[ That would be great if you could get that info from Mr Stratton. I should amend my original statement – the flaps were segmented into the 3, the ailerons into 4.
From the pictures the play on the ailerons is so subtle as to be not be noticeable but the flaps are fully extended in a number of shots – but the segmented sections appear to be aligned each time.
Sorry for not getting back to you for a month – or three! – but I eventually got a chance to talk to Mr. Stratton this week.
Apparently the segmented ailerons were as a result of the Princess’s pioneering power-servo control system. It was effectively fly by wire fifty years before the Americans “invented” it!
The main aileron controls were actuated by servo tabs, which operated in the opposite sense, to “drive” the ailerons in the right direction. There was a concern that a runaway in the actuating system might involuntarily force the ailerons to a full control deflection, so additional manually driven servo tabs were fitted as well, although they’d only have been used in emergencies.
I hope that makes it a little clearer. I gather that Mr. Stratton is due to be a guest speaker at the Milton Keynes Aviation Society in June, so if you need more information, you can hear it from him direct. As well as talking about the Princess, he’ll also be talking about his work on the SR53 – it’ll be a cracking talk!
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