Piggott Brothers and Flight

Piggott Brothers

The carly years of the nineteenth century were an exciting time for a burgeoning aviation industry. Piggott Brothers & Co., Limited were one of the companies involved.²⁹ Piggotts supplied tenting for housing aircraft, and an incident regarding this activity has been reported in a previous issue of this joumal. The incident was an accident where one of Piggotts' tents blew down and severely damaged a plane within the tent. A subsequent court case brought by the plane's owners sought recompense against Piggotts. This court case, together with examples of contemporary advertising in journals, demonstrated the position of the company in the new marketplace. However, this involvement went further into the industry.²¹

Piggotts also developed and manufactured two aircraft. Whilst the production of hangars was quite consistent with their usual business in canvas and tents, the construction of aircraft was not and would appear to have been a significant departure from their usual work. However. during this carly period of growth the industry was immature and many new entrants were drawn into the field, willing to take up the engineering challenge and, of course, spurred by the attraction of future revenues for those successful. Piggotts would already have contacts in the field.

The theoretical principles of flight were in their relative infancy and the apparent absence of any conventions permitted an amazing variety of aircraft designs. These designs embodied an assortment of innovative detail, and Piggotts' aircraft were no exception. Much of this appears fanciful today, but at the time it must have been a stimulating, and sometimes dangerous, activity in which to be a pioneer.

A Biplane

Piggott Brothers accepted the challenge early in 1910.²² Presumably with little relevant background, they found it necessary to use the services of a skilled aircraft engineer and Mr S. C. Parr was engaged. A biplane was the result of the collaboration. An carly description was published in Flight of 21 May 1910. Plan and clevation views of the plane are shown in figures 1 and 2.²³ The Flight article notes the forthcoming trials of the plane and recommends that Piggotts "should be watched with extreme interest". The design was "in cvery way uncommon", but noteworthy overall was the great size with the wingspan of 60ft (18.28m), necessary to achieve the aim to carry a passenger alongside the pilot. The length of the plane was 34 ft (10.36m), The design owed much to the work of Frederick William Lanchester, one of the greatest thinkers in acronautics of his day, thus ensuring that the basic rules of flight for flying machines were observed. Apart from the size, the major aspect of the design was the general use of aluminium in the construction.²⁴ The two propellers, mounted in-line. in tandem, were comparatively large with diameters of 13ft 6in (4.10m) and 8ft 2in (2.50m), for the forward and aft propellers, respectively. They were constructed of two sheets of pressed aluminium joined together, The weight saved would have been important when the power-to-weight ratio of the engine was low, and the pilot, and maybe a passenger, was a necessary dead weight.

It may be thought that the wings of the aircraft would have been canvas covered, in keeping with the tent business of Piggotts, but canvas was too heavy for the purpose. Instead the covering utilised a waterproofed. fireproofed cotton fabric -"special Piggott", Jane's adds - and when dressed the fabric weighed just 3'/4 oz per sq yd. The total weight of the plane was slightly over half a ton.

The propeller mechanism was judged by Flight to be "uncommon". The propellers were driven by a chain mechanism through a differential gear, which automatically maintained an cqual load on both forward and aft propellers. The gear gave rise to the propellers being contra-rotating! Their size also required that they were controlled by a clutch, and in this case a leather friction clutch was employed similar to that used on cars of the period.

Larkhill Trials

The plane was entered in the Larkhill Trials of 15 July, 1912. The trials were a demonstration of aircraft submitted for adoption by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC).²⁵ The entries were judged according to their speed. rate of climb, gliding capability, ability to land in a ploughed field with furrows 6in deep, ease of starting through the swinging of the propellers, and the time and ease required for the dismantling of the aircraft. Control on the ground was a further requirement, presumably for the safety of onlookers. Some idea of the leisurely pace of flying at the time is conveyed by the ability of the tractor biplane entered by Edwin Alliot Verdon Roe to stop inside 45m when landing into a 14mph headwind.²⁶

Only five of the entries were totally British and the trials were international. A total of thirty-one machines competed including Piggott Brothers Tractor Biplane. It was then fitted with a 35hp Anzani engine, but the plane had easily the lowest power of all the entries. Parr was the pilot. It was not unusual in this early period in the development of aviation to experience an accident, usually referred to as a 'smash'. One of the entries of Samuel Franklin Cody, an energetic American flier. was retired after hitting a stray cow. However, this was not the only entry from Cody and a Cody biplane won the competition, with a Deperdussin monoplane in second place. Despite his win, the RFC and the War Office did not select Cody's aircraft for adoption. Instead, they chose the B.E.I made by the Royal Aircraft Factory, and following the trials the manufacture of this aircraft was put out to manufacturing contract.²⁷ Little of the subsequent history of the Piggott Brothers biplane was heard subsequently.

A Monoplane

Piggott Brothers also built a monoplane. The plane was displayed at the Olympia Aero Show of 1911.²⁸ The plane was remarkable for being aerodynamic. It was possibly the first aircraft in the United Kingdom and maybe even the first in the world to exhibit such an advance - probably the result of the manufacturer being skilled in tentage and using the Piggott "special" fabric covering. The pilot and passenger(s) were completely enclosed and a door permitted access. The pilot looked through a small window, before the use of perspex, and slits in the fuselage were provided for the passengers.

The degree of streamlining may be judged by the mounting of the radiator above the pilot's cabin and conformal with the fuselage surface. The four-wheeled undercarriage was not covered, contrasting with the neat cven futuristic, fuselage and wing appearance. A notable safety feature was the duplication of the plane's control wires. Power was obtained from a four-cylinder 80hp Vivinus engine. The plane had a span of 30ft 6in and length of 24ft 6in. The plane had been designed to carry a load of 550lb on an empty weight of 8501b.

There appears to be doubt about whether the plane flew. Piloted by S. C. Parr it was reported to have left the ground at Hendon in November 1911, but the under-carriage was damaged during the trial. Early in 1912 the landing gear was rebuilt abd strengthened but there appear to be no further reports of flight. It has been suggested that the rudder was very small, insufficient to allow controlled flight.

Footnote

Piggott Brothers adventure into the field of aviation was notable even in a period of rapid technical advance achieved by a growing number of parallel manufacturers. It was a fascinating period. Their major contribution may well have been the introduction acrodynamic design and manufacture. This short article is not the final word on the subject; it is 'work in progress'. However, it is understood that the records of Piggott Brothers' were incinerated many years ago.

Acknowledgement

Thanks are again due to George Bromley whose contributions of both material and discussion have proved invaluable.