FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0681.PDF
AUGUST 20, 1910. great motorist; it would never do to call him a driver. Perhaps the best example of an adopted term of this kind is to be found in the phrase " he is a fine whip." In course of time, when the effort will be a little less forced, something as neat may be found for air men. In many ways the word flyer is a useful term for the purpose, and is, moreover, appropriate to the machine and to the man. Perhaps it is best used in reference to the abstract quality rather than to the concrete machine—as, for instance, in such a sentence as " The latest model is a better flyer than the first"—and may be left as a general rather than a technical term. We scarcely expected that our new-coined word aerocar would pass uncriticised, but in the matter of alternatives we disagree with our correspondent's view that the word airship is a permissible generic. It seems to us that the least desirable thing to do in building up the terminology of a new science is to change the use of a term from one of specific reference to do duty in the capacity of a generic. There is not the least shadow of doubt that the word airship has hitherto been used as signifying dirigible balloon, and to anyone who has followed aeronautics at all it still has that meaning. This fact cannot be disregarded, for to do so is to disregard the sole purpose of any effort to establish a useful vocabulary of aeronautical terms. It would not matter if such terms never got further than the dictionary; but we have to use them every day, and although it is quite true that we may be doing a little to assist posterity, the main purpose of our work is to help the present generation to understand what they read about the subject. Now and again placards have lately appeared in the London streets bearing legends to the effect that this or that airship has done something marvellous or come to grief. The airship has almost invariably turned out to be an aeroplane. We feel convinced that this misuse of the term is only the result of ignorance about the accepted distinction between the two types of machine. The journals in question have undoubtedly wished to give the public the fullest possible information, and we are perfectly certain that they would never tolerate such a careless report if they were acquainted with the facts. Now the question is, does the public at large want to be acquainted with the facts ? Just at the moment it may be all the same to the majority of people as to whether it is an airship or an aeroplane, but in a very short while the all-round interest in the subject will have developed to a degree where the amount of technical information that is now considered superfluous will be regarded as childishly insufficient. What will the man in the street say later on when he buys a halfpenny evening paper to read the particulars relating to a placarded notice of " an Army airship disaster," and finds that instead of the wreck of a ,£100,000 dirigible it is only some old hack biplane that has had its skid broken by a pilot recruit. We have nothing to say against the appropriateness of the word airship as a generic, but we have every objection to its present use in that capacity, because of the confusion that results therefrom. If it could be abandoned altogether for a period, a future generation could reinstate it as a generic if it were wanted, but that we must leave to chance and the future generation. The alternative for air ship, which is dirigible, is a very useful term ; but, on the other hand, it is a very feeble effort if it has to stand by itself, for it is after all nothing but the adjectival prefix of a compound noun, the full term being dirigible-balloon. This, however, we consider as quite immaterial when compared with the generic use of the term airship itself. The use of the word 'plane as an abbreviation for the word aeroplane is, we oonsider, also* undesirable, for the simple reason that the term plane is needed to define the wings of an aeroplane. It will have been observed that the general construction of terms in our article involved the systematic prefix of the word aero in cases where a machine or the thing as a whole is implied, thu> leaving the abbreviated words for component parts of the machine. Thus for the same reason that we disapprove of the abbreviation 'plane as signifying aeroplane, so do we consider it undesirable to use the word aeroplane when only the planes themselves are meant. It is really rather comical that the Americans should be developing a tendency to adopt the word lifter instead of elevator, when they studiously persist in retaining the longer term to define the apparatus now used in all big buildings that we in England have always been satisfied to call the lift. Perhaps this is rather an argument in favour of our own adoption of the word lijler, and as an alternative for elevator it is certainly worth consideration. We can scarcely express an equal appreciation of the word riser, however, which is rather too much of an example of the unfortunate type of Americanism. It is interesting to have Mr. Jane's opinion on port and starboard and we should like to have that of others who are similarly acquainted with their use from a naval point of view. For our own part we should certainly prefer to see left and right adopted if they meet all exigencies equally well.—ED.] MODELS. TESTING MODEL PROPELLERS. [699] Some of your readers may wish to know of a cheap and profitable way of testing propeller forms. I have not had time to do more than verify the efficiency of the blade of constant pitch, but think that the method has many merits. I have bought a number of those toys which consist of a tin-plate propeller bored square to fit a twisted square rod ; being forced along this they fly off at the free end, owing to their high speed of rotation. The crude shape (1) rises only some 20 ft., but a pro peller bent so as to have constant pitch (2) has risen over 100 ft., though but 4 ins. diameter. No. 3 flies still better, having a pitch increasing from tip to root. A consideration of the relative velocities of entering edge and air when the propeller has an upward \jelocity will show that this form should be better than that of constant pitch. The energy of flight is, of course, kinetic, and much might be done by large propellers loaded with split shot near the tips, whereby the length of flight would be increased. Square iron rod can be slowly twisted up in the lathe. Steel " bosses " would be best on account of wear. I find that bending the tips downwards (4) improves the flight or these toys ; centrifugal losses are, no doubt, avoided by it. Not having time to carry it out, I would suggest the building of direct-lift models on the kinetic principle, with large loaded aluminium or wood propellers for horizontal and vertical movement, connected by light small steel shafts and gearing, as in Fig. 5. The advantages of the above methods of testing are that a moving test is made, that the tests are quickly and cheaply repeated (the toys cost \d. and upwards). Battersea. WOULD-BE AERONAUT. MODEL MONOPLANE. [700] I herewith enclose a photo of a model monoplane which I have just made. It is approximately 1 in. to 1 ft. scale, and is a combination of various makes. All the wood used is stream line—about \ in. by 71r. in.—except the four main frame-members, which are square. It is also fitted with an eight-cylinder "V" type engine, radiator, petrol-tank, seat, and levers for the rudder and warping of the main planes. All the wheels have shock-absorbers similar to the Hanriot machines. The planes are double surfaced, and the body is braced with wire as shown in letter 594. The whole machine can be taken to pieces in less than a minute, and put together again in about the same time. It is not a wonderful flyer—in fact it only averages 80 to 100 ft. on a calm day. Brockley Road. " KLARK."
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
