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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0183.PDF
Lewis were out again, and although the wind was rather heavy at times, Mr. Lewis's " Almono" made several good flights, one close on the quarter mile. The club meets again to-day (Saturday) at 2 o'clock on the Earlswood flying ground. St. Mary's Model Ac.C. (Sec, H. W. A. JOHNSON, THE VICARAGE, KINGSTON, PORTSMOUTH). THE second monthly competition was held on Saturday week. Results were as follows :—Distance : 1st, E. Eburne ; 2nd, E. Restall; 3rd, J. Haswell. Duration: 1st, E. Eburne; 2nd, C. Resta.ll; 3rd, J. Haswell. Point-to-point, of 60 yards side triangle : Winner, E. Eburne. Monthly business meeting was held on Wednesday last week. Subscription fund for glider was started, and a library committee was elected. On Saturday last there was a good attendance of members, and Messrs. C. Restall and H. Harper passed tests for third class certificates. Others making good progress. Salisbury Model Aero Club (Sec, S. J. ROBINSON, 39, CATHERINE STREET). DESPITE bad weather, several members were out on Wednes day. Sear made good flights, and Besant brought out a new biplane. Saturday saw some better flying. Sperring was the most fortunate, managing to put up a total for the afternoon of 3,438 ft., which has given him a good lead in the monthly aggregate distance competition. The secretary would like to see more " rise-from-the- ground " models, so as to warrant the institution of club records and competitions for this class of model. Scottish Ae.S. Model Aero Club (6, MCLELLAN STREET, GOVAN). ON Friday evening last week, in the institute, Mr. W. J. Phillips delivered an exceedingly bright address on " Fictional Flight." The lecturer dealt with the various " flyers," from Daedalus to Henson, and the beautiful selection of slides shown by limelight were much appreciated. The attendance was regrettably small, and the committee hope that members will turn out in larger numbers next Friday, March 1st, in the Institute, Elmbank Crescent, when Mr. Andrew Forson will speak on " Chassis Design." Friends interested are cordially invited. Members will please remember the smoking concert to be held on February 29th in the Lansdowne Restaurant, Hope Street. Much depends on the success of this event. There was a fair turn-out of members last Saturday at Barr head Aerodrome, when the second monthly competition took place. Results: Mr. W. Langlands, distance 1,014ft., duration 40! sees.; Mr. J. Mills, 985 ft., 41 sees. ; Mr. J. C. Balden, 629^ ft., 39^secs. Distance and duration are separate flights. Good flights by Messrs. Cameron, Donaldson, Ross and Gordon. Mr. Donaldson's machine caused great amusement by taking a " header " into the burn which flows along the boundary of the aerodrome. There will be model and kite flying at Ibrox to-day, Saturday. Members will oblige by turning up in force, as it is hoped to arrange definitely the venue of the hydro-aeroplane meeting. Several of these machines are now ready for trials. Floats are made from rubber tubing, as used in babies' feeding-bottles, inflated with cycle- valve and inflater. The second half of the club's year will commence about the middle of March, when new members will be admitted at a subscription of 4s, for the half session which ends in September. Full particulars and leaflets from the secretary, Mr. Wm. Foster, " Rochelle," Limeside Avenue, Rutherglen. Sheppey Model Aero Club (Sec, G. G. HARRIS, 40, WOOD STREET, SHEERNESS). ON Saturday last the first meeting of the club was held on Goodhew's Meadow, and resulted in some good sport. The " Mann " monoplane flown by Mr. H. Fuller made some good flights, but evidently requires tuning up, the last essay with it being about 400 ft. Mr. Harris put up the club's record to 730 ft., his model losing distance through circling. The " Baby Fuller" and Mr. Harris's 2i-oz. model also did well. Several new member*. were enrolled, and the club is now on a firm footing. New members will be heartily welcomed. Next meeting to-day (Saturday) on Goodhew's Meadow. Stony Stratford and District Kite and Model Ae.C. (Hon. Sec, O. HAMILTON, JON., OLD STRATFORD). A MEMBERS' general meeting was held on February 1st at the club-room, Mr. C. L. Matson in the chair, in the unavoidable absence of Mr. R. W. Field. In connection with the exhibit of models, it is proposed to open at 7.30 p.m. Members are requested to turn up at 7 p.m. with their models, &c Mr. R. Benbow (one of the members of the junior section) read the paper for the evening, entitled "Some Points in Models," by G. Pugh, an interchange with the Bootle and District Aero Club. An interesting discussion followed, in which Messrs. Brown, Benbow, Elmes, Matson, and the secretary took part. Members of the committee are requested to put in an appearance at the exhibit on February 29th, so the secretary can arrange a com mittee to draw up the programme for the opening day at the club ground, as the provisional date is only a month ahead. Worcester Model Aero Club (Sec, S. A. SEARS, VICTORIA INSTITUTE, WORCESTER). SOME fine flying took place at the club flying ground on Satur day, the weather conditions being perfect. Twelve machines of great variety were out. Messrs. Colton, Melhuish and Smith made the best performances ; everybody, however, suffered owing to their machines circling. Meeting as usual to-day (Saturday) at 3 o'clock on Pitchcroft. Yorkshire Ae.C. (Model Section) (5A, HULLAND ST., LEEDS). MEET to-day (Saturday) on Woodhouse Moor at 3 p.m. A lecture has been arranged to take place at the Hotel Metropole, on the 27th inst., particulars of which will have been sent to all members prior to the appearance of this notice. ® ® ® ® CORRESPONDENCE The name and address of the writer (not necessarily for publication) MUST in all cases accompany letters intended for insertion, or containing queries. Correspondents communicating with regard to letters which have appeared in FLIGHT, would much facilitate ready reference by quoting the number of each letter. Longitudinal Stability. [1496] I read Mr. Atkinson's article in FLIGHT of February 10th with interest, but the impression conveyed, if I understand it rightly, that " tail-in-front" machines ought to be more stable than " tail- behind " ones, is not confirmed by further consideration. The point that the angle of attack of the leading plane should exceed that of the trailing one has been long established. The other point— relating to the travel of the resultant centre of pressure—is, I believe, novel, but its value is open to question, I fear. If we put 8 = 0 in the expression for the ratio Sj/S; denoted by «, we find S, sin a = So sin 0, which means that the loads carried by the two planes should be equal, and the displacement is nearly a maximum for any small angles of tilt, such as I or 2 degrees. If this result has any real significance, it is an argument in favour of Langley's type of biplane tandem; bat as Langley's type has not so far come into use, the point is not of much practical interest. With regard to tails, I take it that a " tail" means a plane, carrying load or not, which is fairly small compared to the main plane—say, one-fourth to one-tenth of it in area. If now we assume a value of K—say, K = S1/S2 = £, the leading plane is the tail; if we assume »c = S1/Si, = 6, the trailing plane is the tail. Take now a concrete instance, with sin a = \; sin 0 = yV ; that is nearly enough a - 7"; 0 = 5f°; and assuming 0 to be a fraction of the same sort of size, solve for 0 in Mr. Atkinson's 183 formula. With tail first, 0 = — ^V nearly, really a shade less. With the tail behind, 9 = | nearly, really a shade more. These are the values of the tilt, and are downward at which the displacement of the centre of pressure is a maximum. The advantage, if any, lies with the tail behind, but the conditions are at least dangerous, for in both cases the main plane is edge on to the line of flight, and is giving no support. The machine, as a whole, must lie therefore falling with a large acceleration, and subsequent events must be really determined by the altitude, regarding the horizontal, which it has taken up (which depends on its path since it began to tilt over) and its speed, which may have varied in consequence, rather than by trifling differences in the travel of the cp. ; for it will be found that altering K from 6 to 4, for instance, makes very little difference in the limiting angles. In fact these and other like questions of stability regarding aeroplanes cannot be settled by methods which ignore angular and other accelerations. There are corresponding questions about the stability of ships. A ship must have some "stiffness" when upright. The corresponding point in an aero plane is that the leading angle of attack must be the largest. But the form which gives great stiffness to a ship is one thing, while small angles of roll and general steadiness are other things, and these three things are not only different, but so inconsistent that great stiffness may be not only uncomfortable, but dangerous. The aeroplane must have some stiffness, but how much is in its case, as in that of the ship, a question whose answer is not easy to find, and cannot be found by those simple methods which are perfectly com- - petent to deal with steady motion. Belfast. MAURIGB R. FITZGERALD, M.I.M.E.
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