FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0049.PDF
"=r_.#»iJTl JANUARY 15, 1910. 1/UGHT] CORRESPONDENCE. * * Tne name and address of the writer not necessarily fJr p*Wat<4H,)t MUST in all cases accompany letters intended for insertion, or containing queries. Correspondents asking questions relating to articles which they have read in FLIGHT, would much facilitate our work of reference by kindly indicating the volume and page in their letters. downwards in the direction of the arr< NOTE.—Owing to the great mass of valuable and interest ing correspondence which we receive, immediate publica tion is impossible, but each letter will appear practically in sequence and at the earliest possible moment. SURFACING. [284] In answer to your correspondent, re-surfacing, I thought the method I adopted might be useful. I made a number of wood blocks the shape of the curved ribs, and fastened them in position on a board thus, with pins, with the heads cut off to keep in position. Having stuck one of the main spars to the fabric, I fastened i* to one edge of the ribs, covered the ribs with adhesive, brought the •fabric over, and fastened the other spar down, and left until quite dry ; carefully removed them from the blocks by raising them with a chisel, and screwed the webs on to the main spar from beneath. I found this quite satisfactory, and the planes kept in position without any tendency to curl. Of course the webs were already steamed and bent. Bedford. L. HALSEY. LARGE ELASTIC MOTORS. [285] Would you or one of your correspondents say whether it is possible to drive a 6 ft. 2 in. spread biplane (with tail) of Voisin type by an elastic motor? I propose taking off the front elevator and using the tail for that purpose, so as to make it possible. Doncaster. C. G. H. WILKINSON. [A supplementary question arising out of our correspondent's letter seems to be, what is the largest size elastic motor which has been tried ? F. W. Lanchester, in his early experiments, built a high-speed monoplane, 7 ft. in length, driven by twin screws under the action of two skeins of rubber, weighing together nearly f lb. The energy of propulsion stored in the two skeins when fully wound up amounted in all to about I,coo ft.-lbs. ; the total number of pro peller revolutions available was 500. Probably not more than 50 per cent, of the energy was usefully employed in the propulsion. The propellers were 17! ins. in diameter, and had a pitch of approxi mately 20 ins. The total weight of the machine, which was of very light construction, was only 2\ lbs. Perhaps some of our readers will give particulars of their own best •efforts in this direction.—ED.] DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION. ;[286] As many readers of FLIGHT have lately brought forward practical improvements in aeroplane and glider construction, I beg •to submit a few details that, I hope, may be of use to those engaged in practical aeronautics. In the first place, constructors will find that a large amount of ^timber, especially spruce, has to be thrown away owing to knots being found on the surface of long narrow scantlings, such as used for the transverse rails and tail outriggers, &c. In my case, about half the wood has been wasted on this account alone, but I have resorted to a method which has obviated the necessity of throwing away, to a great extent, an otherwise good piece of wood. As shown in Fig. 1, £-• 1 Hatdwoji oUwtls T'i.Q 1 the knot, if near the surface, is cut out and replaced by an inserted piece of hardwood cut on the skew, so that the join does not cut the wood abruptly and weaken it. This is then dowelled and bradded in whilst the wood is being pressed . this has the effect of opening the join, allowing the spliced piece to go further in, and when released, automatically tightening up the join. A simple method of attaching the vertical and horizontal stays to the tail outrigger or fusilage of an aeroplane or glider is shown in Fig. 2. %<^z A couple of steel strips are bent round the outrigger as per sketch, their ends brought together over steel strips fitted into the stays; a hole is then run through the three which, when tightened, should draw the whole together. The diagonal stay wire is attached to a stiff wire eyelet inserted in the angle of the inner steel strip. In Flg- 3 is shown a neat and strong rocker arm for controlling the elevator, rudder, or other moving aerofoil. This can be made PULTl. MvLaj^cJ of tastnu) A with two tapered oval cycle forks brazed with their butt ends together into a light malleable iron casting, which bolts on to the pivoted transverse rail. These tapered fork tubes can also be made good use of where a light and strong lever is required for purposes of control, and many methods of utilising them will suggest themselves to the thinking constructor. Sheffield. MACHBLI. MORTIMER. [287] TRIAL GROUND WANTED. It is my intention to try an entirely new idea in aeroplanes early this year, but being'only a visitor to your country I am at a 45
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
