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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0494.PDF
HOW TO OPERATE A BL,£lUOT MONOPLANE. By EARLE L. OVINGTON, BL^RIOT PILOT. THE following article, published in the columns of our American contemporary, Aero, is from the pen of one who has probably flown a greater distance over American soil in a Bleriot monoplane than any other pilot. He graduated at the Bleriot school at Pau, in the south of Prance, and amongst his successes was the winning of the ,£2,000 prize offered by the Boston Globe for the fastest cross country night over a course embracing three States :— " The systems of control of almost all practical aeroplanes are essentially the same. In other words actual flying machines of the present day employ a vertical rudder to steer in the horizontal plane, one or more elevators to steer in the vertical plane and some form of manually operated lateral control device. To be sure one machine may steer by means of a cross-bar operated by the feet, while another will operate through a wheel, as in an automobile. For View of the controls on Ovington's Bleriot monoplane. ateral stability one manufacturer prefers to use one contrivance, while another employs a different one. The fundamental principle, however, of all machines is practically the same. " The principal thing in operating an aeroplane of any descrip tion, is to become so acquainted with tlic control that the manipula tion of the machine in actual flight is absolutely intuitive or instinctive on the part of the aviator. " Psychologists tell us that we have two minds, our objective and our subjective mind. The objective part of our mental make-up is that which is used in ordinary everyday life ; we might term it our reasoning mind. It takes time for this part of our mentality to work. " Our subjective mind is that part of our mind which is ordinarily beyond the control of the individual. Some designate the operation of the subjective mind as intuition, while others say that it is instinctive. At any event, operations controlled by the subjective mind are usually performed without any conscious thinking on the part of the individual. " Unquestionably the best aviators of the present day are sub- ective flyers ; that is, they do not stop to think every time they re the control levers of their aeroplane. And the whole object of training is to so educate the student that the movement of his control levers is absolutely instinctive, requiring no conscious effort. " I shall describe the operation of a Bleriot monoplane, because it is the machine with which I have had the most experience, although at many of the meets during the past season, I have flown the Curtiss biplane. In justice to the Curtiss machine, I will say that it is the most instinctive form of control with which I am acquainted, for none of the movements of the control are at a variance with what one would naturally do under the circumstances. However, if a man can fly a ticklish monoplane, he can fly about anything with a little additional practice. "One of our photographs shows a detail view of the cock-pit of my Bleriot monoplane. This machine is driven by a 70-h.p. seven cylinder Gnome rotating motor, and is of the latest racing type. Its speed in still air is more than 70 miles per hour. " Seated comfortably upon a little chair-like seat, fitted with a four-inch hair cushion, my feet rest upon a cross-bar to which are attached the steel wires running to the vertical rudder at the tail of the machine. If I wish to go to the left, a pressure on the left foot is all that is required, on the other hand, if I wish to turn to the right, it is only necessary for me to press the right foot. Certainly this is not very difficult. " The lever which you see in the picture, surmounted by a small wheel, is the lever to which the wires are attached that run to the elevator immediately in front of the rudder at the tail of the machine. Wires also run from this lever to the wings so that wing-warping may be introduced to obtain lateral stability. Although there is a wheel at the top of this lever, it does not turn, but simply forms a convenient method of grasping this lever with either one hand or the other or both. " Racing across the ground it is only necessary for me to pull the lever towards me, after the speed has increased sufficiently, for the machine to rise rapidly. Placing the lever in a vertical position the machine flies horizontally. If I wish to descend I push the lever forward, which process elevates the tail, and down I come. Neither operation is very difficult. " The most dangerous part of controlling an aeroplane of the present day is in maintaining what is called lateral stability, that is, keeping the aeroplane on an even keel. In the Bleriot this is accomplished by wing-warping. If my machine tips to the left, I push the control over to the right, which process increases the angle of incidence on the low wing and decreases the angle of incidence on the high wing, with the result that the lift on the low wing is greater than on the high wing, and there is a force introduced which tends to bring the machine back to its horizontal position. To operate the lateral control mechanism is what takes practice. " Often, in emergency cases, all three controls must be actuated at once. For instance, assume I am flying horizontally and strike a so-called ' air-hole,' which tilts me towards the left at a dangerous angle. I do three things. First, I rush the rudder over with my right foot to increase the speed, and hence the lift of my left or lower wing. Incidentally, the speed of the right wing is lessened and its lift consequently decreased. Second, I put my lateral control lever hard over to the right. Third, I push my elevator control forward to make the machine drop. The resulting increase of speed gives my controls greater effect. In active practice, the vertical lever actuating the lateral stability and elevator devices is moved diagonally forward and to the right, thus incorporating the two movements into one. " It is necessary for those who wish to learn to operate any aero plane to do considerable ' grass-cutting ' at first, in order that they may be thoroughly acquainted with the control of their machine and also become accustomed to rushing through space at a high velocity. It may seem easy to steer a machine on the ground, from one point to another, but until you have tried it in a monoplane, you do not realize how difficult it is. Even to an experienced operator, it is more difficult to steer a straight course on the aerodrome, when the machine is rolled along the ground than when flying. This is due to the fact that the rudder is designed for operation at a mile a minute, and not for slower speed on the ground ; hence the surface is not very great. Incidentally a machine flying in the air offers very much less resistance to turning than one wheeling along the ground. " After one has become thoroughly acquainted with the machine, he may venture to take hops into the air. " The principal thing about which I wish to warn embryo aviators is not to make sudden movements of their control. In order to rise, for instance, it is not necessary to pull the control towards you six or eight inches, as usually one or two inches is all that is necessary. I have seen so many students get into a machine, give the control- lever a pull towards them, and then practically stand the machine on 49^
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