its Mexican subsidiary, destroyed by a fire in May 1934 and one sold to
AB Aerotransport of Sweden, delivered in April 1934. AB Aerotransport purchased
a second Delta, but this was a dedicated mailplane which more closely resembled
the Gamma, with a slim fuselage carrying its cargo in a compartment ahead of the
cockpit.
The Deltas, which were capable of being operated from wheeled, ski or float
undercarriages, proved capable survey aircraft, well suited to operations in the
North of Canada, but in August 1939, when the outbreak of the Second World War
loomed, Canada found itself short of coastal patrol aircraft, and the Deltas
were diverted to this role, being fitted with floats and carrying out long
anti-submarine missions. The Deltas were less successful as patrol floatplanes,
as they were damaged by ocean swell and by salt water corrosion, and they were
forced to revert to landplane use after two months. The Delta was withdrawn from
operations in late 1941, then being used as instructional airframes in training
schools.
Specifications (Delta 1D-5)
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Capacity: 8 Passengers (passenger variants)
Length: 33 ft 1 in (10.08 m)
Wingspan: 47 ft 9 in (14.55 m)
Height: 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)
Empty weight: 4,504 lb (2,059 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,350 lb (3,334 kg)
(548 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 190 knots (219 mph, 352 km/h) at 6,300 ft (1,920 m)
Cruise speed: 174 knots (200 mph, 332 km/h)
Range: 1,435 nm (1,650 mi, 2,655 km)
Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,095 m)
Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s)
Power/mass: 0.10 hp/lb (0.16 kW/kg)
*
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