My baby buggy folds up on one side first…

Now you know why – see number 6 here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2010/05/10_things_we_didnt_know_last_w_134.shtml

Frustratingly, if you click “more details” it goes to the “quiz of the week”. Can anyone tell more? It immediately made me think of a buggy that folded up one side first, and then the other…

Adrian

Not strictly true unless the same bloke designed the Bf 109 undercarriage too.:)

I dare say the truth is in the patents, just that Wiki and then the BBC have chosen an extremely simplistic way of presenting the facts.
I think the Spitfire link is to with the castering tailwheel.

That first patent drawing (DC-3?) really does look like it could have been the basis for the B-52 steering undercarriage where all the wheels swivel to allow the aircraft to land against cross winds etc.

Is this the source of the term “Baby Spit”

Reading through the patent application, it would appear that he invented the nose wheel u/c……. K5054 was originally fitted with a tail skid, and the main gear was a variation of a patented idea, filed jointly by Vickers and RS Dickson circa 1933.

If you look futher down on the wiki site there is a link to google patents site showing the application in filed in 1938 for the aircraft undercarriage.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=94JqAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

They aren’t getting confused with the tail wheel castoring are they?

Sounds all a little confused as would be expected by the MSM

Yes, in that wonderful Wikipedia way! ‘He invented the Spitfire undercarriage’, ‘The design allowed aircraft to be steered or swivelled whilst on the ground’.
No wonder people bang on about the Spitfire, it had a special undercarrige ‘invented’ for it and must have been the first aircraft ever that could be moved around on the ground properly!
What did they do with say Hurricanes, point them into wind and let them go?

That first drawing looks like it provided the basis for the B-52 undercarriage though.

Surely this all means that if you get your fingers nipped in a Spitfires undercart you must sue Maclaren, or at least get a ride in their racing car.

It’s all explained in the brochure…..:rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Finlay_Maclaren

Ken

Fascinating. Google yields little, except that McLaren also helped redesign the Spitfire radiator to help withstand a bullet strike. He is often referred to as a ‘test pilot’ – I wonder who for?

Now you see why I was asking if anyone else knew anything – it’s about as clear as mud, and apparently written by someone with a similar level if comprehension. Anyway, stuff the compensation issue – what about his undercarriage?

Adrian

I’m confused, Starfire – I can’t find the additional content anywhere. I must be using the wrong internet again.

I did find this though: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/CngWUrn0QmuY1R4XpU-zWA

EDIT – Oh, I see, one has to do the quiz first.

They’re paying compensation out of the goodness of their hearts to parents whose nippers were hurt by suddenly-folding buggies, but it wasn’t a design fault, nosireebob.

Frustratingly, if you click “more details” it goes to the “quiz of the week”.

Just klick on “more details” and scroll that page down a bit:

6 It was the spitfire undercarriage. Maclaren had been a member of the spitfire design team and designed its undercarriage. Maclaren said the compensation was not an admission of liability.

To be honest, I do not understand the meaning of the last sentence. :confused:

“He invented the Spitfire undercarriage when living in West Drayton, Middlesex when working for Maclaren Undercarriage Company Ltd. The design allowed aircraft to be steered or swivelled whilst on the ground”

He invented the wheel?