FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0050.PDF
(/ucfig CORRESPONDENCE. Safety Aeroplanes. [l8lQ] Further to my letter on the subject of safety aeroplanes, which you kindly published in your issue of November 8th (1807), I note with interest Mr. Coanda's letter (1815) on this matter and the strew laid on the necessity for '' unloolced for efforts by means of controls " (an essential feature of the phenomenon to which he refers), which really amounts to " control efforts " such as to render a machine capable of rapidly recovering the normal position under all circum- ftancet. It is, of course, apparent that a machine possessing planes of a uniform chord, with the whole lift distributed laterally, must be subject to " rolling" and considerable effort on the part of the pilot to maintain an " even keel " when encountering severe wind gusts. These effects, however, would be less marked with tapered planes, which compound the air velocity in order to distribute the lift laterally and longitudinally, provided some means were employed whereby the machine would be rendered less susceptible to dives, &c. Having made a series of experiments in accordance with my views hereon, I am about to introduce a machine which will give stability by means of stabilising planes, interconnected and acting under load in such a manner as to automatically "line" the machine to the prevailing atmospherical conditions, such that no upsetting tendency prevails. These stabilising planes maintain a uniform plane lift, any pressure in excess of their normal lifting capacity being disposed of automatically, without any " damping out " process or series of oscillations about their combined axes of rotation. Battersea, S.W. JOHN W. ROBINS. Some Suggestions. [1820] Can any of your correspondents give a good reason for the persistence of aeroplane constructors in making machines with a very small dihedral ? Models clearly show that a large dihedral makes an otherwise unstable machine into a stable one, and, JANUARY 10, 1914. indeed, into a machine which will right itself if it be started in an inverted position. . .... An aeroplane which will glide at all m an inverted posttion is a dangerous machine. , The writer has been often struck by side gusts, and an instant application of the control becomes necessary ; but if the machine had been a laterally self-righting one, the whole incident would have been met with much equanimity on each occasion, for the immediate effect of the gust may be more marked, but the ultimate result of it negligible. Models also show that it is not at all essential to have the centre of effort and the centre of gravity in the same line, or very near it. With regard to engine failure due to misfiring through a choked sparking gap, a form of sparking-plug in which there is a hollow space with a narrow aperture dead in line with the gap effects a strong blast on the gap space on each explosion and expansion stroke and keeps it clear of deposit. The use of two propellers, large and concentrically mounted, and driven at a comparatively slow. speed, would make an aeroplane easier in every way, and the question of the differential gear needed does not seem to be beyond our engineers' skill. Two independent engines, acting concentrically, is also possible, and has many advantages. tf there are inherent difficulties in the above suggestions, the j BLAST writer would be very grateful to have them pointed out. Pembridge Crescent. B2. Mr. Cecil Pashley Hying with a passenger at Shcreham Aerodrome. 50 Flight" Copyright,
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
