science

Gordon England glider

Gordon England glider is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gordon England glider rather than just read about it. In short: The Gordon England glider was a single seat glider designed specifically for the first British gliding competition held at Itford Hill in 1922, an endurance event. It made some competition flights but was damaged on the last day.

Key takeaways

Gordon England glider belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gordon England glider to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gordon England glider from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Gordon England glider was a single seat glider designed specifically for the first British gliding competition held at Itford Hill in 1922, an endurance event. It made some competition flights but was damaged on the last day.

Design In August 1922 the Daily Mail newspaper offered a £1,000 prize for the longest duration flight by an unpowered, heavier than air aircraft. The competition was to be organized by the Royal Aero Club, who chose the site (Itford Hill, on the Sussex South Downs near Lewes) and the date (16–21 October). This gave competitors six weeks to design, build and transport their entries. 13 arrived in time and one of these was the Gordon England glider, competition number 13, to be flown by its designer, Eric Gordon England, after whom it was named. The Gordon England glider was a wooden aircraft, constructed by George England (1922) Ltd, in whose name it was entered into the competition. It was a high wing cantilever monoplane. Its wings were slightly tapered, with a little sweep on the leading edge, with blunt tips. The ailerons extended to the wing tips. The tailplane had parallel chord and rounded tips, carrying a single piece elevator. The fin had a rounded leading edge and vertical hinge for the rhomboidal rudder; the rudder's upswept lower edge allowed for elevator deflection. The fuselage was rectangular in cross-section, with sides rounded and tapered into a slender symmetrical airfoil-like shape. The open cockpit was placed a little behind the leading edge. A pair of half-exposed, unsprung wheels was mounted just within the fuselage, assisted by twin skids under the tail.

Operational history During practice, non-competition flights on Saturday 14 October England found his rudder ineffective, so he and his brother spent the day enlarging it. On Sunday he made a flight lasting 84 s. On Monday, the first day of competition flights he watched the approach of Anthony Fokker, who had more gliding experience after flying in Germany, then returned a 4 min 32 s flight of his own. Conditions became increasingly windy on Wednesday, with hilltop wind speeds gusting up to 40 mph (65 kmh). Gordon England flew, but could not improve on his time, though he said that was his first landing made travelling backwards. It was windy also on Saturday, the final day of the competition. Trying to return to the top of the ridge, having been blown windward, a gust caught him in a steep turn and the wing tip hit the ground. The glider survived the impact with damage only to the extreme nose but England suffered a broken leg. The competition winner, the French pilot Maneyrol, stayed up for 201 min in his tandem-winged Peyret glider that same day. Gordon England received Mrs C. G. Grey's prize o £10. It is not known for certain what happened to the glider after the competition, though it may have been used by the gliding club at the RAF Staff College, Andover.

Specifications Data from British Gliders and Sailplanes p.67General characteristics Capacity: 1 Length: 17 ft 3 in (5.26 m) Wingspan: 28 ft 2 in (8.58 m) Wing area: 130.0 sq ft (12.08 m2) Aspect ratio: 6 Empty weight: 100 lb (45 kg) Gross weight: 260 lb (118 kg) Performance

Wing loading: 2.00 lb/sq ft (9.76 kg/m2)

See also Bristol Gordon England biplanes Gordon England (coachbuilder) Eric Gordon England

Notes

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gordon England glider

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gordon England glider claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gordon England glider before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gordon England glider ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gordon England glider

In research: Gordon England glider appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gordon England glider in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gordon England glider is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1920s British aircraft, Aircraft first flown in 1922, Glider aircraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gordon England glider outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gordon England glider in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gordon England glider means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gordon England glider out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gordon England glider in simple terms?

Why does Gordon England glider matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gordon England glider?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gordon England glider.