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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0092.PDF
FEBRUARY 5, 1910. Side elevation and plan of the large all-British rhomboidal aeroplane now nearing completion. Essentially the shape of the planes is rhomboidal, with a similarly rhomboidal opening that causes the two front surfaces to be considerably narrower than the two rear surfaces, as may be seen in several of the illustra tions. The fore and aft axis lies diagonally across between the two more acute angles of the rhombus, and from either side of this axis the surfaces slope upwards slightly to give the familiar dihedral angle form of construction, the advantages of which most of our readers already know. All that need be added on general principles is that the leading edges of the narrower front, and ot the wider back planes are rendered rigid, while all trailing edges are not only made flexible but are given a normal downward trend ; for these are the features upon which reliance is placed for giving unusual stability for the machine, and carrying the load centrally in such a way that its weight is equally distributed without any undue concentration of strain at any one place. We do not propose at the moment to go into the question of the why and wherefore for the automatic stability which is apparently obtained, but it will of course be observed that the large central aperture essentially tends that way,
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