NRC tailless glider

The NRC tailless glider, also called the NRL tailless glider, was a two-seat tailless research glider designed by the National Research Council of Canada and built by the National Research Laboratories, at the instigation of G.T.R. Hill who had previously designed the British Westland-Hill Pterodactyl series of tailless aircraft.

Development

To research the control and stability of tailless aircraft, the National Research Council of Canada initiated a research programme using a specially designed glider, the NRC tailless glider. During the inter-war years Geoffrey T. R. Hill had designed and Westland Aircraft Limited had built a series of tailless aircraft with support from the Royal Aircraft Establishment. During World War II Geoffrey Hill served as the British Scientific Liaison Officer at the National Research Council (NRC) in Canada, where he proposed the development of a tailless research glider similar to his Pterodactyl designs.

Design

The glider was constructed predominantly from wood with a single spar built from laminated wood supporting wooden built up ribs covered with a relatively thick plywood skin, which resulted in a smooth surface with minimal distortion.

The wing had three distinct sections, comprising a constant-chord, unswept centre section flanked by swept tapered outer sections. Primary flight controls consisted of elevons on the trailing edges of the outer wing sections for pitch and roll, with fins and rudders on the wing-tips for yaw stability and control. Trim in pitch was achieved by adjusting the incidence of movable wing tips using screw jacks. For approach and landing split flaps were fitted to the wing centre section trailing edge.

The undercarriage consisted of a retractable tricycle arrangement with auxiliary skids which could be lowered in case the undercarriage failed to extend.