A. K. Huntington

Prof. Alfred Kirby Huntington
Born (1852-01-18)18 January 1852
Ipswich, Suffolk
Died 17 April 1920(1920-04-17) (aged 68)
London
Nationality British
Children Ulick Hethersett Huntington

Engineering career

Engineering discipline Metallurgy
Institution memberships King’s College, University of London

Professor Alfred Kirby Huntington (1852–1920) was a British professor of metallurgy, author and aviation pioneer. He flew balloons and an aircraft of his own design.

Early life

Alfred Kirby Huntington was born on 18 January 1852 in Ipswich, Suffolk to Francis Henry Huntington and Amelia Huntington (née Hemsworth). He had an elder brother, Francis D’Esterre Huntington, who was born in 1847 but died aged 10 in 1857.

Pioneer aviator

Prof A.K. Huntington was a founding and active committee member of the Royal Aero Club.

He originally was a keen balloonist and took part in the first Aero Club race, which took place at Ranelagh Club on 7 July 1906. His balloon Zenith was one of the seven balloons to ascend that day, the first time in England that seven balloons had ascended from one spot.[1]

He also competed in the first Gordon-Bennett Cup race in 1906 along with the Hon. C. S. Rolls.[2]

He moved on from balloons to aeroplanes and flew a plane of his own design, the Dunne-Huntington triplane. It was kept and flown on the Isle of Sheppy.[3] Huntington is named on The Aviation Memorial in Eastchurch.

The Dunne-Huntington triplane was an unusual machine, variously referred to as a triplane, a biplane or a monoplane. The original design came from John William Dunne during the winter of 1907–1908. The layout was passed to Professor Huntington, who completed the detailed drawings. The machine was built by Short Brothers, at Leysdown, and after a long gestation period, was flying at Eastchurch in April 1910.[4] It went through a number of changes, and was still flying well in April 1913, its original design by this time being quite outdated.

When operating at Eastchurch in early 1910, the open fuselage structure was originally mounted on a three-wheeled chassis and skid plus a tailwheel; later the nosewheel was removed and replaced by two semicircular skids at the front. The front wing was mounted at the nose and had considerable sweep back. On the same level, at the rear end, was a wing of parallel chord, with anhedral on the outboard section. This was also split diagonally to form triangular flaps for control in roll and pitch. The top wing was mounted above the central fuselage and braced to it by struts, and to the rear wing by vertical struts at the leading edge; also by raked struts to the front where the anhedral began. The area between the staggered struts was, at one time, filled in to form side curtains. The pilot was seated well forward of the biplane wings in the inner apex of the vee-shaped front wing.

The engine was a Wolseley water-cooled unit mounted in the center, with the radiator placed well behind. It drove the twin tractor propellers through chains and shafts. A Gnome rotary replaced this heavy installation in 1912, in which form the machine was reported to reach 43 mph.

Powered by 70 hp Gnome rotary water-cooled engine driving two chain-driven pusher propellers.[5] Span 59 ft, Chord 10 ft, Length 50 ft

Professional life

Huntington was Professor of Metallurgy at King’s College, University of London.

He held the chair of Metallurgy at King College from 1879. He died on 17 April 1920 at sixty-four years of age, shortly after relinquishing the chair.[6]

Works

Books

Articles in Popular Science Monthly

Lectures

References

  1. ↑ Frank, Hedges Butler. Fifty years of travel by land, water and air.
  2. ↑ "none". Supplement to the Graphic. October 6, 1906.
  3. ↑ Flight. April 30, 1910.
  4. ↑ "Jane's All The World Aircraft 1913". Janes. 1913.
  5. ↑ Kites, Birds & Stuff - Over 150 Years of British Aviation. P.D. Stamp. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-4457-9422-8.
  6. ↑ "Obituary Prof A. K. Huntington". www.nature.com. Nature. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Catalog entry at the Library of Congress
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