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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0287.PDF
MAY 22, 1909. THE NEW GOVERNMENT FLIGHT OFFICE AND HOME OF THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORA- TORY, BUSHEY HOUSE. To a large number of people the matter of fact way in which a headquarters was instantly decided upon when the Government had matured its plans for the establish- Air, like water, is a fluid, and so experiments in water are sometimes aconvenient way of observing the conditions which take place in air. The above photograph shows a trough, through which water is circulated inorder to investigate its effect on a submerged object. ment of an official Committee on Flight may have come somewhat as a surprise, for it is possible that they may have had no occasion to be aware of the existence of the National Physical Laboratory which has its principal home at Bushey House, Teddington. That institution, however, is one of those of which everyone Englishman should be proud, for its purpose is to keep practical •science in this country on a level, and, if ipossible, ahead of other nations. Some ipeople seem very fond of complaining that England is always behind in this, that, or the other branch of knowledge, but they •seem to forget that experimental work of the kind on which the great scientific pro- fessions build their foundations is of a very- expensive character, takes a long time to carry out, and can only be satisfactorily undertaken by trained men who have attained the highest degree of specialisation in that sort of work. To conduct such ex- perimental work out of the resources of an individual firm is essentially to handicap progress in competition with any country in which the State is prepared to assist, so it should not be difficult to realise the funda- mental importance to the nation of an -institution like that at Bushey House. In various departments of engineering and physics, the .National Physical Laboratory has been carrying on work of a corresponding character to that which they will now, it is hoped, be enabled to carry out in the furtherance of the science of flight. On the general Board of the Institution are representatives of all the great scientific societies related to the allied industries in the United King- dom, and much of the work which is carried out there is undertaken at the insti- gation and expense of the firms who wish to be specially informed on the subjects in question. This work is, of course, supple- mentary to that which can be conducted out of the State subsidy, which is sufficient to ensure the maintenance of an efficient staff and the carrying out of certain funda- mental work. It is, of course, all a question of funds, without which nothing can be done, and a rich man anxious to help his country in a useful way might, we have often thought, do far worse than " endow " a series of experiments on some subject which he has more or less at heart. In the development of the science of flight it is pleasing to find men of means and leisure coming forward, attracted doubt- less in the main by its sporting aspect, to investigate the purely practical side of the subject. They are undertaking an arduous and extremely important task, which is not without its element of danger Among the earliest experiments undertaken at the National PhysicalLaboratory were some made by Dr. T. E. Stanton on air resistance, small models being mounted in the above case, and subjected to the draught ofa fan. Some idea of the precautions -which have to be taken may be gathered from the fact that it was not found possible to use a plate ofmore than 5 ins. in diameter in a channel 4- ft. across, lest the effect of the walls should disturb the conditions. nor unclouded by the prospect of many failures. But it is indeed a great thing for science when there are to be found men, who might otherwise remain com- 289 c
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