THE CAMDEN MUSEUM
OF AVIATION
OF AVIATION
MonoplaneWilliam Herbert Gray of Parramatta, a self-taught engineer, designed and commenced building his home-built Monoplane in 1928. Prior to construction, Patent rights were taken out and granted as follows: - Commonwealth Patent No.16113/28; Great Britain 337480; France 682871; USA 1820613; Canada 315593 as well as Italy, Germany, and others. After shortage of supplies caused by WWII, the aircraft was placed in storage for many years and although Mr Gray started work on it again in 1962, his death in 1964 meant the project was never finished. The patented features, revolutionary in aviation in 1929 were: (a) A hand operated variable wing incident control, which would vary the angle of attack whilst in flight and reduce wing "drag" to minimum, and(b) A pair of vertical rudders which operated in the regular manner for steering and when opened out into a "v" shape by pushing both pedals forward simultaneously, acted as an air brake. Mr Gray considered that the combination of these designs "would allow a steeper landing approach at a much reduced landing speed of 26 mph in still air and also permit a shorter take-off and landing run". The plans for the engine were never finalised, but Mr Gray was carrying out bench tests on a converted 4 cylinder 27 hp Henderson motor cycle engine and endeavouring "to increase the reserve power necessary for the aircraft design". The load weight was to be 620 lbs and the wing span 26 ft. The Museum acquired the aircraft in August 1968. |
 Gray Monoplane at Camden Airport Photograph courtesy of N M Parnell |
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