Deekay Knight

Knight
Role	Two-seat cabin monoplane
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Deekay Aircraft Corporation
Designer	Sydney Charles Hart-Still
First flight	1937
Number built	1

The Deekay Knight was a British two-seat cabin monoplane designed by S.C.Hart-Still and built in 1937 by the Deekay Aircraft Corporation at Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, England.^[1] It was built to test methods of wing construction that would later be suitable for plastic skinning.

Development

The Knight was a conventional looking low-wing monoplane, with a fixed tailwheel landing gear, the main legs housed in trouser fairings and powered by a nose-mounted 90hp (67kW) Blackburn Cirrus Minor piston engine.^[1] It had an enclosed cabin with side-by-side seating for two.^[2] It had an unusual wing construction which used four spars and interspars instead of ribs.^[3] Though the wing was made of wood throughout, with a stressed plywood skin, the purpose of its novel construction was to explore methods suitable for later use with plastic materials.^[3][4] The wing was tested at the Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough and the root fittings but not the wing failed at 12.3 times the weight of the aircraft, well beyond the target load factor of 9.^[1] Only one aircraft, registered G-AFBA^[5], was built which was scrapped sometime during the Second World War.^[1][2]

Specifications

Data from ^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 22 ft 10 in (6.96^[2] m)
• Wingspan: 31 ft 6 in (9.60 m)
• Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
• Wing area: 140.0 ft² (13.01 m²)
• Empty weight: 850 lb (386 kg)
• Gross weight: 1450 lb (658 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Blackburn Cirrus Minor inverted inline piston engine, 90 hp (67 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 125 mph (201 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 105 mph (169 km/h)
• Service ceiling: ^[6]17,500 ft (5.335 m)
• Rate of climb: ^[6]800 ft/min (4.1 m/s)

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Orbis 1985, p. 1420
2. ^ ^{a b c} Jackson 1973, p. 300
3. ^ ^{a b} "An Interesting Form of Wing Construction". Flight: p.100. 1937-07-22. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1937/1937%20-%202056.html. 
4. ^ Grey 1972, pp. 35c-36c
5. ^ "Registration G-AFBA". United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AFBA.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-05. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Grey 1972, pp. 36c marked "estimate"

Bibliography

• Jackson, A.J. (1973). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2. London: Putnam. pp. 382. ISBN 0 370 10010 7. 
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 
• Grey, C.G. (1972). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938. London: David & Charles. ISBN 0715 35734 4.