C. W.
C. W. Aircraft
Contents
History
Carl Robert Chronander was born on 14 January 1910 in Middlesex, the son of Gunnar Magnus Andersson Chronander and Christian Walker Chronander (née Russell). While at Cambridge University, he gained his RAeC Aviators Certificate (No.10030) on 15 August 1931, flying a DH Gipsy Moth at Marshalls Flying School.
James Ivor Waddington was born on 5 July 1911 in Blackburn, the son of Richard Adam Waddington and Bertha Jane Waddington (née Arkwright). He attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn, then studied aeronautical engineering at King’s College, Cambridge. He gained his RAeC Aviators Certificate (No.10608) on 30 June 1932, flying an Avro Avian III at Liverpool and District Flying School. Subsequently he underwent a vocational course of instruction at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.
The two men formed CW Aircraft at Montrose Ave, Trading Estate, Slough in 1936, along with John Aherne Heron as chief engineer, to build the Cygnet, Britain's first completely metal-covered light aeroplane. The metal airframe had a very slim semi-monocoque fuselage aft of the cockpit, which gained the aircraft some comparisons to a tadpole! For ease of manufacture use was made of the new break-stem pop riveting system which did not require a second person using a dolly on the inside of the structure. This made it possible to produce small enclosed structures in one piece, ideal for the slim tapered rear fuselage of the aircraft.
It took time to obtain a CofA for the aircraft, some of the delay being for approval of the pop riveting system. With a view towards probable upcoming production, the company moved into new premises at 10 Oxford Avenue in September of 1937 (still in the Slough Trading Estate), and occupied the time by designing a clean looking twin. This was a larger four-seater aeroplane with retractable undercarriage, to be powered by the new Villiers-Hay Maya engines, but retained the “tadpole” rear fuselage, along with the twin tail unit that had by now been fitted to the Cygnet. However, this layout proved impracticable where a large cabin was called for, and by the time the mock-up was shown at the Slough factory, the new Swan was a much larger, 6-7 passenger aircraft with a conventional fuselage, redesigned by Roger Dickson, who had joined as chief designer after working at Supermarine after J.A. Heron had moved to Hiduminium Engineering, Ltd. As well as a light airliner, the Swan was now proposed as a luxurious private-owner or business executive type or as an advanced twin-engined trainer.
Proposed in two variants, one with Gipsy Six engines and another with Pratt & Whitney Wasp Juniors, the construction of the fuselage was of fairly orthodox design, with formers, stringers and stressed-skin covering, but in its wing the company still couldn’t avoid the temptation of unorthodoxy. The wing construction made use of spar booms made up of circular-section tubes. To make the spar strength everywhere proportional to the loads at the particular point, the spar tubes varied from root to tip, the inner portion being made up of five tubes inside one another, then, four, then three, and so forth. Unfortunately, all this used up the young company’s resources too quickly. The Cygnet still need development, and was failing to sell. In April 1938 CW Aircraft entered into an agreement with General Aircraft Ltd. (GAL) whereby the design of the C. W. Cygnet, the manufacturing rights and work in progress, were taken over by GAL, with Chronander and Waddington joining the technical staff of GAL to ensure continuity in the development of the design.
CW Aircraft, in which Chronander and Waddington retained their interest, ceased to build aeroplanes from that point, and concentrate its 70 staff on the business of making jigs. and tools, particularly for the Aircraft Industry. On 6 August 1938, the two formed Chronander Waddington Aircraft, Ltd, a private company with capital of £14,000, to acquire the business of aeronautical engineers and aeronautical plant and tool makers carried on by Chronander and Waddington, with its registered office still at 10, Oxford Avenue, Slough. The company specialised in the production of press tools, jigs, fixtures, precision engineering and aircraft production fittings and sub-assemblies until 1949, when it went into voluntary liquidation.
It is unclear how much longer the partners continued to work together. By 1939, Waddington appears to have gained political aspirations, for he had already been adopted as prospective Liberal candidate for West Derbyshire in 1940, but then came WW2. During the war, he joined the RNVR as an Acting Sub Lieutenant.
Meantime, Chronander presumably remained at the helm of Chronander Waddington Aircraft, Ltd until it proved unfeasible, then operated a consultancy business as Aviation and Engineering Projects Ltd of 21-23, Hanworth Road, Feltham, Middlesex, and was responsible for the design of the Newbury Eon.
Carl Robert Chronander died on 1 January 2002 in Slough, Berkshire. James Ivor Waddington predeceased him, having passed away in June 1992 in Bournemouth, Hampshire.
Company References
- British Light Aeroplanes 1920 - 1940, Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume (GMS Enterprises, 2000)
- Flight 28 Oct 1937
- Flight 10 Dec 1936
- Flight 5 May 1938
- Flight 18 Aug 1938
- Aeroplane 23 Jan 1948
- Ancestry.com
- http://schoolarchivedemo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Blackburnian_1935_to_1939.pdf
Project Data
| Project No | Type No | Name | Alternative Name(s) | Year | Spec (Requirement) | Status | Qty | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cygnet | 1936 | See General Aircraft GAL.42 Cygnet | |||||||
| Swan | 1937 | Proj | 0 | 2E, 6 pax feederliner or executive type. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||||
Project References
- British Light Aeroplanes 1920-1940, Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume (GMS Enterprises, 2000)
- British Commercial Aircraft 1920-1940, Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume (GMS Enterprises, 2003)
- Flight 10 Dec 1936
- Flight 28 Oct 1937
- Flight 25 Nov 1937
- https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1614.0.html
Production Details and Type Description
Six passenger feeder liner, with passengers seated in two rows either side of a central aisle, each with their own window. Access was via a door on the port side, just aft of the wing trailing edge. Luggage was evenly distributed between two compartments, one in the long tapering nose and the second aft of the cabin, behind the toilet. The fuselage profile was continuously curved in plan and elevation from a maximum cross section at the main spar to a point at its aft end, and its construction was to be fairly orthodox, with framess and stringers. The wing design was unconventional, the spar booms being of Reynolds tubing. At the root end the booms were to be five tubes thick, with a progressive thinning out toward the tip where there was to be just a single 2in. tube. A patent flap was to be incorporated, having a rearward and downward motion. The tailplane was mounted high on the rear fuselage, with twin fins and rudders. Optional powerplants and undercarriages were proposed:
Two 200 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy Six Series I powerplants, with fixed pitch propellers and fixed undercarriage.
Two 205 h.p. de Havilland Gipsy Six Series II powerplants, with variable pitch propellers and retractable undercarriage.
Two 450 h.p. Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior powerplants, with variable pitch propellers and retractable undercarriage.
| Swan Specification (Gipsy Six Series II) | |||||||||
| Span | Length | Height | Wing Area | Empty Wt | Max AUW | Cruise Speed | Maximum Speed | Range | Service Ceiling |
| 46 ft | 36 ft | 10 ft | 3660 lb | 6000 lb | 175 mph/ 152 kn | 205 mph/ 178 kn | |||
| 14.02 m | 10.97 m | 3.05 m | 1660 kg | 2722 kg | 282 kph | 330 kph | |||
Total Company Production1