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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0105.PDF
FEBRUARY 18, 1926 AMERICAN AERONAUTICS Eleventh Annual Report of the American National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics ALTHOUGH it contains administrative reports only, and not the technical reports, there is much in the eleventh annual Teport of the American National Committee for Aeronautics, just published, to interest British readers. It would obviously be impossible for us to publish the report in full, nor would such publication be of any great interest, but in the follow- ing abstracts and summaries will be found, we trust, most 01 the items of particular interest to British readers. The Eleventh Annual Report covers the year 1925, and it is somewhat significant that a copy of it should reach Great Britain already during January, 1926. The Americans are " hustlers " in most things, and their Research Committee is evidently no exception to the rule. Before dealing in detail with some of the reports given, it may be of interest to give a brief outline of the history and organisation of the American National Advisory Committee. The Committee was established by Act of Congress in 1915. Under American law the Committee holds itself at the service of any department or agency of the American Govern- ment interested in aeronautics for the furnishing of information or assistance in regard to scientific or technical matters re- lating to aeronautics, and in particular for the investigation and study of fundamental problems submitted by the War and Navy Departments. The Committee may also exercise its functions for any individual, firm, association or corpora- tion within the United States, provided such individual or firm defray the cost involved. The Committee institutes research, investigation, and study of problems which are needful and timely for the advance of the science and art of aeronautics in its various branches, and keeps itself advised of the progress made in research and experi- mental work in aeronautics in all parts of the world, particu- larly in England, France, Italy, Germany, and Canada. The information thus gathered is brought to the attention of the various sub-committees for consideration in connec- tion with the preparation of programmes for research and experimental work in America. This information is a'so made available promptly to the military and naval air services and other branches of the government, and such as is not confi- dential is immediately released to university laboratories and aircraft manufacturers interested in the study of specific problems, and also to the public. The committee has 12 members, appointed by the Presi- dent of the United States. Two members represent the War Department, two the Navy Department, one the Smithsonian Institute, one the U.S. Weather Bureau, and one the U.S. Bureau of Standards. The law provides that not more than five additional members acquainted with the needs of aeronautical science shall serve on the committee. Inci- dentally it may be mentioned that the law of the United States provides that all members as such shall serve without compensation. Sub-Committees The executive committee has organised six standing sub- committees, three administrative and three technical. It is with the latter that we are most concerned here. The three technical sub-committees deal with aerodynamics, power plants for aircraft, and materials for aircraft respectively. The headquarters of the American N.A.C.A. are located in the Navy Building, Seventeenth and B Streets N.W., Washing- ton, D.C., and the administrative office is also the head- quarters of the various sub-committees. The scientific investigations authorised by the N.A.C.A. are not all con- ducted at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical La bora tor -, but the facilities of other government laboratories and shops are utilised, as well as the laboratories connected witli institu- tions of learning, whose co-operation in the scientific study of specific problems in aeronautics has been secured. The Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory The greater part of the research work of the committee is conducted at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Labora- tory, which is situated at Langley Field, Virginia. Langley Field is one of the most important and best equipped stations of the U.S. Army Air Service, occupying about 1,650 acres and having hangar and shop facilities for the accommodation of four bombing squadrons, a service squadron, a school squadron, and an airship squadron. In the laboratory and flying field, or air station as we should term it, fundamental problems of scientific research are investigated. The labora- tory is organised with five subdivisions : power plants division, wind tunnel division, flight test division, technical service division, and property and clerical division. On June 25, 1925, the committee authorised the con- struction of propeller research equipment large enough to investigate full-size propellers. The test chamber is of suffi- cient size to accommodate the fuselage of an aeroplane, on which the propeller is mounted and operated by the aero- plane engine. The throat of the test chamber is 20 ft. in diameter, and the actual air speed obtainable is 100 m.p.h. Last year the research flight work was carried out with the aid of 19 aeroplanes, which made a total of 626 flights, approximating 245 hours' total flying time. Office of Aeronautical Intelligence A department which has no exact counterpart in this country is the Office of Aeronautical Intelligence, which is situated at headquarters in Washington, D.C. This was established in 1918, its functions being the collection, classification and diffusion of technical knowledge on the subject of aeronautics. In other words, this office is the officially appointed government depository for scientific and technical reports and data on aeronautics. To handle the work of securing and exchanging reports in foreign countries the committee maintains a technical assistant in Europe, whose headquarters are at 18, Rue Tilsitt, Paris. The present Technical Assistant in Europe is Mr. John Jay Ide, of New York. It is the duty of the technical assistant in Europe to visit personally the" govern- ment and private laboratories, centres of aeronautical informa- tion and private individuals in England, France, Italy, Germany and other European countries, and to endeavour to secure for America not only printed matter which would in the ordinary course of events become available in that country, but more especially to secure advance information as to work in progress, and any technical data not prepared in printed form, and which would otherwise not reach America. To give some idea of the work carried out by the AmericanOffice of Aeronautical Intelligence it may be mentioned that - last year that office distributed no less than 35,884 technicalreports. Reports of Technical Committees It is not possible for us, in the space available, to deal at all exhaustively with the reports of the three technical sub-committees, but the following brief references may be of interest. In the Aerodynamics Sub-Committee's report it is stated that the committee on aerodynamics has direct control of the aeronautical research conducted at Langley Field, the propeller research conducted at Stanford University, and a number of special investigations conducted at the Bureau of Standards. The aerodynamic investigations undertaken at the Washington Navy Yard, the engineering division of the Army Air Service at McCook Field, the Bureau of Standards and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are reported to the committee on aerodynamics. At the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory the greater part of the research work was carried out, and we can but refer to a few tests that seem of special interest to readers of FLIGHT. Concerning tests on aerofoils it is interesting to find the statement that pressure distribution measurements on three thick aerofoils have been completed, and that as one of the results of this research, a new thick wing section has been designed and its air forces measured. The results of tests on this new section show a considerable gain in aerodynamic efficiency, and the report states that a very undesirable property common to most tapered wings has been eliminated. Most tapered aerofoils, it is stated, have the root section and the tip section parallel, or occasionally the tip is " washed-out." This results in an aerofoil with a changeable angle of zero lift along the span, and conse- quently when the total lift is zero the air force on the tips is downwards, and that at the middle section is upwards. In the new design the wing has been sufficiently " washed-in " to bring all sections simultaneously to zero lift. Concerning tests on model aeroplanes, it is stated that one of the most interesting problems of the year was the investi- gation of a model of a training type of machine. This aeroplane had exhibited somewhat unusual characteristics in that it progressed from a normal spin into a flat one, from which recovery had sometimes been impossible. Tests 97
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