Category: History - Other
"Hitherto aviation has been almost monopolized by that much-overpraised and much-overtrusted person, 'the practical man.' It is much in need of the services of the theorist--the engineer with his mathematical calculations of how a flying machine ought to be built and of how th...
This particular difficulty has considerably delayed the development of the aeroplane. It may, however, be overcome by very simple methods--simple, at least as far as their mecha...
2. Part 2Every one has noticed a second type of bird flight--soaring. It is this flight which is exactly imitated in a glider. An aeroplane differs from a soaring bird only in that it ca...
4. Part 4There are _gases_, if not woods, lighter than air: among them, coal gas and hydrogen. A "bubble" of any of these gases, if isolated from the surrounding atmosphere, cannot sink...
8. Part 8The helicopter may be regarded as the limiting type of aeroplane, the sail area being reduced nearly to zero; the wings becoming mere fins, the smaller the better. It therefore...
6. Part 6We are at the mercy of the wind, and wind velocities may reach a hundred miles an hour. The inherent disadvantage of aerial flight is in what engineers call its "low load factor...
7. Part 7The Fort Myer machine had sails of forty feet spread, six and one-half feet deep, with front elevating planes three by sixteen feet. It made about forty miles per hour with two...
5. Part 5What is called "route stability" describes the condition of straight flight. The balloon must point directly in its (independent) course. This involves the use of a steering rud...
1. Part 1"Hitherto aviation has been almost monopolized by that much-overpraised and much-overtrusted person, 'the practical man.' It is much in need of the services of the theorist--the...
9. Part 9A dirigible balloon, it has been suggested, is comparatively safe while moving in the air, but is subjected to severe strains when anchored to the ground, if exposed. It must ha...