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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0142.PDF
[fm!i attempting a flight. Conversely, it seems as though the machine, especially as it is credited with such high speed as 88 miles per hour would require an enormous length of ground in which to come to rest after landing. To modify this we would favour the adoption of some form of braking device, for the chances of always finding large spaces to alight on are scarcely to be relied upon. The landing chassis is, as we have already remarked, one of extreme strength and simplicity. The common axle uniting the two wheels is attached to two arcs of hickory, a most suitable wood to use. At their forward extremity these arcs are hinged to the fuselage and at their rear end they are united by a strong piece of wood, which, in its turn, is strapped by means of cotton-covered rubber ® ® IMPRESSIONS AT TH By DR. E. IT has everywhere been the claim of the motor car industry, says Dr. Valentin in the Allgemeine Automobil Zeitung, that applica tions of the high-speed internal combustion engine to other purposes fell within the sphere of its activity, and so among others that of aerial flight. Nevertheless, for some time the claim to this rapidly growing industry was disputed, on the one hand by the coach builder on the grounds that the wooden framework was the main object, the motor being but an accessory to be fitted by any mechanic, on the other hand by the shipbuilder owing to the (super ficial) similarity between the two modes of propulsion. Motor car engineers, however, view this struggle with equanimity, remembering but too well how, some ten or fifteen years ago, they themselves had been the subject of a similar contest between the locomotive works, the carriage builder, and the general engineering industry, which struggle was to result not in the success of one of the claimants, but in the rise of a new and entirely independent branch of the engineering industry. In going the round of the Paris Show one could not but be struck by the fact that something very much similar is happening to the flying machine and its attendant industry. Already one can affirm with decision that the times are past when bamboo, twine, tintacks, and glue, were necessary ingredients in the construction of an aeroplane. The flying machine is passing through the stages of constructional development as the motor car did before it. In a construction based on the interchangeable system, where parts have sometimes to be replaced rapidly by accurately fitting spares, a material so unsuited for this sort of thing as wood is steadily being replaced by metals of various kinds. Indeed, those parts which are still made of wood are more and more designed as entirely separate from those of metal to enable them to be built in separate independent departments of the works. This shows that the construction of flying machines is tending to alter from the manufacture of single machines to that of series. And the requirements for military purposes will assist in emphasising the desirability of this step. Though even at the late Show it was not possible to speak of a standard type or even types, and though the great diversity among the types of engine adopted was disappointing to a seeker after standardisation, yet the direction which the successful designer is to take in the near future was most clearly indicated. Just as early motor cars were wooden vehicles into which an engine had subsequently been built; and as this stage was passed by the wood and steel-plate (i.e. armoured) frame on the one hand, and the tubular construction on the other ; all finally to be superseded by the pressed steel frame ; so at the Show were to be found examples of construction of wood, armoured wood, steel tubes, and finally (though still few) of pressed steel. Another conspicuous analogy is to be found in the place allotted to the power-plant. Many of the cars built at the end of last century had the driver's seat right in front, the engine being frequently at the opposite extremity. Only very slowly did the recognition come that the motor should be located in front of the driver under a separate, and easily removable cover, so as to facilitate inspection, cleaning, oiling, &c, but above all to enable the radiator to have the benefit of the most advantageous cooling position. And so in the aeroplane various positions have been tried ; sometimes the pilot sat in front, the motor being immediately behind him ; sometimes it was placed by his side, the drive to the propeller being by means of a chain ; sometimes even it was placed over his head ; at the Show, however, the majority of machines showed a similarity in construction in so far that the motor was in most cases situated in front between the propeller and the pilot. Where so situated, the motor is protected by a bonnet which, however, does not imjiede the flow of air to the cylinders in the case of air-cooled engines. Where water-cooling has been adopted the opinions still seem to differ as to the most satisfactory situation for the radiator, but even here designers are beginning to acknowledge that the position adopted in motor-car 'design is on the whole the most satisfactory. Automobile engineers have already tried and FEBRUARY 17, 1912. cord to a reinforced cross member of the lattice girder body. The cross bracing of the chassis can scarcely be accused of offering a great deal of head resistance for, to impart rigidity only six wires, they really should be termed light rods, are used ; these passing through the arcs and tightened, Valkyrie fashion, by means of nuts and lock nuts on the outside. In common with a great many other machines to-day, especially those of modern origin, no attempt has been made to provide for the accommodation for a bodily sideways movement of the machine on landing. Constituting, as this machine really does, a decided advance in aeronautical design it will be interesting to notice what effect these many innovations will have on future practice. ® ® E PARIS AERO SHOW. VALENTIN. rejected as unpractical the various dispositions, such as could still be seen at the Show, e.g. of employing long tubes running along the sides of the frame, or underneath the frame, or over the motor, &c. ; even the spiral cooler shown by one firm was no novelty, as the Eisenach Car Works tested such a device some 9 years ago. In two other important points the aeroplane builders are profiting by our experience, viz., in the use of a body to protect the pilot and passengers, and in the springing of the framework of the aeroplane itself. Hydraulic springs, rubber bands, spring wheels, &c, all have been tried and abandoned by the car designer and have had to yield to the laminated spring, and so it is with the aeroplane, for though it cannot be said that the springing of our motor cars is ideal, yet we know that all the various devices tried are inferior to the laminated spring inflexibility, simplicity, reliability and ever- readiness. With regard to the bodywork, advance in this was much en evidence at the Show the unprotected seat of the pilot and passenger having given way, as it has done on the car, to a carefully designed body whereby the head resistance may be diminished and eddy currents avoided, and in which proper upholstering has added much to the comfort of both pilot and passengers. But there are further points which, it is evident, the aeroplane designer will have to copy from car practice, if flying is to become safer and more convenient. Thus a clutch will be interposed between the engine and the propeller to avoid the necessity of getting outside help in starting up, and to enable the propeller to be stopped without at the same time stopping the motor as has hitherto, of necessity, been the case. Then again, brakes will have to be applied, as has already been attempted, to enable a more rapid stop to be made in landing. The burnt gases will not (as has been the case so far) be allowed to escape into the atmosphere with the noise of a quick-firing gun, but will be silenced as on a car. In short, the experience which the car builder has gained in the course of years, and at considerable expense, has to a great extent had, and will have to a still greater, a profound influence on the design of the aeroplane. ® ® ® ® SOARING FLIGHT AND KITE FLYERS. THE discussion on soaring flight at the Aeronautical Society, on Tuesday, January 30th, maintained the successful character of other recent meetings, and the Society was also fortunate in enlisting the support of such a prominent man as Sir John Wolfe-Barry, K.C.B., F.R.S., to take the chair in succession to Maj.-Gen. R. M. Ruck, C.B., and Sir George Darwin, K.C.B., F.R.S., who presided at the earlier meetings this session. A variety of very interesting information was contributed to the discussion by the speakers, and it is still very evident that considerable diversity of opinion still exists as to the principles on which soaring flight is based. There is one matter that occurs to us in connection with this subject, which is that a considerable amount of useful data might be collected by means of kite flying. The Kite and Model Aeroplane Association might perhaps be willing to consider the possibility of collecting such evidence in the interests of science, and we would suggest that one of the most straightforward investigations that could be proceeded with at the present time is for kite flyers in all parts of the country to record what they know of the weather conditions in which they can possibly make their kites soar. Soaring on the part of a kite is accomplished when the kite itself flies at the end of a vertical string. It is necessary, of course, that the kite should be properly designed with as little head resistance as possible, in order that it may easily obtain sufficient propulsive force from the wind whenever the meteorological conditions satisfy the theoretical requirements for soaring flight. Lawrence Hargrave, it may be recalled, was one of the first to experiment in this way, and we believe that close study of this branch of" the art would bring to light many interesting facts, especially if carried out over a wide zone, but under the segis of a central organisation like the Kite and Model Aeroplane Association. 142
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