FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0326.PDF
(T^GHT] classification of originality, display a marked absence of logical thought on the part of the designer, based, it would seem in most cases, on a lack of appreciation of what has already been done in the practical field. We feel convinced that there is nothing more conducive to the acquisition of this intelligent appreciation of the why and wherefore of things as they are, than the practice of writing short essays setting forth the claim of things as would-be designers think they ought to be ; and fundamentally our own little prize scheme will be found to have the purpose of encouraging such thought and interest in the hope that it may help those who take part in it to materialise their mental labours in an actual model of set purpose at Olympia next year. In some respects this particular section of model-making must always present special difficulties for those who have APRIL 15, 1911. things are, this happens no longer to be a new idea ; but it is not necessarily any the less a useful notion because it has not been generally adopted, and it would show an appre ciation of things as they are, for the young model-maker to realise that one of the causes of this state of affairs is doubt less due to the mechanical difficulty of making the required adjustment. Here, therefore, is an opportunity for the inventor with an engineering turn of mind, who, having learned enough of aerodynamics to understand the purpose of the general manoeuvre, sets himself definitely to work to G. T. R. Hill's biplane, which also tied for second place for workmanship. to award prizes in connection therewith. In the first place it is necessary always to bear in mind that flight is based on the great science of aerodynamics, which science plays a secondary part in most of the other fields of practical engineering, A close study and appreciation of the principles of aerodynamics and their application to flying machines should, therefore, be the first consideration of all model- makers. To those working purely along this line it will be evident that a model which is useful for the purpose of demonstrating some important principle in aerodynamics need not necessarily bear any resemblance to an actual machine. On the other hand, this same category broadly conceived also includes models that are built to demonstrate the working of- some purely mechanical device in connection with the construction or control of the machine. In this case the aerodynamic considerations may conceivably play a less important part as compared with a knowledge of ordinary engineering, although we cannot imagine anyone succeeding in winning a prize who failed to appreciate" the fundamental aerodynamic situation in the first instance. MODEL AIRSHIPS AT OLYMPIA. "Flight ' Copyright. The Gordon Jones dihedral biplane, which gained the second prize for flying. evolve a mechanism suitable for the purpose of giving it effect. In this case it is obvious that the model must go into detail just as far as may be necessary to indicate clearly the essential points of the suggested method. If, for the sake of example, someone studying this subject saw that by an ingenious rearrangement of the guy-wires it would be possible to allow the movement of the wings to take place without altering their present strength, then a simple little model of the whole machine showing this new disposition of the wires is the kind of thing required. Another com petitor might tackle the question of a suitable mounting for the wing-spars, or a special mechanism for rocking them, in which cases the exhibit would properly consist of a fairly large-scale working model of the devices in question, with a mere statement as to the types of actual machine to which they are applicable. We emphasise these points at some length because it is- precisely in respect to the appreciation of the true purpose I. A, Isenthal, model Zeppelin, 'Flight" Copyright, 2. J. Buzzard Thus, for example, suppose we take the basic idea of varying the angle of incidence of the wings of a monoplane in flight without altering the attitude of the body. In the first instance this would have been an original idea, and then some quite simple and possibly unmechanical con struction would have been sufficient in order to illustrate it as an idea, always assuming of course that the purpose of the arrangement, from the aerodynamic standpoint had been clearly and logically set forth by the competitor. As of this side of model-making that the exhibit at Olympia fails this year as it has failed before. Exhibitors in many cases show models that are quite obviously too crude to illustrate anything but a basic idea, and either the idea in question is not original, or it clearly shows a lack of apprecia tion of fundamental aerodynamic principles. In most cases, too, where models have been exhibited to show mechanical details, the general principles of engineering have been ignored. 328
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
