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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0114.PDF
FEBRUARY 27, 1909. We cannot, of course, say what actual effect the operation of these sails may have had on the occasion in question, nor to what extent they were used for the purpose of righting the machine, but it seems to us that—taking into consideration their relatively small area in pro- portion to that of the total supporting surface, and •having regard to the apparent slow velocity of the •machine through the air — they could not well have been very effective under such circumstances; that is to say, assuming that the machine was indeed under the influence of a current of air having an upward trend. In a machine travelling at a relatively high velocity through the air, righting tips are doubtless all that is required, because the speed of the machine is such as to always leave enough virtual positive velocity to make them •effective. With a slow-speed machine, however, it appears to us that the problem may be more com- plicated, inasmuch as changes in the direction of the air current may have a much greater effect. If, for instance, one end of an aeroplane is subjected to a relatively direct upward thrust at a time when the •velocity of the machine as a whole through the air ® ® Paper Compound for Flying Machines. Two German engineers, Dr. Wagner and Herr von Radinger, have invented a compound material formed of paper, raw silk, and other fabric bound up with steel wire, which they claim is exceptionally light and strong, and will be most suitable for all sorts of construction, is not sufficient to make the righting tips effective, it naturally becomes a matter of import to consider whether some more positive and direct-acting means of restoring lateral equilibrium should not be experi- mented with. Possibly such difficulties as we have suggested may, if they are found to exist, be overcome by an arrangement of planes, and this would naturally seem preferable to any resort to moving weights ; but in the meantime it certainly does seem desirable that some attempt should be made to observe the nature of the air currents during flight, in order that a little 'more may be known of the conditions under which failure alternates with success. While the British Army aeroplane is enforced to remain at South Farnborough, and those at work upon it are thereby restricted in the way that they are at present, it is, we fear, impossible to expect any really rapid progress of a permanent character ; and it is to be earnestly hoped that means may be found whereby those at work on it may be placed in a position to keep in the van of progress, lest greater national expense be incurred in the future, when it may become imperative to make up leeway. .. ". . ® ® •"-- • • '"*• " :- including ships, and also for the framework of flying machines and airships. The material is said to be cheap, and proof against fire and damp. A practical demonstration with the material is to be given in the construction of an airship which the inventors are building at Stettin. : King Alfonso of Spain, last Saturday, in the passenger's seat of the "Wright aeroplane, beside Wilbur Wright, theKing of the Air, having th t whole art of flying the machine explained to him by Wright.
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