THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF Pacific Aeronautical Library {^i>^t- 4i 239 ^ C" / KJ/\ / I (Alri£cZight Brothers in 1903. There was no single element on this first successful machine that had not been proposed many years before by Langley, Chanute, Montgomery, Henson, Mouillard, and others, but this first flight must be attributed principally to the fact that the Wrights started carefully and painstakingly to learn how to operate (By practicing with gliders) before starting on the first power machine. If Langley had studied the operation of his machine as carefully as he did its theory and design, he would have been flying long before the Wrights as his original machine was afterwards successfully flown by Curtiss. \\'hen once actual flight was achieved, and the success of the Wright Brothers became generally known, the de- velopment proceeded with leaps and bounds. All the re- sources of science and engineering skill were at once ap- plied to the new device until our present scientific knowl- edge of the aeroplane compares very favorably with the older engineering sciences. In the few years that have 7 8 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES elapsed since the first flight, the aeroplane holds all records for speed, endurance, and radius of action. A great deal of the success so rapidly acquired can be credited to the automobile and motorcycle industries, since it was the development of the light internal combus- tion motors used on these machines that paved the way for the still lighter aeronautic motor. Again, the auto- mobile industry was responsible for the light and powerful materials of construction, such as alloy steel, aluminum alloys, and also for the highly important constructional details, such as ball bearings, pneumatic tires, carburetors, magnetos, steel tubing, etc. The special methods de- veloped in automobile work have helped to make the aeroplane an immediate commercial proposition. Types of Flying Machines. In general, flight apparatus may be divided into two classes, (1) The Lighter Than Air Type, such as the balloon and dirigible, and (2) The Heavier Than Air Machine, represented by the aeroplane, helicoptor and ornithopter. The lighter than air machine is supported in flight by ''bouyancy" in much the same manner that a piece of wood floats in water. When a balloon or dirigible, because of its large volume, displaces a volume of air equal to its own weight, the device will float. When the weight of air displaced exceeds the weight of the balloon or dirigible, it will continue to rise until it reaches an altitude where the diminished air density again results in an equality between the weight of the device and the air displaced. At this point it rests, or is in equilibrium. The flotation of such a device is entirely due to static forces and hence (1) is often called an "aerostat." The sustenation of a Heavier Than Air Machine is due to an entirely different application of forces. Forces in motion (Dynamic Forces) are essential to the support of a heavier than air machine, and it is the resultant of these forces that performs the actual lifting operation, this re- sultant corresponding to the buoyant force of the aerostat. o = ^ S ti: o := o 10 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES ''Dynamic" flight is obtained by an apparatus in which an arrangement of surfaces are moved in such a way as to cause an upward component of the forces generated by the impact of the air on the surfaces. The surfaces drive the air down and when the force necessary for the con- tinuous downward deflection of air becomes equal to the weight of the machine it is sustained in flight. Dynamic flight therefore depends on the continuous downward de- flection of masses of air, and when this motion ceases, sustentation also ceases. An aeroplane is provided with a deflecting surface that is fixed rigidly in regard to the body of the machine, and the motion necessary for its support is provided by driving the machine forward, the forward motion being produced by the horizontal pull of air screws or propellers. It is at once evident that the forward horizontal motion of the aeroplane must be maintained for its support, for the surfaces are fixed and there is no other possible way of producing a relative motion between the wings and the air. To overcome the objection of forward motion, several other machines have been proposed in which the surfaces are moved in relation to the body, as well as the air, thus making it possible for the device to stand stationary while the revolving or reciprocating surfaces still con- tinue in motion in regard to the air. One type of the moving surface machine, the "Helicopter," is provided with revolving surfaces arranged in the form of vertical air screws or propellers, the blades of the propellers being inclined so that they drive down a continuous stream of air and produce the continuous upward reaction that sup- ports the machine. While such machines have succeeded in raising themselves off the ground they are not yet practical flying devices. The "ornithopter" or "orthop- ter" is a flapping wing machine that maintains flight after the manner of the bird (Ornis). Like the helicopter, the ornithopter has not yet proved successful. AEROPLANE PRINXIPLES 11 Principles of the Aeroplane. In its elementary prin- ciples, the aeroplane can be compared with the kite, as both are supported by the impact of a horizontal stream of air. In Diagram 1, the kite surface is indicated by X-X with the relative air stream W-W-W-W moving from left to the right as indicated by the arrow heads. On striking the surface, the air stream is deflected ver- tically, and in a downward direction, as shown by the streams lines R-R-R-R. The reaction of the air deflection produces the lift shown vertically and upwards by the arrow L. The kite surface is held against the impact ot i -^JD ^^ v^iVL -n Jtrfi p^ ^ ?:^r=fl r^ \^ V. '-^ ivZX /i rUiT^^^rr.^ ^^^ t K iV / } ' 7 > • J [ V. ^ fcp - Fig 1. romparison Between the Kite and Aeroplane; Fig. 2, Showing the Lift and Drag Forces Produced bv the Air Stream. The Propeller (P), Acts in a Manner Similar to the Kite String (S) in Producing Relative Mo- tion Between the Air and the Lifting Surfaces. the air stream by the string S so that there is relative motion between the air and the kite, and so that the sur- face will not be carried along with the air current toward the right. If the kite were allowed to drift with the wind there could be no relative motion between the surface and the air stream, hence the kite would fall as soon as it at- tained the velocity of the wind. The horizontal force exerted by the wind tending to carry the kite toward the right is indicated by the arrow D and is known as the "drag" or "drift" force. There are thus three forces, the lift (L), the drag (D), and the resultant of the two forces indicated by the string (S). The forces of Hft and drag are nearly at right angles to one another. The kite tail T 12 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES is simply a stabilizing device whose purpose is to maintain a constant angle between the surface and the wind and it performs an almost negligible amount of lift. A few more words in regard to the "relative velocity" between the surface and wind. In the figure, the kite is assumed as being stationary, while the wind moves from left to right. With a thirty mile per hour wind, the rela- tive air velocity in regard to the surface would be 30 M. P. H. If the air particles are now considered stationary, and if the kite is towed toward the left (opposite to figure) at 30 miles per hour, the relative velocity between the surface and air would still be 30 M. P. H. In other words, the kite may be stationary, or may move in regard to the earth, but its lift is unaffected as long as the relative mo- tion between the surface and air remains constant. The motion between an aeroplane and the earth depends upon the dift'erence of the aeroplane and wind velocities. For example, a aeroplane with a relative speed of 60 miles per hour, flying against a headwind of 30 miles per hour, moves 60 — 30 ^ 30 miles per hour in regard to the earth. The same aeroplane flying with the above wind would have a velocity of 60 + 30 = 90 miles per hour past a fixed point on the earth's surface, yet in both cases, the relative velocity of the surface in regard to the air would be the same. Fig. 2 is a diagram of an aeroplane that shows the con- nection between the kite and aeroplane principles. In this figure, the wing surface of the aeroplane, X-X cor- responds to the kite surface X-X. The relative air W-W- W-W striking the wing from the left is deflected down along the arrows R-R-R-R and results in an equivalent lift force L, and a drag force D as in the case of the kite. The resultant force required to maintain the relative ve- locity between the air and wings is indicated by D^, oppo- site and equal to the drag force D. The resultant required for overcoming the drag is provided by the screw pro- AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES 13 peller P instead of the string S shown in Fig. 1. The pro- peller thrust (D^) is parallel to the air stream instead of being inclined as in the case of the string, but the total effect is the same since both are "Resultants of the lift and drag." To sustain the aeroplane, the lift (L) must be equal and opposite to the weight shown by M. The fact that M and L are opposite and equal makes it only necessary for the propeller to overcome the horizontal drag, and hence the thrust can be made parallel to the air flow — or nearly so. The aeroplane is provided with a small tail surface (T) that corresponds to the kite tail Fig. 3. Caudron Monoplane. Side Elevation. (T). It maintains the lifting surfaces X-X at a given angle with the air stream. The tail may, or may not aid in supporting the machine, but in modern machines it is common to employ a tail surface that is non-lifting under ordinary conditions of normal flight. The body (B) con- tains the pilot, motive power, fuel, and such useful load as it may be necessary to carry. Fig. 3 shows a Caudron monoplane in side elevation. This view illustrates the application of the principles shown by Fig. 2, except for the vertical rudder at the rear. The latter is used for steering in a horizontal direction. Fig. 4 shows the construction even more clearly since it is a perspective view. The machine is a Morane "Parasol" monoplane with the wing placed over the body. This location of the main lifting surface is for the purpose of 14 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES improving the view of the pilot and in no way affects the principles just described. The wires shown above the wing are bracing stays. The tail is hinged near the rear so that the angle of the rear portion can be changed (Elevator flaps), and permits the angle of the main wings to be altered in regard to the air stream, thus causing the machine to ascend or descend. The tail also damps out oscillations or vibrations due to irregularities in the air current. The wdieels and running gear (Chassis) allow the machine to be run over the ground until the relative air speed is sufficient to support the machine in flight. Fig. 4. Morane Umbrella Type Monoplane. , Courtesy of "Flight." Multiplanes. In order to support a heavy load, and at the same time have a small compact machine, it is neces- sary to have more than one ''layer" of wing surface. It is evident that the wing length or ''span" can be made much less than that of the monoplane surface shown, if the total area could be divided into two or more parts. A machine having its main lifting surface divided into two or more separate sections is known as a "multiplane," this term be- coming "Biplane," "Triplane" or "Quadraplane," depend- ing on whether there are two, three or four independent lifting surfaces. There is almost a limitless variety of ar- rangements possible, but the most common arrangement by far is that of the biplane, in which there are two super- AEROPLANE PRI^XIPLES 15 posed surfaces as shown by Fig. 5. In this type, the two lifting surfaces are placed over one another with a consid- erable "gap" or space between. The body is placed be- tween the wings and the tail surfaces and chassis remain the same as in the monoplane. This is known as a "Trac- tor" biplane since the propeller is in front and pulls the machine along while Fig. 6 shows a "Pusher" type biplane in which the propeller is mounted behind the wings and therefore pushes the machine. Fig. 4-A. Dcperdussin Monoplane with Monocoque Body. Gordon-Bennett Racer Biplanes. Besides the advantages of size, the l)iplane has a number of other good features. The deep spacing of the upper and lower surfaces permits of a powerful and light system of trussing being placed in the gap, and therefore the biplane can be made stronger (weight for weight) than the monoplane in which no such trussing can be economically applied. The vertical ''struts" of the bracing can be clearly seen in the figure. The efficiency of this interplane trussing greatly increases the possible size and capacity of the aeroplane. With monoplanes it is seldom possible to exceed a w^ing span of Z6 feet with- out runing into almost unsurmountable structural diffi- culties. The weight of the large monoplane also increases 16 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES in leaps and bounds when this critical span is once exceeded. To maintain an equal degree of strength the monoplane requires very careful attention in regard to the design and construction, and is correspondingly more expensive and difficult to build than the biplane, although the latter has by far the greater number of parts. By suitable arrangements in the location of the biplane sur- faces a very fair degree of stability can be obtained, an advantage which is impossible with the monoplane. Fig. 5. S. P. A. D. Tractor Biplane Speed Scout. A distinct disadvantage of the two superposed sur- faces of the biplane is due to the fact that there is "inter- ference" between the upper and lower wings, and that the lift for equal areas is less than in the case of the mono- plane. With a given form of wing, 100 square feet of monoplane surface will lift considerably more than the same area applied in biplane form. The amount of the "drag" for the support of a given load is increased, and with it the amount of power required. The greater the separation or "gap" between the wings, the greater will be the lift, but when the gap is unduly increased to obtain a great lift the length of the interplane bracing is increased to such an extent that the resistance of the bracing will more than overcome the advantages due to AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES 17 the large gap. There is a fixed limit to the gap beyond which it is not practical to go. The bracing has a very material effect on the air resistance, no matter how small the gap. Triplanes. Of late the triplane has been rapidly increasing in use, and in certain respects has many advan- tages over either the monoplane or biplane. This type has three superposed surfaces which still further dimin- ishes the size for a given area. The interference between Fig. 6. Pusher Type Biplane in Which the Propeller Is Placed Behind the Wings. the surfaces is even greater than with the biplane, and hence the lift is less for a given area and aspect ratio. This latter defect is partly, or wholly overcome by the possibility of using long narrow wings, and because of the reduced span there is a corresponding reduction in the bracing resistance. It should be noted at this point that the efficiency of a lifting surface is greatly increased when the ratio of the length to the width is increased, that is, a long, narrow wing will be more efficient than a short, wide shape. The relation of the length to the width is called "aspect ratio," and will be described in more detail in a following chapter. Fig. 7 is a sketch of a Sopwith Triplane Scout and shows clearly the three superposed wings. The small amount of interplane bracing, and the great aspect ratio, 18 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES makes this type very suitable for high speed. The body, tail and chassis arrangements are practically the same as those of a biplane. The Curtiss Triplane Scout is the pioneer of this type of machine, although experimental Fig. 6-A. Farman Type Pusher Biplane. Note the Propeller At the Rear of Body, and the Position of the Pilot and Passenger. "*■ ■ \ « -"^w. r^j^^^^^WBB(B|^^^ ^ y% ^?W' ' ^ f.>V-y '^•^.'/4' rr^''' ". 'i '^ :i ml l^^^^^^Kt Fig. 6-B. The Mann Two-Propeller Pusher Biplane. The Propellers Are Mountetd on Either Side of the Body, and Are Driven by a Single Motor Through a Chain Transmission. This Drive Is Similar to the Early Wright Machines. AEROPLANE PRIX'CIPLES 19 work on the triplane had been performed in England by A. V. Roe many years ago. The Roe triplane was lightly powered and for its time was successful in a way, but the Curtiss is the first to enter into active competition against the biplane scout. Owing to the small span required for a given area, and the possibilities of very light and simple bracing, the triplane is an ideal type for heavy duty machines of the "bombing" species. Enormous triplanes have been made that are capable of a useful load running up into the tons, Fig. 7. Sopwilh Triplane Speed Scout. the large Curtiss and Caproni's being notable examples. As the triplane is much higher than the biplane of equal area, the interplane bracing is deeper and more effective without causing proportionately higher resistance. Quadraplane. The use of four superposed surfaces has not l)een extended, there probably being only one or two of these machines that can be said to be successful. The small "quad" built by Mathew B. Sellers is probably the best known. The power required to maintain this ma- chine in flight was surprisingly small, the machine getting off the ground with a 4 horsepow^er motor, although an 8 horsepower was afterwards installed to maintain con- tinuous flight. The empty weight was 110 pounds with the 8 horsepower motor. The span of the wings was 20 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES 18'— 0" and the width or "chord" 3'— 0", giving a total area of about 200 square feet. Tandem Aeroplanes. A tandem aeroplane may be described as being one in which the surfaces are arranged *'fore and aft." The Langley "Aerodrome" was of the tandem monoplane type and consisted of two sets of monoplane wings arranged in tandem. This pioneer machine is shown in Fig. 8, and is the first power driven model to achieve a continuous flight of any length. Instead of two monoplane surfaces, two biplane units or Fig. 7-A. Curtiss Triplane Speed Scout. Courtesy "Aerial Age." triplane units can be arranged fore and aft in the same manner. While there have been a number of tandem machines built, they have not come into extensive use. Successful flight was obtained with a full size Langley Aerodrome, and this machine flew with a fair degree of stability. The failure of other tandem machines to make good was due, in the writer's opinion, to poor construction and design rather than to a failure of the tandem principle. The Montgomery glider, famed for its stability, was a tandem type but the machine was never successfully built as a powered machine. The wings must be separated by a sufficient distance so AEROPLANE PRINXIPLES 21 that the rear set will not be greatly influenced by the downward trend of the air caused by the leading wings. As the rear surfaces always work on disturbed air they should be changed in angle, increased in area, or be equipped with a different wing curvature if they are to carry an equal proportion of the load. Usually, however^ the areas of the front and rear wings are equal, and the difference in lift is made by changes in the wing form or angle at which they are set. In some cases the wings are approximately the same, the difference in lift being com- pensated for by moving the load further forward, thus, throwing more of the weight on the front wings. The Aeroplane in Flight. Up to the present we have only considered horizontal flight at a continuous speed. In actual flight the altitude is frequently varied and the speed is changed to meet different conditions. Again, the load is not an absolutely constant quantity owing to variations in the weight of passengers, and variations in the weight of fuel, the weight of the latter diminishing directly with the length of the time of flight. To meet these variations, the lift of the wings must be altered to suit the loading and speed — generally by altering the angle of the wings made with the line of flight. Fig, 9 shows an aeroplane in horizontal flight and lightly^ loaded, the machine traveling along the horizontal flight path F-F. With the light load, the angle made by the wings with the flight path is shown by(i), the tail and body remaining horizontal, or parallel to the flight path. With an increased load it is necessary to increase the angle of the wings with the flight line, since within certain limits the lift increases with an increase in the angle of incidence (i). Fig. 10 shows the adjustment for a heavier load (Wo)^ the angle of incidence being increased to (i'), and the body is turned down through a corresponding angle. The increased angle is obtained by turning the elevator flaps (T) up, thus causing a downward force (t) on the tail. 22 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES The force (t) acts through the body as a lever arm, and turns the machine into its new position. It will be noted that when the angle of incidence is great that the rear of the body drags down and causes a heavy resistance. This position of a dragging tail is known to the French as flying *'Cabre." With high angles cabre -flight is dan- gerous, for should the propeller thrust cease for an instant the machine would be likely to "tail dive" before T"ig. 8. Langley's "Aerodrome," An Early Type of Tandem Monoplane. the pilot could regain control. This sort of flight is also wasteful of power. Cabre flight is unnecessary in a variable incidence machine, the wing being turned to the required angle independently of the body, so that the body follows the flight line in a horizontal position, no njatter what the angle of incidence may be. In this type of machine the wings are pivoted to the body, and are operated by some form of manual control. AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES 23 In Fig. 11, the large angle (i') is still maintained, but the load is reduced to the value given in Fig. 9. With an equal load, an increased angle of incidence causes the machine to climb, as along the new flight line f-f. With the load ( W) equal to that in Fig. 9, the angle of incidence Avill still be (i) but this will be along a new flight line if the large angle (i') is maintained with the horizontal as tICAvy LO^D-SLjaW SfEED Flight At t: rimEa Que re CHAf^ees "^ SP££D. kve/e^rr^n CM A VS;?S I N /IL TIT LUX. . Figs. 9-10-11-12. Showing the Use of Elevators in Changing Angle of Incidence. Machine Shown in Four Principal Attitudes of Flight. As l.^^ J?°^^>' ^"'^ Wings Are in a Single Unit, the Body Must Be Turned for Each Different Wing Angle. shown by Fig. 11. With the wings making an angle of (i') with the horizontal, and angle of incidence (i) with the flight line, it is evident from Fig. 11 that the new flight line f-f must make an angle (c) with the original horizontal flight line F-F. This shows how an increased angle with a constant load causes climbing, providing, of course, that the speed and power are maintained. With a given wing and load there is a definite angle of incidence if the speed is kept constant. Should a load be dropped, such as a bomb, with the wing angle kept constant, the new path of travel will be changed from F-F to f-f. Fig. 12 shows the condition when the rear end of the body is elevated by depressing the elevator flap T. This 24 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES occasions an upward tail force that turns the wings down through the total angle (i'). With the former loading and speed, the angle of incidence is still (i) degrees with the new flight path f-f, the new flight path being at an angle (c) with the horizontal F-F. The body is turned through angle (i'), but the angle (i) with the flight path f-f is still constant with equal loads and speeds. To cause an aeroplane to climb, or to carry a heavier load, the elevator *'flap" is pointed up. To descend, or care for a lighter load, the elevator is turned dow^n. In normal horizontal flight the machine should be balanced so that the tail is horizontal and thus creates no drag. When the elevator must be used to keep the tail up in horizontal flight, the machine is said to be "tail heavy." Longitudinal Stability. In Figs. 9-10-11-12 the machine was assumed to be flying in still air, the attitudes of the machine being simply due to changes in the loading or to a change in altitude. The actual case is more complicated than this, for the reason that the machine is never operat- ing in still air but encounters sudden gusts, whorls, and other erratic variations in the density and velocity of the air. Each variation in the surrounding air causes a change in the lift of the wings, or in the effect of the tail surfaces, and hence tends to upset the machine. If such wind gusts would always strike the w^ngs, body, and tail simul- taneously, there would be no trouble, but, unfortunately, the air gust strikes one portion of the machine and an appreciable length of time elapses before it travels far enough to strike another. Though this may seem to be a small fraction of time, it is in reality of sufficient dura- tion to have a material effect on the poise of the aero- plane. Vertical gusts due to the wind passing over build- ings, hills, cliffs, etc., not only tend to upset the machine, but also tend to change the altitude since the machine rises with an up gust and sinks with a down trend in the stream. AEROPLANE PRINXIPLES 25 Assume a machine as in Fig. 9 to be traveling steadily along a horizontal path in still air. A sudden horizontal gust now strikes the machine from the front, thus causing a sudden lift in the main wings. As this gust strikes the wings before the tail, the tail will stand at the old altitude while the wings are lifted, thus giving the position shown by Fig. 10. After passing over the wings it lifts the tail, this effect probably not being sufficient to restore the wing and the tail to their old relative attitude since the gust generally loses velocity after passing the wings. A head gust of this type often strikes the front wings diag- onally so that it never reaches the tail at all. To remedy this upsetting action of the gust, the pilot must move his rear elevator so that the elevator is in the position shown by Fig. 12, that is, the flap must be turned down so as to raise the tail. A gust striking from behind may, or may not afifect the elevator flaps, this depending on their position at the time that the gust strikes. If the flaps are turned up, the rear end will be raised by the gust and the machine will head dive : if turned down, the gust will depress the tail, raise the head and tend to ''stall" the machine. If the tail is of the lifting type, the rear entering gust will reduce the relative velocity, and the lift, and cause the tail to drop. On passing over the tail and striking the wings, the rear gust will reduce the velocity and cause a loss in lift. This will either cause the machin.e to head dive or drop vertically through a certain distance until it again assumes its normal velocity. All of these variations cause a continually fore and aft upsetting movement that must be continually corrected by raising and lowering the elevator flaps, and in very gusty weather this is a very tedious and wearing job. It requires the continual attention of the pilot unless the action is perforrned automatically by some mechanical device, such as the Sperry Gyroscopic, or else by some 26 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES arrangement of the surfaces that give ''inherent" stabil- ity. Control by means of the elevator flaps (v^^hich raise and lower the body in a fore and aft direction, as shown) is known as "longitudinal control," and when the machine is so built that correction for the longitudinal attitude is obtained ''inherently," the machine is said to be "longi- tudinally stable." Modern machines can be made very nearly longitudinally stable, and are comparatively un- affected by any than the heaviest gusts. Lateral Stability. The gusts also affect the side to side, or "lateral" balance by causing a dift'erence in lift on either end of the wings. Should the gust strike one tip before the other, or should it strike one tip harder than the other, the tendency will be to turn the machine over side- wise. This is a more difficult problem to solve than the longitudinal moment, although perfect inherent stability has been attained in one or two machines without the use of additional automatic control mechanism. Inherent lateral stability has always been attended by a considerable loss in the efficiency of the aeroplane and speed due to the peculiar arrangements in the main lifting surfaces. At present we must make a decision between efficiency and stability, for one feature must be attained at a sacrifice in the other. Contrary to the general opinion, perfect stability is not desirable, for almost invariably it affects the control of a machine and makes it difficult to maneuver. Should the stability appliances be arranged so that they can be cut out of action at Avill, as in the case of the Sperry Gyroscopic Stabilizer, they will fulfill the needs of the aviator much more fully than those of the fixed inherent type. The first thoroughly stable machine, both longitudinally and laterally, was that designed by Lieutenant Dunne, and this obtained its distinctive fea- ture by a very peculiar arrangement of the wing surfaces. It was excessively stable, and as with all very stable machines, was difficult to steer in a straight line in AEROPLANE PRIXXIPLES 28 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES windy weather, and was correspondingly difficult to land. The first machine of the ordinary biplane type that proved inherently stable was the R. E.-l designed in England by Edward Busk. This machine was flown from Farnborough to Salisbury Plain, and during this flight the only control touched was the vertical rudder used in steer- ing. Since then, all English machines have been made at least partially stable, the degree depending upon the serv- ice for which it was intended. It has been found that in lighting, a very controllable machine is necessary, hence stability must be sacrificed, or the control surfaces must be made sufficiently powerful to overcome the stable tend- ency of the machine. War machines are made to be just comfortably stable over the range of ordinary flight speeds, and with controls powerful enough so that the inherent stability can be overcome when maneuvering in battle. The present war machine always contains an element of danger for the unskilled pilot. Dihedral Angle. This was the first lateral stability arrangement to be applied to an aeroplane, but is only effective in still air. In rough weather its general tend- ency is to destroy stability by allowing dangerous oscilla- tions to take place. Fig. 13 is a front view of a monoplane in which the wings (w) and (w') are set at an angle (d), this angle being known as the "dihedral angle." The dotted line (m-m) shows the line of a pair of perfectly horizontal wings and aids in illustrating the dihedral. Assuming the center of lift at CL on the wings, it will be seen that an increase in the dihedral raises the center •of lift above the center of gravity line C. G. by the amount (h). With the center of gravity below the center of lift it is evident that the weight of the machine would tend to keep it on a level keel, although the same effect could, of course, be attained in another way. The principal righting effect of the dihedral is shown by Fig. 14 in AEROPLANE PRINXIPLES 29 which the wings (w) and (w') are set as before. The machine is tipped or "Hsted" toward the left (seen from aviator's seat) so that wing (w') is down. By drawing vertical lines down until they intersect the horizontal line X-X (the line of equilibrium), it will be seen that wing (w') presents more horizontal lift surface than (w) since the projected or effective wing length (C) is greater than (b). Since (w') presents the greater surface, the lift (L) tends to restore the machine to its original level position. If the wings were both set on the same straight line, the Fig. 1 5 naie projected lengths (b) and (c) would be the same and there would be no restoring effect. The dihedral would be very effective in still air, but in turbulent air, and with the body swinging back and forth, the dihedral would act in the nature of a circular guiding path, and thus tend to allow the swinging to persist or increase rather than to damp it down, as would be the case with level straight wings. Again, with the wing bent up at a considerable angle, a side gust as at (S) would tend to throw the machine still further over, and thus 30 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES increase rather than diminish the difficulty. In prac- tical machines, the dihedral is usually made very small (d= 176 degrees), the angle of each wing with the hori- zontal being about 2 degrees or even less. I think the advantage of such a small angle is rather more imaginary than actual, and at present the greater number of war machines have no dihedral at all. In the older monoplanes the angle was very pronounced. Fig. 15 shows the dihedral applied both to the upper wing (U) and the lower wing (L), the usual method of applying dihedral to large biplanes. Fig. 16 shows the method of applying the dihedral to small, fast machines, such as speed scouts, the dihedral in this case being used only on the lower wing. The dihedral on the bottom wing is usually for the purpose of clearing the wing tips when turning on the ground rather than for stability. A loAver wing with a dihedral is less likely to strike the ground or to become fouled when it encounters a side gust in land- ing or ''getting off.'' The use of straight upper wings makes the construction much simpler, especially on the small machines where it is possible to make the wing in one continuous length. Ailerons and Wing Warping. Since the dihedral is not effective in producing lateral stability, some other method must be used that is powerful enough to overcome both the upsetting movements and the lateral oscillations caused by the pendulum effect of a low center of gravity. In the ordinary type of aeroplane this righting effect is per- formed by movable surfaces that increase the lift on the lower Aving tip, and decrease the lift on the high side. In some cases the lateral control surfaces are separate from the wing proper (Ailerons), and in some the tip of the wing is twisted or "warped" so as to produce the same effect. These control surfaces may be operated manually by the pilot or by some type of mechanism, such as the gyroscope, although the former is the method most used. AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES 31 The lateral control, or side to side balancing of an aero- plane, can be compared to the side to side balancing of a bicycle in which the unbalance is continually being corrected by the movement of the handle bars. Fig. 17 shows the control surfaces or "Ailerons" (A-A'), mounted near the tips, and at the rear edge of the wing W. As shown, they are cut into and hinged to the main wings so that they are free to move up and down through a total angle of about 60 degrees. In a biplane they may be fitted to the upper wing alone or to both top and bottom wings, according to conditions. For simplicity we will consider only the monoplane in the present instance. In Fig. 18, a front view of the monoplane, the machine is shown "heeled over" so that the wing tip (w) is low. To correct this displacement, the aileron (A) on the low side, is pulled down and the aileron (A') on the opposite end is pulled up. This, of course, increases the lift on the low end (w) and decreases the lift on the high side (w'). The righting forces exerted are shown by L-L'. The increased angles made by A-A' with the wind stream affects the forces acting on the wings, although in oppo- site directions, causing a left hand rotation of the whole machine. In Fig. 19, conditions are normal with the ma- chine on an even keel and with both ailerons brought back to a point where they are level with the surface of the wing, or in "neutral." Fig. 20 shows the machine canted in the opposite direction with (w') low and (w) high. This is corrected by bringing down aileron (A') and rais- ing (A), the forces L-L' showing the rotation direction. By alternately raising and lowering the ailerons we can correspondingly raise or lower the wing tips. It should be noted here that in some machines the ailerons are only ingle acting, that is, the aileron on the low side can be pulled down to increase the lift, but the opposite aileron remains in the plane of the wings, and does not tend to "push down" the high side. Since all of the aileron resist- 32 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES ance in a horizontal direction is now confined to the low side, it turns the machine from its path, the high wing swinging about the lower tip with the latter as a pivot. In the double acting control as shown in Figs. 17 to 23, the resistance is nearly equal at both tips and hence there is no tendency to disturb the flight direction. With single acting ailerons, the directional disturbance is corrected with the rudder so that when the aileron is pulled down it is necessary to set the rudder to oppose the turn. On early Wright machines the rudder and lateral controls were interconnected so that the rudder automatically responded to the action of the ailerons. Fig. 21 is a detailed front elevation of the machine and shows the control wheel (C) and cable connections between the wheel and the ailerons A-A'. When the wheel C is turned in the direction of the arrow K, the aileron A' is pulled down by the flexible cable (i), and a corresponding amount of cable (h) is paid off the wheel to the rising aileron A. Aileron A is pulled up by the con- necting cable (e) which is attached to A' at one end and to A at the other. Pulleys (f) and (g) guide the intercon- nection cable. On turning the wheel in the opposite direc- tion, aileron A is pulled down and A' is elevated. In flight, especially in rough weather, there is almost con- tinuous operation of the control wheel. Figs. 22 and 23 are sections taken through the wing W and the ailerons, showing the method of hinging and travel. Fig. 22 shows the aileron depressed for raising the wing in the direction of L, while Fig. 23 shows the aileron lifted to lower the wing. In normal flight, with the machine level, the aileron forms a part of the wing outline (in neutral position). In the original Wright aeroplane, and in the majority of monoplanes, no ailerons are used, the rear of main wing tip being bent down bodily to increase the lift. This is known as "wing warping," and is practically a single acting process since the depressing force on the high tip AEROPLANE PRINXIPLES 33 is seldom as effective as the lift on the low. Warping is not generally used on modern biplanes since it is impos- sible to maintain a strong rigid structure with flexible tips. The control warping and twisting of such wings soon loosens them up and destroys what remaining strength they may have had. FlG-gg Fis^ga Figs. 17-23. Showing Use of Ailerons in Maintaining Lateral Balance. Banking and Turning. In making a sharp turn the outer wing tip must be elevated to prevent slipping side- wise through the effects of the centrifugal force (side slip). This is known as "banking." The faster and sharper the turn, the steeper must be the "bank," or the angle of the wings, until in some cases of "stunt" flying the wings stand almost straight up and down. Should the 34 AEROPLANE PRINCIPLES bank be too steep there will be an equal tendency to slip down, and inwardly, since* the end resistance against side slip is very slight. Some aeroplanes assume the correct angle of bank automatically without attention from the pilot since the extra lift due to the rapid motion of the outer tip causes it to rise. On other machines the natural banking effort of the machine is not sufficient, and this must be increased by pulling down the aileron on the outer wing tip. Machines that have a tendency to "over-bank" must have the ailerons applied in the reverse direction so as to depress the outer tip. In cases of under, or over- banking machines it formerly required experience and judgment on the part of the pilot to obtain the correct banking angle. There are now ''banking indicators" on the market that show whether the machine is correctly banked or is side-slipping. AEROPLANE PRINXIPLES 35 :Mhs Fig. 24. A Deperdussin Monoplane Banking Around a Sharp Turn at High Speed. Note the Elevation of the Outer Wing Tip and the Angle Made with the Horizontal by the Wings. Speed, 105 Miles Per Hour. CHAPTER II. TYPES OF MILITARY AEROPLANES. Divisions of Service. In the army and navy, aeroplanes are used both for offensive and defensive operations. They must carry out their own work and intentions and prevent hostile craft from carrying out theirs. In of- fensive operations the machines fly continuously* over the enemy's country and attack every hostile craft sighted, thus creating a danger zone within the enemy's lines where no opposing machine can work without being threatened with an overwhelming attack. The oft'ensive also includes bombing operations and the destruction of supply depots and transportation centers. Defensive aerial operation consists in driving out the enemy craft from our own lines, and in protecting working machines when on photographing or observation trips. With a powerful offensive there is of course little need for de- fense. The former method is a costly one, and is pro- ductive of severe material and personal losses. At the present time there are eight principle functions performed by military aeroplanes : 1. Offensive operations against enemy machines. 2. Reconnaissance, observation, special missions. 3. Bombing supply centers, railways, etc. 4. Photography. 5. Spotting for the artillery. 6. Signalling for infantry operations. 7. Submarine hunting. 8. Patrol and barrage. 37 38 MILITARY AEROPLANES Probably the most important service of all is per- formed by machines mider heading (1). If a successful offensive can be maintained over the enemy's lines he is unable to intelligently direct his artillery fire, and can obtain no information regarding reinforcements, or troop concentrations for an impending attack. With fighting aeroplanes clearing the way for our own observa- tion machines and artillery spotters, the enemy is not only blinded, but is blocked in any attempt to attack or concentrate his forces. The fact that the French aerial Fig. 1. Curtios "Baby" Biplane Speed Scout. Equipped with 100 Horse- Power Water Cooled Motor, offensive at Verdun was so efficiently and well maintained accounts for the failure of the heavy German artillery. Driven far back over their own lines, the German aviators were seldom able to observe the placing of the shells, and as a result their gunners were practically trusting to luck in reaching their target. An immediate and accu- rate bombardment always followed one of the very in- frequent German air raids over the Fren'ch lines. When- ever the French, partially abandoned their aerial offen- sive in favor of a defensive campaign, they soon lost their mastery of the air. As long as enemy machines can MILITARY AEROPLANES 39 be kept back of their own lines, new trench systems can be constructed, transportation lines can be extended and ammunition dumps arranged, undertakings that would be highly precarious with enemy observation machines continually passing overhead. To maintain an effective oft'ensive places a tremendous strain on both the men and the machines, for though the aeroplanes do not penetrate far beyond the lines they usually meet with superior numbers, and in addition are continually in range of the anti-aircraft guns. In an Fig. 1. Italian "Pomilio" Two Seater Biplane. Courtesy "Flying." attack over hostile country a slight mishap may cause the loss of a 'plane, for usually the distance from its base is so great as to prevent a gliding return. Over its own lines an engine failure is usually only a temporary incon- venience. Fighting aeroplanes, for the oft'ensive, are small high powered machines generally of the single seater type, and are capable of high horizontal and climbing speeds. The armament consists of a machine gun of the Lewis type, and occasionally a few light bombs may be included in the equipment. As they do not carry out operations far to the 40 MILITARY AEROPLANES rear of the enemy's lines they are provided with fuel for only two or three hours, and this reduced fuel load is necessary for the high speeds that must necessarily be attained. The area is limited to permit of quick maneuvers in attack and escape, and at the same time to reduce the head resistance and weight. The horizontal speed may run up to 150 miles per hour, with a climbing velocity that may exceed 1,000 feet per minute. Such machines are Fig. 2. Machine Gun Mounting on Morane Monoplane. Gun Fires Directly Through the Propeller Disc. The Deflecting Plate Attached to the Root of the Propeller Blade Protects the Propeller When in Line of Fire. Ammunition in This Gun Is Furnished in Straight Strips or "Clips." variously known as "Speed scouts," **Chasers" or "Pursuit type" (French "DeChasse"). At the beginning of the war the chasers were largely of the monoplane type, but at present the biplane is in almost exclusive use. The aeroplane employed for surveys of the enemy coun- try and battle front (2) are of an entirely different type and are much larger and slower. These "Reconnaissance" machines are generally of the two-seater type, the per- MILITARY AEROPLANES 41 sonnel consisting of an observer and the pilot, although in some cases a third man is carried as an assistant to the observer, or to handle a machine gun against an attack. Since their speed is comparatively low, they are generally provided with an escort of chasers, especially when em- ployed on distant missions, this escort repelling attacks while the observations are being made. For accurate observation and mapping, the speed of an Fig. 2-a. Machine Gun Mounting on S. P. A. D. Biplane. Attached to Fuselage Top in Front of Pilot. Gun Is Rigidly observation machine must be necessarily low, and as they are additionally burdened with a wireless set, an observer, a large fuel reserve, and other impedimenta, they have a comparatively great area and are therefore lacking in the maneuvering qualities of the chaser. The span will aver- age about 40 feet, and the weight carried per horsepower is greatly in excess of that of the chaser. From a number of examples, the reconnaissance type will average from 16 to 18 pounds per horsepower, while the loading of the scout is from 8 to 12. This means that the former has com- 42 MILITARY AEROPLANES paratively little reserve power for rapid climbing. The present reconnaissance type is always armed, and must not be confused with the early machine by that name, which, in fact, was merely an enlarged training machine and had neither offensive nor defensive powers. The ob- server acts as gunner, and is located at a point where he has the greatest possible range of vision, and where the angle of fire is as little obstructed as possible. The radius of action, or the distance traveled per tank of fuel, is greater with the reconnaissance than with the chaser, present machines having a capacity of from 10 to 12 hours on a single filling at normal flight speed. In bombing operations (3), the loading is very heavy and consequently a ''Bomber" must be a weight lifter to the exclusion of all other qualities. Not only is the bomb load requirement severe, but the fuel load is also of great importance, since bombing is usually carried out at con- siderable distances from the base. Such machines may carry from three to six men. All this calls for a tremen- dous area and a large power plant. The Handley-Page *'Giant," and the Caproni Triplane a^e examples of Allied machines ot this type w^hile the German "Gotha," used in the London air raids, is an equi\^alent enemy machine. As an example of the weight carrying capacity of a typical bomber, the Handley-Page has carried a test crew of 21 men, or a personnel load of 3,570 pounds. The total weight, fully loaded, has been given as 11,500 pounds with a power plant of 540 horsepower. The maximum speed is 90 miles per hour with a climbing velocity of about 330 feet per minute. Duration is about 5^ hours at normal speed and full load. Bombing is of great importance, not only because of the damage caused to munition factories, transportation lines, store houses, etc., but also because of the moral effect on both the enemy troops and the civil population. A well-timed bombing raid will do more to disorganize MILITARY AEROPLANES 43 44 MILITARY AEROPLANES an army than almost any other form of attack, and this is attended with a much less loss of life, and with less cost and equipment. Points in enemy territory that could be reached in no other way are readily attacked by bomb- ing planes with all the disastrous effects of heavy artillery fire. The aeroplane is better adapted for this service than dirigibles of the Zeppelin type, for they require fewer men for their operation, and in addition cost less to operate and build. Bombing operations against well protected objectives Fig. 4a, Curtiss "Wireless" Speed Scouts (S-2). By an Ingenious Arrange- ment of the Interplane Struts There Is No Exposed Wire or Cable. are best made at night since there is less chance of loss through anti-aircraft gun fire, and also because of the difficulty that the defense machines have in locating the raiders. Even when well equipped with searchlights and listening stations, it is not the easiest thing in the world to pick out and hold the location of an attacking squadron, for the searchlights immediately betray them_selves and can then be put out of action by fire from the invaders. With the searchlights out of commission, it is almost impossible for the defending chasers to locate and engage the raiders, even before the bombs have been dropped. After the bomb dropping has been accomplished (and 46 MILITARY AEROPLANES with comparative accuracy because of the flares dropped by the bombing party), the raiders are lightened of a considerable portion of their load, and are correspond- ingly increased in their ability to climb and to evade the enemy chasers. Night flying in squadrons always introduces the danger of collision, and to minimize this danger, by decreasing the number of machines, the size and carrying capacity of the bombers has been continually increased. Again, Fig. 6. Nieuport Biplane Scout with Machine Gun Pivoted Above the Upper Wing. This Gun Fires Above the Propeller. bombing requires the steady platform that only a large machine can give, and for accuracy the span and area must be greater than that of the reconnaissance type. In night flying a large machine is safer to handle owing to its lower landing speed and ability to come to rest quickly after landing, and this is of the greatest im- portance when landing outside of the aerodrome. For daylight work at comparatively short distances the smaller bomb carrier used at the beginning of the war is probably preferable as it has better maneuvering qualities, and as the bombs are divided among a greater MILITARY AEROPLANES 47 number of machines they are not so likely to be de- feated before accomplishing their object. Because of their great size, these bombing aeroplanes are nearly always of the "twin motor" type with two, or even three, independent power plants. The use of a twin power plant is an added insurance against forced landings in hostile country, or over unsuitable ground, and even Fig. 8. Fokker Synchronized Machine (Inn. The Gun Is Driven by the Motor in Such a Way That the Bullets Pass Between the Propeller Blades. "L'Aerophile." with one dead engine the machine can be flown home at a fair speed. "Spotting" for the guidance of the artillery is a ciury usually performed by the reconnaissance type, or small bombing type, and is usually done under the escort of chasers. Their duty is to direct the battery as to the placing of shots. The ideal machine for such a purpose would be the direct lift type similar to a helicopter which could hover over one particular spot until its object had been accomplished in making measurements, and plot- ting enemy positions. Since no such machine is at present available, the duty must be performed by a low speed aeroplane, that is large enough to provide a fairly 48 MILITARY AEROPLANES Steady platform and at the same time has sufficient speed for a quick getaway. A dirigible has the necessary hover- ing qualities but lacks the speed necessary for avoiding attack from even the slowest of aeroplanes, and in addi- tion is a magnificent target for anti-craft guns if kept at an altitude low enough for accurate observation. A large speed range is a desirable characteristic in such service. Photography is of the greatest importance in recon- naissance, since the camera distinctly records objects on the terrain, so small and obscure that they may entirely escape the eye of the observer. Again, the photograph is a permanent record that may be studied at leisure in headquarters, or. may be used in comparisons with photographs taken at an earlier date in the same terri- tory. Thus changes in the disposition of enemy bat- teries, trenches, and troops can be quickly identified. With modern aeroplane photographic equipment, a vast territory may be investigated and mapped out by a single machine in a few hours. Camouflage has but few ter- rors for the camera, and the photographs often clearly reveal that which has been passed over time and time again by the observers. When sent out on a specific mission, the aeroplane returns the films in an amazingly short length of time, and within a few minutes they are developed and are ready for the inspection of the officers in charge. The analysis of these photographs has rapidly developed into a science well worthy of a Sherlock Holmes. Changes in the position of shadows, suspiciously sudden growths of underbrush, changes in the direction of paths, and fresh mounds of earth all have a definite meaning to the photographic expert. In the navy the aeroplane has proved of much value in scouting and particularly in defense against the sub- marine. Because of its great speed it has a daily radius of action many times that of a torpedo boat, and because MILITARY AEROPLANES 49 Fig. 9. Types of Aeroplane Bombs. The Tail Surfaces Guide the Bomb So That It Strikes on the Firing Pin and at the Same Time "Safeties" the Bomb So That it Will Not Explode Until it Has Fallen for Some Distance. In Falling, the Tail Blades Rotate and Release the Firing Mechanism After the Bomb Has Fallen Clear of the Aeroplane. Cour- tesy of "Flying." oO MILITARY AEROPLANES of its altitude the effective range of vision is still further increased. At a fair height the observer can easily detect a submarine even w^hen submerged to a considerable depth, a feat impossible when near the sea level. For disclosing the conditions existing in an enemy harbor the aeroplane is fully the equal of the dirigible since it can approach and retreat rapidly, and v^athout much danger at comparatively low altitudes. While the diri- Fig. 9-a. Curtiss "JN" Twin Motor Biplane. Observer Is Seated in Front. gible can float indefinitely at one point, it must be done at an altitude that is safely out of range of the enemy guns, and this is usually at a point where observation is a difficult proposition. It does not take long to get the range of such a target as a hovering dirigible, yet at a much lower altitude it is difficult to handle naval anti- aircraft guns effectively against a speeding aeroplane. The smaller scouting seaplanes can report the position of a submarine to a torpedo boat or *'sub-chaser," while the larger machines are perfectly capable of dealing with MILITARY AEROPLANES 51 52 MILITARY AEROPLANES the submarine at first hand. On the large bombing type, a three-pounder gun and a number of large bombs can be carried, either of which would be sufficient for the purpose. In land defense chasers and fighters are used for patrol, and to maintain a barrage against the entrance of enemy machines into our lines. The patrol machines work along the front line trenches, while the machines main- taining the barrage are generally arranged in two parallel lines back of the trenches, the first being about five miles, and the second about ten miles from the front. All three lines are generally placed between the enemy and the principal stations and railroad centers to insure protection from enemy bombers and reconnaissance machines. Should the first Hne patrol fail to keep raiders from crossing the first line trenches, they will have to pass through at least two more zones of organized fighting squadrons before reaching a vulnerable spot in our lines. The machines used for patrol and barrage are of the high speed and fast climbing chaser type. The response to an attack involves rapid climbing, and a high degree of maneuvering. Except for the bombers and battle planes, the machine gun or "Mitraleuse" has been the only form of arm in common use on aeroplanes. These use ammunition ap- proximating service rifle caliber and are furnished in bands, strips or drums according to the type of gun. With larger guns, the weight of the ammunition has been found excessive with all but the largest bombing machines, and the recoil of a large caliber gun has also been difficult to overcome. In a modern American aero- plane gun of large caliber the recoil has been reduced to almost a negligible degree, even up to the four-pounder size, by a system of balanced projectile reactions. This gun has met successful tests, but whether it has met with general adoption would be difficult to say at the present MILITARY AEROPLANES 53 I^H •5^5 3 « g 'Z "<*i "C > o O-r i- = "> r- ^^-^ C 1- O o o 5< O U c 2 54 MILITARY AEROPLANES time. In Europe, large caliber aeroplane guns have been used on large "battle planes" or ''gun planes" for shelling dirigibles, or in destroying searchlight stations in bomb- ing raids. The battle planes are nearly always of the **Twin" type with the gun mounted in the front end of the fuselage. Summary of Types. To sum up the types required in military operations, we have: (1) High speed ''Chaser" or "Scout" (Single seater), (2) High speed "Chaser" (Two-seat type), (3) Reconnaissance type, (4) Bombing type, (5) Gun or Battle Planes. This does not include the training machines of the two place and "Penguin" types, but as these are simply unarmed modi- fications of the two place reconnaissance and single seat machine, respectively, we will not go into further details at this point regarding their construction. The Chaser or Pursuit Type. The most important factors in the design of a chaser are speed and maneuver- ing ability. The speed must be at a maximum in both the horizontal and vertical directions, for cHmbing ability is fully of as much importance as horizontal speed. Sec- ond in importance is the maximum altitude or "Height of ceiling" to which the machine can ascend. This maxi- mum "Ceiling" generally goes hand in hand with the climbing speed, since a fast climber generally has a correspondingly high maximum altitude. The combina- tion of weight and head resistance must be such that the climb interfers as little as possible with the forward velocity. Great climbing ability means a large power reserve, hence the weight carried per horsepower is reduced to from 8 to 12 pounds on the fastest machines, against the 16 to 18 pounds carried on the larger and slower recon- naissance types. Strength must be sacrificed to meet these conditions, so that instead of having a safety factor of from 8 to 12 as in the larger machines, it is cut down MILITARY AEROPLANES 55 56 MILITARY AEROPLANES to about 5.5, or in other words, the strength is relatively only half that of the usual type of aeroplane. This great reduction in strength calls for careful handling, especially in landing, and also painstaking care in the design and choice of materials. High speeds and maneuvering ability both call for small wing areas and short spans, the areas being so adjusted that the resistance is at a minimum at the high- est speeds. The short spans have a minimum of exposed interplane bracing and thus indirectly reduce both the head resistance and the weight. Unfortunately, the most favorable areas at high speeds are too small for safe landing speeds. With a fixed area, the minimum landing speed is only a little less than one-half of the maximum flying speed, hence with a maximum of 150 miles per hour the minimum will probably be little less than 70 miles per hour. The most efficient wing sections, and the greatest refinement in the body design, bracing, and chassis are necessary at speeds of over 100 miles per hour. All other conditions being equal, the resistance varies as the square of the velocity, hence at 150 miles per hour, the resistance is 2.25 times that at 100 miles per hour. The following table gives approximately the appor- tionment of the head resistance producing items in a typical speed scout or chaser. Body (Fuselage) 68 per cent Chassis, wheels, struts, etc 15 per cent Tail, rudder, fin, elevator 5 per cent Wing structure, struts, wire, fittings . 12 per cent The aerodynamic drag due to the lift of the wings is not included in the above, the useless or parasitic resist- ance alone being considered. It will be noted that the body causes by far the greater part of the resistance, and as a result, the body of the speed scout requires the most MILITARY AEROPLANES 57 careful attention in regard to streamline form. Fortun- ately this is possible with the short stumpy body of the chaser, since a true streamline form approximates the average body dimensions of the scout. In the larger machines, the body resistance is not as great in propor- tion to the other items since there are more struts and stay wires, the chassis is larger, and the tail surfaces are of greater area. The chassis is the next largest item and is one of the most difficult items to reduce. It has been suggested by several people that the chasis could be stored away in the body while in flght, but this adds additional mechanism and weight, and any automatic mechanism for folding up the chassis members would likely prove un- reliable. Chaser Armament. A single seat chaser is provided with one or two machine guns mounted on top of the fuselage, and directly in front of the pilot, the length of the barrel being parallel with the fore and aft center line. They may either be fixed rigidly to the fuselage top, or so that they can be pointed up, and over the top of the upper wing. With the machine guns fixed rigidly to the body, as in the early chaser monoplanes used by Garros and Vedrines, it was necessary at all times to fire directly through the disc area swept out by the propeller. Two plans were tried for preventing the propeller from being broken by the bullets. The first consisted of a device operated by the motor that stopped the gun when- ever the propeller blade came within the path of the bul- lets. This early mechanism proved unreliable, since the frequent stopping, with the propellers running 1200 revo- lutions per minute, soon put the apparatus out of order. Soon after the failure of this method, designers mounted curved protective steel plates on the inner portions of the propeller blades at points where they were likely to be struck with bullets. According to calculations in proba- bility and chance, only one bullet out of every eighteen 58 MILITARY AEROPLANES will strike the protective plate on the propeller blade, and hence only one out of eighteen bullets will be wasted. This, however, was a makeshift, and on modern machines the gun is driven, or ''Synchronized" with the motor so that the bullets pass between the blades. Many modern single seat chasers have the gun pivoted to the top of the fuselage so that the pilot can fire above P-- "^K ;■ Sfl jr ^pn h t -■ sr^^ V ^1 f / „,^,,„,,, -M- - ^B A ^ BWI^ .:- -V- ^^H^ta^^^^l j.'t 1 ^^^aSRt - - ''v;.:Ssr'3:i^^'ir'S^»iS^^SS^sKeBS. -ea**.;* etiv?a 1 1 1 1 1 1 _:q c> . o ":> CJ <5 i"= ui ^ it"^ u!c ^•ofi i rt {L)t^ (LI O O t^ U "-I u « = ^^^ ^ ;^- U. - ^.^^ ^^^^^^^^^ cS'^S'^o ^ in . irv o »^ o 00 .i"^ <^o •n r^ O ^6- O^ . r^ -r rv 00 I -^ i ! U-) t> u^ CA! o => o o t^ o 1/-, O Ki r^J 00 O O — _l '^1 IC ^J ^ -^ fM ^ \0 •^l . ^ . . -r ' >. O "^ "-> o ^ o "^ t^ ^1 t-,. O (M "^ On VO - >o 00 ^ t^ ; O • . o o • M rr, ■ M~. "t ^ VO O »o Tf OS o S£ ■* VO ~5 VO OS o CS) .-H _ ex, CV) ej CI CM o^ ) O) (^l -^l ^1 -^1 /^l r^ -^l c C. I b I 1 5 s i 5 t t O ^ O O VO 00 oi f^ * <-^. r^ 00 m VO ro c^ J J J J J 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 o t^ "^ oo 00 Ov VO "^1 eg rvj oj (Nj OJ •^ eg cvj '-g --vi rg r^ C^l Ol Year Type vo^vo'-.jvo \o: (> vo: Ov^- "^r' o\^o\'^ o^ c, ^p^^ O^ o^ c5 t. S-3 3 Ml SI c 1 SI 'C > o a o c Vj ;^ i^ S w < « Q P^ c/: 64 MILITARY AEROPLANES as the ammunition for the gun. The pilot's compartment contains the navigating instruments and controls. Armament. At the beginning of the war nearly all of the French two seaters were of the pusher type, this arrangement, of course, resulted in almost a completely dead angle of fire in the rear, and a front horizontal angle that was practically restricted to 160 degrees. Owing to the forward position of the gun the vertical angle was quite good, 230 degrees or even better. In the tractor two seater, with a single movable gun mounted "En bar- bette" at the rear, the horizontal angle is about 180 de- grees, but the vertical angle is less than with the pusher type. When the rear gun is supplemented with a front rigidly mounted gun, there is some protection at the front, but the rigid gun is far from being as effective as the pivoted rear gun. The front gun of course fires through the propeller. This armament is used by the German machines "Aviatic," "Rumpler," "Albatros," and "L. V. G." The forward rigid gun is usually of the infantry type, while the movable rear gun is lighter. The latter is fed by drums, or rolled bands on spools, so that reloading can be performed in the wind stream. With the two seater type used in reconnaissance, artil- lery spotting, or photography, the power is generally in the neighborhood of 220-260 horsepower, and the speed varies from 85 to 100 miles per hour. The area is approxi- mately 400 to 480 square feet. A single engine is gen- erally used. General Dimensions and Speeds. Reconnaissance ma- chines of various types and makes are listed in the follow- ing table. A pusher is indicated by (P) and a tractor by (T). The German aeroplanes (G), and the Allied aero- planes (A), are both listed for comparison: It will be noted that several types of machines have been made by the same firms, and that in some cases the same machines have different power plants. The Alba- MILITARY AEROPLANES 65 » » ^ , t ft ft ft ft ft '. nv J3A0 c^ooo r/^^^OirtCJ cq oo mauaq ^^^ jQjq^?^^ ^ ^^ : •nire-j^ oxoo :g o g« : qraiTD ^ ^-^ : Oir> • . ■ •UTK ^^ : : : ^ ^ •x^K S?S|^8 ^ ^fe : K •. • •"^ ooG'c^ : . I . NOVO I"! . •sqq «-.— : iriocgO \0 r^ r-~ c VO U-) ooooo 1 H '-"^[^^(M H : : : jqS :?J : iC 2? : • •1J t^:^ :\d : «o t^t^ : CQ g? ii^ : § ?8 • 1 g l«pBcr[ ?^* :?3 : ^ ?5l ; o Xi(ItU3 i : i ii ;i : Z 3 Oirjo ^inOin t^ O'T 00 oo =o S I PQ 8 < UBds hhh g^§ t t t s t i ft ft S p vn^ o ?" doi bb*^ » t 5 s 5 o ^^ ^^ S UBds Sj:?? ^?^°'? ^^ ^^ ^ ^v0^02vo> ed-tj. O ivax Q ^ i n d ^ §g 23 '-^o < < III n •a c do .o >| 1 > < < P< < <=-; v: < < 66 MILITARY AEROPLANES tros C-III has been furnished with both the 170 and 220 Mercedes motor. The Ago biplane has a tapering wing, and the chord width (*) given is taken at the body. While very recent machines cannot be described, because of cer- tain restrictions, the horsepower of the latest two seaters will average about 240 horsepower. If the dates and power items are noted, it will be seen that the machines used in 1917 have much larger motors than those built in 1916. The weight per square foot of surface will average about 6.5 pounds. The loading per horsepower rarely exceeds 17.0 pounds. Bombing Type Aeroplanes. These large aeroplanes are fitted with either two or three independent power plants. The German bombers are represented by the Gotha, A. E. G., Friedrichshafen, and Rumpler G, while the Allied bombers are the Caproni, Handley-Page, Farman, Voisin, etc. The speed is about that of the reconnaissance type, and will seat three or more men. The motors average 500- 560 horsepower per power plant, and the wing area is usually well over 1,000 square feet. The small two seaters are generally equipped with two pivoted machine guns, while the three seaters have a third machine gun ar- ranged so that it can be lowered and fired through a trap door in the bottom of the body. Defense may thus be had from the rear, or below. In some of the pusher types, a rapid fire gun of comparatively heavy caliber is mounted at the front of the body in place of the usual machine gun. This is usually the case with the sea planes used for sub- marine chasing. In addition to bombing operations, these large ma- chines are also used for the protection of ''spotting" aero- planes, or for the direct protection of the lines against land attacks. These heavily armed bombers are very diffi- cult to attack, even for the smaller and more agile "Chas- ers," as they can fire from below as well as from the front, top, or sides. In the bombers which have only a MILITARY AEROPLANES 67 single gun in the rear, the gunner is working at a disad- vantage if his adversary forces him to continually raise and lower his gun from the top of the body to the lower trap door. This is very tiring to the rear gunner, and if the chaser^s tactics are carried out for a sufficient length of time, it can wear out the gunner by continually rising and dropping at the tail of the bombing plane. In regard to the front gun, the twin motor type ofifers many of the advantages of the pusher, and as a whole, the twin ar- rangement will nearly double the field of fire of either the tractor or pusher. The bombing planes must have a very large radius of action, particularly those that are used in night bombing operations. The Gothas in bombing London fly several hundred miles from their base, and recently a Handley- Page bombing plane flew from London to Constantinople, Turkey, making only a few stops on the way. Starting out from Hendon, England, the Handley-Page machine flew to Paris, down the Rhone valley to Lyons and ]Mar- seilles, and then to Pisa and Rome (Italy), where they landed. From Rome the machine passed over Naples, over Oranto and then over the Albanian Alps to the base at Salonica. flaking preparations at this base they flew the final stage of the trip to Constantinople, a dis- tance of 250 miles over hostile country. The bombing of the Turkish capital was done at night after a flight of 21/2 hours from Salonica. When over the sea of Marmora, the ship "Goeben" was bombed, and in addition a hit was scored on the two submarines lying at her side. Four bombs struck the **Goeben" directly, from an altitude of 800 feet. Two more bombs were dropped on the German ship, ''General," which was the headquarters of the Ger- man staff. Finally, after 30 minutes over the city of Con- stantinople, the Turkish War Office was the recipient of two more bombs. In the words of the Turkish com- munique this ''Was not entirely destroyed." On its re- 68 MILITARY AEROPLANES turn to Salonica it was found that the machine had been struck by 26 shrapnel bullets. This disabled one of the power plants so that the greater part of the return journey was made on a single m^tor. From London to Salonica five men were carried. In addition was their luggage, bedding, two tool boxes, spare parts equivalent in weight to one engine, and two 11 '-6' spare propellers. Complete, the machine weighed over 6 tons, with a useful load of about 6,000 pounds. In cross- ing the Albanian Alps the machine frequently was at an altitude of 10,000 feet. The power plant consisted of two 275 horsepower Rolls-Royce motors, and even at this high altitude, and with the heavy loading, no trouble was ex- perienced. During the bombing, only three men were carried, the remainder of the useful weight being made up of bombs and other ammunition. While this record will probably be beaten before this book goes to press, it will at least give an idea as to the requirements and capabilities of the bombing type aeroplane. Military Training Machines. The military training machines used in the United States are generally of the two seater tractor type, similar in external appearance to the reconnaissance type machines already described. They are low powered, 90 to 125 horsepower, and will have an average span of 40'-0". The controls are in dupli- cate so that the student's controls move in unison with the instructor's. MILITARY AEROPLANES 69 a K '■^ §11111 § % k 7.23 6.75 5.94 7.12 5.51 i ! 1 s ^ ■"6935 11500 4850 7989 4S22 4840 6500 3520 5945 2822 3250 i^gs^s ^ 5> o b : ^ 5 ? — O 3 J"^ OS O X- sO — ^ f^ 1., 70 MILITARY AEROPLANES 1 o o i b i ^ \- h '^ o 5-1 «c 51 1 _, I" lO b. ^ t- «D 1- o c3> t- in 1 ■M 1 ,r o 1? O in ^ § o rf CC '•'•' 1.1 i jf o Ci t- «o o «c cc \ o ^ H K ¥^ 1 Eh X 5 4-1 in tc ^ •r UT CO g 1 S '"' i : . L'? TT C-, 2 o : cc t- o aS 2 : ?< CO s s • '^" ?5 2 -Scii ^ 5 = § g ?. 1 «« '-' ■" ■* '^ '"' ^ ^ ^, -C 1 1 '-i' O o : M r^ © !?fa to o ; to O L-t o iri : 'S' .--. ^ i ^ ^ o <; <-) C o = • O O o r. 1 G oc o ; o c. ^_ o o o c o o 1 S ! '^ ■^ ; "^ " '^ " " " " ^ ^ >c f «9< or 1, ? ^^ % I •^ cc i S Ja b b b br-. LC "• « O ^ 1 k i ., b ^ I. o o § p § f ^^ M CC M <^ g o V: cc ^ S5 ?^ k - ga I § 2 § lb 1 ^ 05 I Jo § § p «> ^g " .^ §S % ?:- o g? cc 5" CO C-J .^ — . 50 . «2 2-ii2^2 ^"1 S tf 35 SS r 2^2 -» ? 1 : ■^ 1 -< « 1 ^ \ y \ V. ' J 1 1 « CHAPTER III. ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS. Definition. Aerodynamics treats of the forces pro- duced by air in motion, and is the basic subject in the study of the aeroplane. It is the purpose of this chapter to describe in detail the action of the wing in flight, and the aerodynamic behavior of the other bodies that enter into the construction of the aeroplane. At present, aero- dynamic data is almost entirely based on experimental investigations. The motions and reactions produced by disturbed air are so complex and involved that no com- plete mathematical theory has yet been advanced that permits of direct calculation. Properties of Air. Air being a material substance, pos- sesses the properties of volume, weight, viscosity and compressibility. It is a mechanical mixture of the two elementary gases, oxygen and nitrogen, in the propor- tion of 23 per cent of oxygen to 77 per cent of nitrogen. It is the oxygen element that produces combustion, while the nitrogen is inert and does not readily enter into com- bination with other elements, its evident function being to act as a dilutant for the energetic oxygen. In combus- tion, the oxygen enters into a chemical combination with the fuel while the nitrogen passes off with the products of combustion unchanged. Air is considered as a fluid since it is capable of flowing like water, but unlike w^ater, it is highly compressible. Owing to the difference between air and water in regard to compressibility, they do not follow exactly the same laws, but at ordinary flight speeds and in the open air, the variations in the pressure are so slight as to cause 71 72 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS little difference in the density. Hence for flight alone, air may be considered as incompressible. It should be noted that a compressible fluid is changed in density by varia- tions in the pressure, that is, by applying pressure the weight of a cubic foot of a compressible fluid is greater than the same fluid under a lighter pressure. This is an important consideration since the density of the air greatly affects the forces that set it in motion, and for this reason the density (weight per cubic foot) is always specified in a test. Every existing fluid resists the motion of a body, the opposition to the motion being commonly known as "resistance." This is due to the cohesion between the fluid particles and the resistance is the actual force required to break them apart and make room for the moving body. Fluids exhibiting resistance are said to have "viscosity." In early aerodynamic researches, and in the study of hydrodynamics, the mathematical theory is based on a "perfect fluid," that is, on a theoretical fluid possessing no viscosity, and while this conception is an aid in studying the reactions, the actual laboratory results are far from the computed values. Such theory would assume that a body could move in a fluid without encountering resistance, which in practice is, of course, impossible. In regard to viscosity, it may be noted that air is highly viscuous — relatively much higher than water. Density for density, the viscosity of air is about 14 times that of water, and consequently the effects of viscosity in air are of the utmost importance in the calculation of resistance of moving parts. Atmospheric air at sea level is about 1/800 of the density of water. Its density varies with the altitude and with various atmospheric conditions, and for this reason the density is usually specified "at sea level" as this alti- tude gives a constant base of measurement for all parts of ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS 73 the world. As the density is also affected by changes in temperature, a standard temperature is also specified. Experimental results, whatever the pressure and tempera- ture at which they were made, are reduced to the corre- sponding values at standard temperature and at the normal sea level pressure, in order that these results may be readily comparable with other data. The normal (aver- age) pressure at sea level is 14.7 pounds per square inch, or 2,119 pounds per square foot at a temperature of 60° Fahrenheit. At this temperature 1 pound of air occupies a volume of 13.141 cubic feet, while at 0° F. the volume shrinks to 11.58 cubic feet, the coresponding densities being 0.07610 and 0.08633 pounds per cubic foot, respec- tively. This refers to dry air only as the presence of water vapor makes a change in the density. With a reduc- tion in temperature the pressure increases with the density increase so that the effect of heat is twofold in its eft'ect. With a constant temperature, the pressure and density both decrease as the altitude increases, a density at sea level of 0.07610 pounds per cubic foot is reduced to 0.0357 pounds per cubic foot at an altitude of 20,000 feet. During this increase in altitude, the pressure drops from 14.7 pounds per square inch to 6.87 pounds per square inch. This variation, of course, greatly affects the performance of aeroplanes flying at different altitudes, and still more affects the performance of the motor, since the latter can- not take in as much fuel per stroke at high altitudes as at low, and as a result the power is diminished as we gain in altitude. The following table gives the power variations at different heights above sea level. This air table also gives the properties of air through the usual range of flight altitudes. The pressures cor- responding to the altitudes are given both in pounds per square inch and m inches of mercury so that barometer and pressure readings can be compared. In the fourth column is the percentage of the horsepower available at 74 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS different altitudes, the horsepower at sea level being taken as unity. For example, if an engine develops 100 horse- power at sea level, it will develop 100 X 0.66 = 66 horse- power at an altitude of 10,000 feet above sea level. The barometric pressure in pounds per square inch can be TABLE OF ALTITUDES, DENSITIES AND PRESSURES AT 60° F. BAROMETRIC ALTITUDE IN DENSITY IN LBS. PRESSURE PER PERCENT OF PRESSURE, FEET ABOVE PER CUBIC SQUARE POWER (SEA IN INCHES SEA LEVEL FOOT INCH IN POUNDS LEVBL= 1.00 OF MER- CURY Sea Level^O.O 0.07610 14.701 1.000 30.00 500 0.07480 14.333 0.965 29.25 872 0.07400* 14.220 0.950 29.00 1,000 0.07340 14.088 0.945 28.75 1,340 0.07250* 13.965 0.925 28.50 1,802 0.07120* 13.728 0.913 28.00 2,000 0.07070 13.578 0.903 27.75 2,753 0.06900* 13.238 0.885 27.00 3,241 0.06780* 12.985 0.878 26.50 4,276 0.06540* 12.495 0.835 25.50 5,000 0.06320 11.956 0.803 24.40 7,516 0.05780* 11.025 0.748 22.50 10,000 0.05230 10.045 0.660 20.50 12,630 0.04740* 9.165 0.600 18.50 14,839 0.04300* 8.333 0.550 17.00 18,109 0.03810* 7.350 0.483 15.00 20,000 0.03570 6.86 0.448 14.00 NOTE. — Densities marked * are interpolated from a graph, but are close enough for all ordinary purposes. obtained by multiplying the pressure in inches of mer- cury by the factor 0.4905, this being the v^eight of a mer- cury column 1 inch high. In aerodynamic laboratory reports, the standard density of air is 0.07608 pounds per cubic foot at sea level, the temperature being 15 degrees Centrigrade (59 degrees Fahrenheit). This standard density will be assumed throughout the book, and hence for any other altitude or density the corresponding corrections must be made. Owing to the fact that the temperature decreases as we ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS iO gain altitude, further corrections must be made in the tabular values, but as the changes are rather difficult to make and are relatively small we will not take the matter up at this point. Air Pressure on Normal Flat Plates. When a flat plate or "plane" is held at right angles or ''normal" to an air stream, it obstructs the flow and a force is produced that tends to move it with the stream. The stream divides. Fig. 1. Air Flow About a Flat Normal Plate. Pressure Zone at Front and Vacuous Turbulent Zone at Rear (H). Arrows Show Direction of Flow. as shown in Fig. 1 and passes all around the edges of the plate (P-R), the stream reuniting at a point (M) far in the rear. Assuming the air flow from left to right, as in the figure, it will be noted that the rear of the plate at (H) is under a slight vacuum, and that it is filled with a complicated whirling mass of air. The general trend of the eddy paths are indicated by the arrows. At the front where the air current first strikes the plate there is a considerable pressure due to the impact of the air par- ticles. In the figure, pressure above the atmospheric is indicated by *****^ while the vacuous space at the rear is indicated by fine dots. As the pressure in front, and the vacuum in the rear, both tend to move the surface to the right in the direction of the air stream, the total force 76 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS tending to move the plate will be the difference of pres- sure on the front and rear faces multiplied by the area of the plate. Thus if F is the force due to the impact pres- sure at the front, and G is the force due to the vacuum at the rear, then the total resistance (D) or "Drag" is the sum of the two forces. Contrary to the common opinion, the vacuous part of the drag is by far the greater, say in the neighborhood of from 60 to 75 per cent of the total. When a body expe- riences pressure due to the breaking up of an air stream, as in the present case, the pressure is said to be due to ^'turbulence," and the body is said to produce "turbulent flow." This is to distinguish the forces due to impact and suction, from the forces due to the frictional drag produced by the air stream rubbing over the surface. Forces due to turbulent flow do not vary directly as the velocity of the air past the plate, but at a much higher rate. If the velocity is doubled, the plate not only meets with twice the volume of air, but it also meets it twice as fast. The total effect is four times as great as in the first place. The forces due to turbulent flow therefore vary as the square of the velocity, and the pressure increases very rapidly with a small increase in the velocity. The force exerted on a plate also increases directly with the area, and to a lesser extent the drag is also affected by the shape and proportions. Expressed as a formula, the total resistance (D) becomes: D = KAV^, where K^ co-efficient of resistance determined by expe- riment, A= area of plate in square feet, and V= velocity^ in miles per hour. The value of K takes the shape and proportion of the plate into consideration, and also the air density. Example. If the area of a flat plate is 6 square feet, the co-efficient K = 0.003, and the velocity is 60 miles per hour, what is the drag of the plate in pounds ? Solution. D == KAV^ = 0.003 X 6 X (60 X 60) = 64.80 pounds drag. ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS 77 For a square flat plate, the co-efficient K can be taken as 0.003. Aspect Ratio. The aspect ratio of a plate is the ratio of the length to the width. Thus, with an aspect ratio of 2.0, we understand that the plate is twice as long as it is wide. The ratio of the length to the width has a very con- siderable influence of the resistance or drag, this increas- ing as the ratio is made greater. If the resistance of a square plate is taken as 1.00, the resistance of a plate with an aspect ratio of 20 will be about 1.34 times as great. The following table will give the effects of aspect ratio on the resistance of a flat plane. EFFECTS OF ASPECT RATIO ON FLAT PLATES. Aspect Ratio. Resistance K as a Multiple Length/Width of a Square Plate. 1.00 (square) 1.00 1.50 1.04 2.00 1.05 3.00 1.07 4.00 1.08 5.00 1.09 6.00 1.10 7.00 1.12 9.00 1.14 10.00 1.15 15.00 1.26 20.00 1.34 30.00 1.40 To convert the values of a square plate into a flat plate of given aspect ratio, multiply the resistance of the square plate by the factor under the "K" heading. For example : The resistance of a certain square plate is 20 pounds, find the resistance of a plate of the same area, but with an aspect ratio of 15. Solution. The factor for 78 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS a ratio of 15 will be found to be 1.26, hence the resistance of the required plate will be 20 X 1.26 = 25.2 pounds. Streamline Forms. When a body is of such form that it does not cause turbulence when moved through the air, the drag is entirely due to skin friction. Such a body is known as a ''streamline form" and approximations are used for the exposed structural parts of aeroplanes in order to reduce the resistance. Streamline bodies are fish- like or torpedo-shaped, as shown by Fig. 2, and it will be Fig. 2. Air Flow About a Streamline Body Showing an Almost Complete Absence of Turbulence Except at the Extreme Rear Edge. Resist- ance Is Principally Due to Skin Friction. noted that the air stream hangs closely to the outline through nearly its entire length. The drag is therefore entirely due to the friction of the air on the sides of the body since there is no turbulence or "discontinuity." In practical bodies it is impossible to prevent the small tur- bulence (I), but in well-designed forms its eflect is almost negligible. In poor attempts at streamline form, the flow discon- tinues its adherence to the body at a point near the tail. The poorer the streamline, and the higher the resistance, the sooner the stream starts to break away from the body and cause a turbulent region. The resistance now ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS 79 becomes partly turbulent and partly frictional, with the resistance increasing rapidly as the percentage of tlie turbulent region is increased. The fact that the resistance is due to two factors, makes the resistance of an approximate streamline body very difficult to calculate, as the frictional drag and the tur- bulent drag do not increase at the same rate for different speeds. The drag due to turbulence varies as V- while the frictional resistance only varies at the rate of V^-*"^"', hence the drag due to turbulence increases much faster with the velocity than the frictional component. If we could foretell the percentage of friction, it would be fairly easy to calculate the total effect, but this percentage is exactly what we do not know. The only sure method is to take the results of a full size test. Fig. 2 gives the approximate section through a stream- line strut such as used in the interplane bracing of a biplane. The length is (L) and the width is (d), the latter being measured at the widest point. The relation of the length to the width is known as the "fineness ratio" and in interplane struts this may vary from 2.5 to 4.5, that is, the length of the section ranges from 2.5 to 4.5 times the width. The ideal streamline form has a ratio of from 5. to 5.75. Such large ratios are difficult to obtain with economy on practical struts as the small width would result in a weak strut unless the weight were unduly in- creased. Interplane struts reach a maximum fineness ratio at about 3.5 to 4.5. Fig. 3 shows the result of a small fineness ratio, the short, stubby body causing the stream to break away near the front and form a large tur- bulent region in the rear. An approximate formula showing the relation of fine- ness ratio and resistance (curvature equal) was developed by A. E. Berriman, and published in "Flight" Nov. 12, 1915. Let D = resistance of a flat plate at a given speed, and R = resistance of a strut at the same speed and of 80 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS the same area, then the relation between the resistance of the flat plate, and the strut will be expressed by the formula R/D = 4L/300d, where L = length of section and d = width as in Fig. 2. This can be transposed for conven- ience, by assuming the drag of a flat plate as D = 0.003AV^ where A = area in square feet, and V = velo- city in miles per hour. The ratio of the strut resistance to the flat plate resistance, given by Berriman's formula, can now be multiplied by the flat plate resistance, or strut Fig. 3. Imperfect Streamline Body with a Considerable Tubulence Due to the Short, Stubby Form. Fig. 4 Shows the Flow About a Circular Rod or Cylinder. resistance = R = O.OOSAV^ X 4L/300d. = 0.012LAVV 300d. It should be understood that the area mentioned abov5 is the greatest area presented to the wind in square feet, and hence is equal to the length of the strut (not section) multiplied by the width (d). Assuming the length (L) of the section as 7.5 inches, and the width (d) as one inch, the fineness ratio will be 7.5. Using the Berriman formula in its original form, the relative resistance of the strut and flat plate of same area will be found as R/D = 4L/300d = 0.1, that is, the resistance of a streamline form strut of above fineness ratio will be about 0.1 of a flat plate of the same area. It should be understood that this is only an approximate ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS 81 formula since even struts of the same fineness vary among themselves according to the outline. Results published by the National Physical Laboratory show streamline sec- tions giving 0.07 of the resistance of a flat plate of the same area, with fineness ratio = 6.5. In Fig. 4 the effects of flow about a circular rod is shown, a case where the fineness ratio is 1. The stream follows the body through less than one-half of its circumference, and the turbulent region is very large ; almost as great as with the flat plate. A circular rod is far from being even an approach to a perfect form. In all the cases shown. Figs. 1-2-3-4, it will be noticed that the air is affected for a considerable distance in front of the plane, as it rises to pass over the obstruction before it actually reaches it. The front compression may be per- ceptible for 6 diameters of the object. Fi-om the examina- tion of several good low-resistance streamline forms it seems that the best results are obtained with the blunt nose forward and the thin end aft. The best position for the point of greatest thickness lies from 0.25 to 0.33 per cent of the length from the front end. From the thickest part it tapers out* gradually to nothing at the rear end. That portion to the rear of the maximum width is the most important from the standpoint of resistance, for any irregularity in this region causes the stream to break away into a turbulent space. From experiments it has been found that as much as one-half of the entering nose can be cut away without materially increasing the resist- ance. The cut-off nose may be left flat, and still the loss is only in the neighborhood of 5 per cent. Resistance Calculations (Turbulency). In any plate or body where the resistance is principally due to turbulent action, as in the flat plate, sphere, cone, etc., the resistance can be computed from the formula R = KAV^, where R is the resistance in pounds and K, A, and V are as before. The resistance co-efficient (K) depends upon the shape of 82 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS the object under standard air conditions, and differs greatly with flat plates, cones, sphere, etc. The area (A) is the area presented to the wind, or is the greatest area that faces the wind, and is taken at right angles to its direction. The following table gives the value of K for the more common forms of objects. See Figs. 4 to 12, inclusive : NAME OF OBJECT (4) Sphere (5) Hemisphere-Shell . (6) Hemisphere-Shell . , (7) Cone-Closed Base., (60° Angle) (8) Cone-Closed Base. (30° Angle.) (9) Cone-Hemisphere . . on Base (20°) (10) Cone as Above (11) Flat Circular Disc (12) Flat Square Plate, F.\CE OR EDGE FACIXG WIND x\ny Direction. . . . Flat Face Front. . Round Face Front Apex to Front. . . . Apex to Front Apex to Front Sphere to Front, Face to Front. . Face to Front. . K IX TERMS OP Sy. FT./ MILES PER HR. 0.000445 0.003840 0.008100 0.001300 0.000850 0.000406 0.0O0222 0.002820 0.003000 The're are almost an infinite number of dift'erent forms, but for the present the above examples will fill our pur- pose. As an example in showing how greatly the form of an object influences its resistance, we will work out the resistance of a flat plate and a spherical ended cone, both having the same presented diameter. The cone is placed so that the spherical end will face the air stream. The area A of both objects will be: 0.7854 X 2 X 2 = 3.1416 square feet. With an assumed wind velocity of 100 miles per hour, the resistance of the circular flat disc will be: R= KAV2 = 0.00282 X 3.1416 X (lOOX 100) =87.96 lbs. For the cone, R = KAV2 = 0.000222 X 3.1416 X (100 X 100) =6.97 lbs. From this calculation it w^ill be seen that it is advisable to surround the object with a spherical cone shaped body rather than to present the flat surface to the wind. In the above table the value of K is given for two ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS 83 positions of the spherical based cone, the first is with the apex toward the wind, and the second condition gives the value with the base to the wind. With the blunt end for- ward, the resistance is about one-half that when the pointed apex enters the air stream. This is due to the taper closing- up the stream without causing turbulence. K=aooo4^5 Fig. 6 K^O.OOQl ris.9 K=O.OOOW6 rre./a Note ! \a/indi5FROm left tor/ght-se-e ar/rows. Figs. 4a-5-6-7-8-9-lG-ll-12. The Values of the Resistance Co-efficient K for Different Forms and Positions of Solid Objects. Arrows Indicate the Direction of the Relative Wind. (Eiffel.) With the apex forward there is nothing to fill up the vacuous space when the air passes over the large diameter of the base as the curve of the spherical end is too short to accomplish much in this direction. Skin Friction. The air in rubbing over a surface expe- riences a frictional resistance similar to water. At the present time the accepted experiments are those of Dr. 84 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS Zahm but these are still in some question as to accuracy. It was found in these experiments that there was prac- tically no difference caused by the material of the surfaces as long as they were equally smooth. Linen or cotton gave the same results as smooth wood or zinc as long as there was no nap or lint upon the surface. With a fuzzy surface the friction increased rapidly. This is undoubtedly due to a minute turbulence caused by the uneven surface, and hence the increase was not purely frictional, but also due to turbulence. In the tests, the air current was led parallel to the surface in such a way that only the friction could move the surface. The surface was freely sus- pended, and as the wind moved it edgewise, the movement was measured by a sharp pointer. End shields prevented impact of the air on the end of the test piece so that there was no error from this source. The complete formula given by Dr. Zahm is rather complicated for ordinary use, especially for those not used to mathematical computations. If Rf = resistance due to friction on one side of surface, L^ length in direc- tion of wind in feet, b = width of surface in feet, and V = velocity in feet per second, then Rf = 0.00000778L«-«^V^-«^b. It will be noted that the resistance increases at a lower rate than the velocity squared, and at a less rate than the area. That is to say, that doubling the area will not double the resistance, but will be less than twice the amount. Giving the formula in terms of area and miles per hour units, we have : Rf = 0.0000167 A«-«^V^-«^ Where A = area in square feet and V smiles per hour. The area is for one side of the surface only. A rough approxi- mation to Zahm's equation has been proposed by a writer in "Flight," the intention being to avoid the complicated formula and yet come close enough to the original for practical purposes. The latter formula reads : Rf = ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS 85 0.000009V2 where Rf and V are as above. Up to 40 miles per hour the results are very close to Zahm's formula, and are fairly close from 60 to 90 miles per hour. This approxi- mation is only justified when the length in the direction of the wind is nearly equal to the length. If the length is much greater, there is a serious error introduced. This formula is applied to surfaces parallel to the wind such as the sides of the body, rudder, stabilizer, and elevator surfaces (when in neutral). A second important feature of the friction formula is that it illustrates the law of "similitude" or the results of a change in scale and velocity, hence it outlines what we must expect when we compute a full size aeroplane from the results of a model test. The Inclined Plane. When a flat plate is inclined with the wind, the resistance or drag will be broken up into two components, one at right angles to the air stream, and one parallel to it. If the plate is properly inclined, the right angled component can be utilized in obtaining lift as with an aeroplane wing. This is shown in Fig. 13 where L is the vertical lift force at right angles to the air stream and D is the horizontal drag acting in the direc- tion of the wind. As in the case of the plate placed normal to the wind, there is pressure at the front of the plate and a partial vacuum behind. The resultant force will be determined by the difference in pressure between the front and the back of the plate. The forces will vary as V^ since the reaction is caused by turbulent flow. Both the lift and drag will vary with the angle made with the stream, and there will be a different value for the co-efli- cient K for each change in the angle. The angle made with the air stream is known as the "Angle of incidence" or the "Angle of attack." The change of drag and lift does not vary at a regular rate with the angle. A line OR is the resultant of the lift and drag forces L and D, this resultant being the force necessary to bal- m ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS ance the two forces L-D. It is on the point of applica- tion O that the plate balances, and this point is sometimes known as the "Center of pressure." The center of pres- sure is therefore the point at which the resultant inter- sects the surface of the flat plate. The resultant OR is approximately at right angles to the surface at small incident angles, and the point O is nearer the front or ^'leading edge" (A) of the plane. The smaller the angle of incidence the nearer will the point O approach the lead- ing edge A. By drawing OL to scale, representing the NOfSMAL PLAN£ . (C.P C£/^77SAC i ir^CUNEDPLAtli CC.RN£Af2L^ Fig. 13. Flow About Inclined Plane and Forces Produced by Stream. Fig. 14. Normal Plane with C.P. at center of Plate. Fig. 15. C.P. Moves Toward Entering Edge When Plate Is Inclined to Wind. lift, and OD to scale representing the drag, we can find the resultant OR by drawing LR parallel to the drag OD and DR parallel to the lift line OL. All lines drawn through the intersection of LR and DR will give the resultant OR to scale. All of the lines must be started from the center of pressure at O. The least resultant will, of course, occur Avhen the plane is parallel to the air stream. The maximum resultant will occur when the angle of incidence is about 40 degrees, ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS 87 and on a further increase in the angle, the value of the resultant will gradually decrease. When the plane is parallel with the stream, the resultant is parallel to the plate, but rapidly approaches a position at right angles at about an incidence of 6 to 10 degrees. Beyond 10 degrees incidence the angle of the resultant increases past the normal. The center of pressure (O), or the point where the re- sultant force intersects the plane, moves forward as the angle of incidence is decreased from 90°. When at right angles to the air current, the center of pressure is exactly in the center of the plane as shown by Fig. 14. In this case the drag (D) is the resultant, and acting in the center, ex- actly balances the air forces. In Fig. 15 the angle of inci- dence is reduced, consequently the center of pressure moves nearer the leading edge (A). As the angle con- tinues to decrease, the C. P. moves still further forward until it lies directly on the front edge when the plate be- comes parallel with the air stream. The center of pressure movement is due to the fact that more and more work is done by the front part of the surface as the angle is decreased. Consequently the point of support, or C. P., must move forward to come under the load. It should be understood that the plane will balance about the C. P. if a knife edge bearing were applied as at R in Fig. 15. Calculation of Inclined Planes. We will now consider the inclined plane as a lifting surface for an aeroplane, and make the elementary calculations for such purpose. The lift will first be calculated for the support of the given load, at the given velocity, and then the drag. For several reasons, that will afterwards be explained, the flat plate or plane is not used for the main lifting surfaces, but the experience gained in computing the plate will be of great assistance when we start calculating actual wings. Lift and Drag Co-efihcients. The lift component (L) of the inclined flat plate depends on the velocity, area, aspect 88 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS ratio and angle of incidence. Instead of using the co-effi- cient (K) formerly used for the total drag, we will use the lift co-efficient Ky. The formula for lift now becomes: L=KyAV^ where A = area in square feet, and V = velocity in miles per hour. The lift co-efficient Ky depends upon the angle of incidence. The horizontal drag D will be calculated from the drag co-efficient Kx which is used in the same way as the co-efficient K in the case of the normal plate. The subscript (x) is used to distinguish it from the lift co-efficient. Both Ky and Kx must be cor- rected for aspect ratio. The drag can be calculated from the formula : D = KxAV^ where the letters A and V are the same as above. For the calculation of the drag, we will use a new expre,ssion — the "Lift-Drag Ratio" — or as more com- monly given, "L/D." This shows the relation between the lift and drag, so that by knowing the lift and the ratio for any particular case, we can compute the drag without the necessity of going through the tedious calculation D = KxAV^. The lift-drag ratio for a flat plate varies with the angle of incidence, and the aspect ratio, and hence a separate value must be used for every inclination and change in aspect. To obtain the drag, divide the lift by the lift-drag ratio. Hence if the lift is 1200 pounds, and the ratio equals 6.00, the drag will be: 1200/6 = 200 pounds, or in other words, the lift is 6 times the drag force. Changing the angle of incidence through angles ranging from 1 degree to 7 degrees, the lift-drag ratio of a flat plate will vary from 1.5 to 7.5. When the plane is parallel to the wind stream and gives no lift, the drag is computed from Zahm's skin friction formula. The following tables give the values of Ky, Kx, L/D, and center of pressure movement for flat plates of various aspect ratios. The center of pressure (C. P.) for each angle is given as a decimal fraction of its distance from the leading edge, in terms of the width or "Chord." ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS 89 Fig. 16 shows the top view or plan of a lifting surface, with the direction of the wind stream indicated by the arrows w-w-w = w. The longer side or "span" is indicated by S, while the width or chord is C. Main lifting surfaces, or wings, have the long side at right angles to the wind as shown. When in this position, the surface is said Fig. 16. Plan View of Plate with Long Edge to Wind. Fig. 17. Plate with Narrow Edge to Wind, Showing Loss in Lift. 17a Shows Effect of Raked Tips. to be in "Pterygoid Aspect," and when the narrow edge is presented to the wind, the wing is in "Apteroid Aspect." The word "Pterygoid" means "Bird like," and was chosen for the condition in Fig. 16, as this is the method in which a bird's wing meets the air. Contrary to the case with true curved aeroplane wings, flat planes usually give better lift in apteroid than in pterygoid aspect at high angles. The aspect ratio will be the span (S) divided by the chord (C), or Aspect ratio = S/C. 90 ELEMENTARY AERODYNAMICS AERODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF INCLINED FLAT PLATES. ASPECT RATia=l. ASPECT RATIO = 1.3. ANGLE OF IN- CIDENCE 5 10 20 30 45 1 1 1 L 1 L i LIFT DRAG — LIFT DRAG Ky Kx D C.P. Ky Kx D 0.00045 0.00007 6.3 0.231 0.00057 0.00011 6.5 .00097 .00019 5.1 0.268 .00109 .00020 5.6 .00208 .00074 2.8 .328 .00215 .00077 2.8 .00294 .00173 1.7 .392 .00198 .00095 1.7 .00207 .00210 1.0 .432 .00185 .00184 1.2 C.P. 0.230 .271 .331 .398 .442 ASPECT RATIO = 2. 1 ASPECT RATIO = 3. 5 0.00069 0.00009 7.8 0.231 0.00087 0.00012 7.7 0.233 10 .00123 .00021 5.9 0.278 .00140 .00028 5.1 .300 20 .00247 .00091 2.7 0.345 .00210 .00077 2.7 .406 30 .00178 .00111 1.7 0.405 .00193 .00111 1.7 .420 40 .00169 .00146 1.2 0.439 .00169 .00122 1.1 .426 ASPECT RATIO = 6. II ASPECT RATIO = 9. 5 0.00103 .00016 6.4 0.275 0.00134 .00026 5.2 0.289 10 .00173 .00034 5.2 .333 .00186 .00040 4.7 0.348 20 .00199 .00074 2.7 .391 1 .00211 1 .00080 1 2.6 1 .0.390 30 .00204 .00120 1.7 .406 1 .00210 1 .00127 1 1.7 0.398 40 .00191 .00116 1.1 .421 1 .00194 1 .00179 1 1.1 0.416 It will be seen from the above that the lift coefficient Ky increases with the aspect ratio, and that it generally declines after an angle of 30 degrees. The center of pres- sure moves steadily back with an increase in angle. Example for Lifts. A certain flat plane has an area of 200 square feet, and moves at 50 miles per hour. The angle of incidence is 10 degrees, and the aspect ratio is 6. Find the total lift and the drag in pounds. Also the location of the center of pressure in regard to the leading edge, if the chord is 5.8 feet. Solution. Under the table headed, "Aspect Ratio = 6 we find that Ky at 10° ==0.00173, and that the lift drag ratio is 5.2. The center of pressure is 0.333 of the chord from the front edge. The total lift then becomes : L=KyAV2 = 0.00173x200x( 50x50) =865 pounds. Since the lift drag ratio is 5.2, the drag= D = 865/5.2= 166.3 pounds. The center of pressure will be located 5,8x0.333 = 1.4 feet from the leading edge. Under the same conditions, but with an aspect ratio of 3, the Hft will become : L = KyAV2 = 0.0014x200x(50x 50) = 700 pounds. In this case the lift drag ratio is 5.1, so that the drag will be 137.8 pounds. Even with the same area, the aspect ratio makes a difference of 865 — 700 ELEAIENTARY AERODYNAMICS 91 = 165 pounds. If we were compelled to carry the original 865 pounds with aspect 3 wing, we would also be com- pelled to increase the area, angle, or speed. If the speed were to be kept constant, we would be limited to a change in area or angle. In the latter case it would be preferable to increase the area, since a sufficient increase in the angle would greatly increase the drag. It will be noted that the lift-drag ratio decreases rapidly with an increase in the angle. Burgess Seaplane Scout, Calculation of Area: Let us assume that we are confined to the use of an aspect ratio of 6, a speed of 50 miles per hour, weight = 2500 pounds, and wish to obtain the area that will give the most efficient surface (Least lift-drag ratio.) The equation can be now trans- posed so that the area = A==KyV^ On examination of the table it will be seen that the greatest lift-drag ratio is 6.4 at 5 degrees, and that the Ky at this angle is 0.00103. Substituting these values in the equation for area, we have A = L/Ky V^ = 2500/0.00103 x (50 x 50) = 971 square feet. 92 LABORATORIES Wind Tunnel at Washington Navy Yard in Which the Air Circulates Con- tinuously Through a Closed Circuit. CHAPTER IV. EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORIES. Test Methods in General. As already explained, the behavior of a body in an air stream cannot be predicted with any certainty by direct mathematical calculation, and for this reason, each and every aerodynamic body must be tested under conditions that are as nearly similar to the actual working conditions as possible. Prior to Professor Langley's first experiments in 1887, mechan- ical flight with a heavier than air machine was derided as an impossibility, even by such scientists as Navier, Von Helmotz, Gay-Lussac, and others, who proved by the most intricate calculations that a body larger than a bird could not be supported by its own energy. Such calcula- tions were, of course, based on a wrong understanding of air flow, and as no experimental w^ork had been done up to that time, the flow was assumed according to the indi- vidual taste and belief of the demonstrator. The presence of a vacuum on the back of a plate was not understood, and as this contributes full two-thirds of the lift, it is an easy matter to see why all of the early predictions fell short of the actual lifting forces. To quote one classic absurdity, the scientist Navier proved mathematically that if mechanical flight were possible, then 17 swallows would be capable of developing one horsepower. In spite of these discouraging computations, Langley proceeded with a very carefully conducted series of expe- riments, first investigating the laws of surface sustena- tion on various forms of plates, and when the data collected was sufficient for his needs, he started to con- 93 94 LABORATORIES struct a number of model flyers with various wing arrangements and aerofoil forms. It was Langley's expe- riments upon aerofoils that cleared the way for the Wright Brothers, who started a further and more com- plete investigation in 1896. Experiments were made on the effect of curvature, aspect ratio and angle of inci- dence, and the results obtained in their "wind tunnel" were afterwards applied to their successful full size ma- chine. During 1901 to 1902 the Wrights investigated the properties of at least 100 different aerofoil forms. Both Langley's and Wrights' experiments were with models, although they were made in a different manner. It was in this way that experimental evidence gained precedence over theory. Langley's specimens were mounted at the end of a revolving arm, so that with the arm revolving, a relative air stream of known velocity could be had. The aero- foil was mounted in such a way that the lift and drag could be measured. In the early experiments of the Wrights, the models were placed in an enclosed channel through which a stream of air was maintained by a fan. The model was attached to a balance system so that the lift and resistance could be measured. This is what is now known as a "wind tunnel," and at present is almost exclusively used in model tests. Several investigators immersed their model aerofoils in running water so that the direction of flow could be visibly observed. While this latter method is of great service in determining dis- turbances, stream line flow, and general characteristics, it is qualitative rather than quantitative, and cannot be used in obtaining accurate numerical results. A more accurate method of mapping out the direction of flow, eddies, etc., is to introduce smoke into the air stream. Full Size Experiments. The old "rule of the thumb" method of building a full size machine without model test data or other experimental evidence to begin with has LABORATORIES 95 seen its day. It is not only exceedingly expensive, but is highly dangerous, and many a flyer has met his death in the endeavor to work out, untried principles on a full size machine. The first cost of the machine, the continual breakage and operating expense, to say nothing of the damage suits and loss of time, make a preliminary full size tryout an absurdity at the present time. Again, the results of full size experiments are not always reliable, as so much depends upon the pilot and weather conditions. The instruments used on a large machine are far from being as accurate as those used in model tests. These are also likely to be thrown out of adjustment unknow- ingly by falls or collisions. The great number of variables that enter into such a test make it almost an impossibility to obtain accurate data on the result of minor alterations, and, in fact, it is almost impossible to get the same results twice without further alterations than changing the pilot. Full scale tests are necessary after sufficient data has been obtained and applied in a scientific manner to the design of the machine, but successful performance can- not be expected from a powered machine built by guess work. When performed in connection with a wind tunnel, or based on dependable data from other sources, full size wing tests are very instructive and useful if care is taken to have the tests conducted under uniform and known conditions. Many full size experiments of this nature have been carried out by Saint-Cyr University in France, and by the Royal Aircraft Factory in Great Britain. Both of these institutions have a wind tunnel and an almost unlimited fund of performance data, and last but not least, have the services of skilled observers. At Saint-Cyr, the full size wings, or the entire machine, are carried on an electric car or "chariot." The speed of the car, the lift and drag, can be determined at any mo- ment during the run through suitable recording devices. 96 LABORATORIES Actual flying tests have also been made, the measure- ment of the propeller thrust giving the drag, while the lift is known as being equal^to the weight of the machine. The R. A. F. have carried out a very extensive series of flight tests, the experiments on the old "B. E.-2" probably being the best known. The greater part of the experiments performed with the car at Saint-Cyr differed considerably from the results obtained by model tests, and apparently these differences followed no specific law. According to theory, and the results obtained by different laboratories, the performance of a full size wing should be better than with a model, but the Saint-Cyr tests showed that such was not always the case. The center of pressure movement differed in almost every case, and as a direct result, the pressure distribution of the large wings was materially different than with the model. The lift-drag ratio results varied, sometimes being better for the model than for the large wing. These differences can probably be explained as being due to variation in air currents, side winds, etc. Model Tests. Since lift and resistance are due to rela- tive motion between a body and the air stream, a model can either be towed through the air, or it can be held stationary while the air is forced past it. There has been some controversy on the relation between the results obtained by the two methods, but for the present we will accept the common belief that the results obtained by either method are the same. In testing ship models, they are always towed through the tank, but in the case of aero-dynamic bodies this is complicated and not desir- able. In towing models through the air a very high velocity is needed and this necessitates either a very long track or a short time length for making the observations. Again, it is almost impossible to avoid errors because of vibration, inequality of movement due to uneven track, or air eddies caused by differences in temperature and by LABORATORIES 97 the movement of the towing device. In fact, the same difficulties apply to towed model tests as to the full size "electric chariot." The whirling arm method of testing as used by Lang- ley, Maxim-Vickers, and others, is a form of ''towed testing," but is also open to serious objections. Unless the arm is very long, every part of the model surface will not move at the same velocity, the outer portions moving the faster. As the forces produced by an air stream vary as the square of the velocity, this may introduce a serious error. The fact that the body passes repeatedly over the same path introduces error, as the body after the first revolution is always working in disturbed air. The centri- fugal force, and the currents set up by the arm itself all reduce the accuracy of the method. When a model is placed in a uniform current of air in a properly designed channel or tunnel, the greater part of the errors due to towed tests are eliminated. The measuring instruments can be placed on a firm founda- tion, the air stream can be maintained at a nearly uniform speed and with little error due to eddies, and the test may be continued under uniform conditions for an indefinite period. While there are minor errors due to wall fric- tion and slight variations in the velocity at different points in the cross section of the tunnel, they are very small when compared to the errors of towing. For this reason the wind tunnel is the accepted means of testing. Eiffel's Wind Tunnel. The Eiffel Laboratory at Auteuil, France, is probably one of the best known. The results in Chapters III and V were obtained in this laboratory and thousands of similar experiments have been carried out at this place. Two tunnels, a large and small, are placed side by side in the main laboratory room, the tunnels being supported midway between the floor and ceiling. The air is drawn from this room into an air- tight experimental chamber through a bell-mouthed cir- 98 LABORATORIES cular opening. A grill or honeycomb baffle is placed in the opening to straighten out the flow, and from this point the air passes across the chamber and exits through a circular duct to the suction side of a large fan. From the fan the air is discharged into the room. The same air thus circulates through the tunnel continuously. The test chamber is considerably wider than the openings so that the walls do not influence the flow around the model. A cylinder of air passes through the chamber at a remark- ably uniform velocity, and without any appreciable eddies. Diameter of the stream approximates 6.6 feet in the large tunnel and 3 feet in the smaller. In the large tunnel the maximum velocity is 105 feet per second, and 131 feet per second is attained in the smaller. A 50-horsepower electric motor is used with a multiblade fan of the "Sirocco" type. The observer and weighing mechanism are supported above the air stream on a sliding floor, and a standard extends from the model in the wind stream to the bal- ances on the weighing floor. These balances determine the lift and drag of the models, the center of pressure, etc. The N. P. L. Tunnel. The National Physical Labora- tory at Teddington, England, has a remarkably com- plete and accurate aerodynamic equipment. This con- sists of a large tunnel of 7 square feet area, a small tunnel of 4 square feet, and a whirling table house. The large tunnel is 80 feet in length with an air flow of 60 feet per second, the air being circulated by a four-bladed propeller driven by an electric motor of 30 horsepower. The velocity is uniform within one-half per cent, and the most accurate of results have been obtained. The smaller tunnel is about 56 feet long and the wind velocity is about 40 miles per hour maximum. The propeller revolves at 600 revolutions and is driven by a 10-horsepower elec- tric motor. There is no chamber and the models are suspended in the passage half way between the "DifTuser" LABORATORIES 99 in the entering end, and the baffles in the exit. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Curtis Aeroplane Company both have similar tunnels. United States Navy Tunnel. In this tunnel the air is confined in a closed circuit, the return tunnel being much larger than the section in which the tests are performed. The cross-sectional area is 8 square feet at the point of test, and the stream is uniform within 2 per cent. The balance and controls are mounted on the roof of the tunnel, with an arm extending down through the air stream to the model, as in the Eiffel tunnel. The balance is similar to Eiffel's and is sensitive to less than 2/1000 pound. A velocity of 7h miles per hour may be attained by the 500-horsepower motor, but on account of the heat- ing of the air stream through skin friction, the tests are generally made at 40 miles per hour. Models up to 36-inch span can be tested, while the majority of models tested at M. I. T. are about 18 inches. ZolW CHAPTER V. AERODYNAMICS OF LIFTING SURFACES (AEROFOILS). General Wing Requirements. The performance of flat plates when used as Hfting surfaces is very poor compared with curved sections or wing forms. It will be remembered that the greatest lift-drag ratio for the flat plate was 6.4, and the best Ky was 0.00294. Modern wing sections have a lift-drag ratio of over 20.0, and some sections have a lift coefficient of Ky= 0.00364, or about 60 per cent higher than the lift obtained with a flat plate. In fact, this advantage made flight possible. To Langley, above all other men, we owe a debt of gratitude for his investi- gations into the value of curved wing surfaces. Air Flow About an Aerofoil. To distinguish the curved wing from the flat plane, we will use the term ''Aerofoil." Such wings are variously referred to as "Cambered sur- faces," "Arched surfaces," etc., but the term "Aerofoil" is more applicable to curved sections. The variety of forms and curvatures is almost without limit, some aerofoils be- ing curved top and bottom, while others are curved only on the upper surface. The curve on the bottom face may either be concave or convex, an aerofoil of the latter type being generally known as "Double cambered." The curves may be circular arcs, as in the Wright and Nieuport wings, or an approximation to a parabolic curve as with many of the modern wings. Fig. 1-b shows the general trend of flow about an aero- foil at two different angles of incidence, the flow in the upper view being characteristic for angles up to about 6 100 AEROFOILS 101 degrees, while the lower view represents the flow at angles approximating 16°. At greater angles the air stream breaks away entirely from the top surface and produces a turbulence that greatly resembles the disturbance pro- duced by a flat plate. It will be noted in the top figure (At small angles) that the flow is very similar to the flow about a streamline body, and that the air adheres very closely to the top surface. The flow at small angles is very steady and a minimum of turbulence is produced at the trailing edge. When increased beyond 6^, turbulence begins, as shown in the lower figure, and a considerable change takes place Aerofoil Types Flow /About Aerofoils- LOWER FACC CAM9EH LOWER FACE PLAT 1 > ^.WIND FLOW AT /^PPROX. & WRIGHT TYPE CURVED PLATE Fig. No.l-^ FLOW ATAPPROX- tG° FiG.No.l-l> Figs, la, lb. Aerofoil Types and Flow at Different Angles. in the lift-drag ratio. This is known as the "Lower Crit- ical Angle." The turbulence, however, is confined to the after part of the wing, and little or no disturbance takes place in the locality of the lower surface. We observe that an increase in angle and lift produces an increased turbulent flow about the upper surface, and hence the upper surface is largely responsible for the lift. Below 10" the trend of the upper portion of the stream is still approximately parallel to the upper surface. 102 AEROFOILS From 16° to 18°, the stream suddenly breaks entirely away from the wing surface, and produces an exceedingly turbulent flow and mass of eddies. The lift falls off sud- denly Avith the start of the discontinuous flow. The angle at which this drop in lift takes place is known variously as the ''Second Critical Angle," the "Burble Point," or the ''Stalling Angle." Any further increase in angle over the stalling angle causes a drop in lift as the discontinuity is increased. With the flat plane, the burble point occurs in the neighborhood of 30° and movement beyond this angle 3r-^ y- WIND ^^^^ ^."-'^ _-_-^:_:=r-^ .<^^^^^^^ ^^p^r^g== --;;;;^^^^'''C1>?/S//N«S TREND ■ LINEOrF-UGHT--^ "^ Fig. 2. Showing How Lift Is Obtained When an Aerofoil Is Inclined at a Negative Angle, the Line of Flight Being Along X-X. also decreases the lift. In flight, the burble point should not be approached, for a slight increase in the angle when near this point is likely to cause the machine to drop or "Stall." The fact that the maximum lift occurs at the critical angle makes the drop in lift at a slightly greater angle, doubly dangerous. A peculiar feature of the aerofoil lies in the fact that lift is still obtained with a zero angle of incidence, and even with a negative angle. With the aerofoil shown in Fig. 2 there will be a considerable lift when the flat bottom is parallel with the direction of travel, and some lift will still be obtained with the front edge dipped down (Negative Angle). The curved upper surface causes the AEROFOILS 103 air stream to rise toward the front edge, as at E, hence the wing can be dipped down considerably in regard to the line of motion X-X, without going below the actual air stream. Action, in Producing Lift. At comparatively high angles of incidence, where there is turbulent flow, the lift and drag are due principally to the difference in pressure between the upper and lower surfaces as in the case of the flat plate. There is a positive pressure below as in the front of a flat inclined plane, and a vacuous region above the upper surface. The drag with the plane below the burble point, and above the ** Lower Critical Angle," is due both to skin friction and turbulence — principally to the latter. Below the first critical angle (6°), the skin friction effect in- creases, owing to the closeness w'ith w^hich the air stream hangs to the upper surface. Since there is but little turbulence at the small angles below 6", the theory of the lift at this point is difficult to explain. The best explanation of lift at small angles is given by Kutta's Vortex Hypothesis. This theory is based on the fact that a wing with a practically streamline flow produces a series of whirling vortices (Whirlpools) in the wake of the wings, and that the forward movement of the plane produces the energy that is stored in the vortices. The relation betw^een these vortices is such, that when their motion is destroyed, they give up their energy and produce a lifting reaction by their downward momentum. The upw^ard reaction on the wing is thus equal and oppo- site to the downward momentum of the air vortices. Drag Components. At large angles of incidence where turbulence exists, the lift and also the drag are nearly proportional to the velocity squared (V^). Where little turbulence exists, and where the air stream hugs the sur- face closely, the drag is due largely to skin friction, and consequently this part of the drag varies according to 10-1 AEROFOILS Zahm's law of friction (V^-^^). For this reason it is difficult to estimate the difference in drag produced by differences in velocity, since the two drag components vary at dif- ferent rates, and there is no fixed proportion between them. Since the frictional drag does not increase in pro- portion to the area, but as A^-®^, difficulty is also experi- enced in estimating the drag of a full size wing from data furnished by model tests. Incidence and Lift. Up to the burble point the lift in- creases with an increase in the angle ; but not at a uniform rate for any one aerofoil, nor at the same rate for different aerofoils. The drag also increases with the angle, but more rapidly than the lift after an incidence of about 4° is passed, hence the lift-drag ratio is less at angles greater than 4°. Decreasing the angle beloW 4° also decreases the lift-drag, but not so rapidly as with the larger angles. At the angle of *'No Lift" the drag is principally due to skin friction. Fig. 3 shows a typical lift and incidence chart that gives the relation between the angle of incidence ^ and the lift coefficient. This curve varies greatly for different forms of aerofoils both in shape and numerical value, and it is only given to show the general form of such a graph. The curve lying to the left, and above the curve for the ''Flat plate/' is the curve for the particular aerofoil shown above the chart. The "Lift-Coefficients" at the left hand vertical edge correspond to the coefficient Ky, although these must be multiplied by a factor to convert them into values of Ky. As shown, they are in terms of the "Abso- lute units used by the National Physical Laboratory and to convert them into the Ky unit they must be multiplied by 0.005 IV^ where V is in miles per hour, or 0.00236v^ where v = feet per second. The incidence angle is in degrees. It will be noted that the lift of the aerofoil is greater than that of the plate at every angle as with nearly every AEROFOILS 105 practical aerofoil. The aerofoil has a lift coefficient of 0.0025 at the negative angle of — 3°, while the lift of the fiat plate of course becomes zero at 0°. As the incidence of the aerofoil increases the Hft coefficient also increases, until it reaches a maximum at the burble point (Stalling angle) of about 11.5°. An increase of angle from this point T e A ^^■~-. /-. •5 Z 5 / "^--^ '^ K / ^\^r />ij-r^. .* Z Z " *^ ^ J. 1 J t- 2 !; V l 7 si y r T z r^ 1 1 1 r ANQte 0^/NCID£HCe -G -A -e o a ^ e a k> i^ tA- i^ /8 ao Fig. 3. Chart Showing Relation Between Incidence and Lift. causes the lift coefficient to drop rapidly until it reaches a minimum lift coefficient of 0.46 at 17°. The fiat plate as shown, reaches a maximum at the same angle, but the lift of the plate does not drop off as rapidly. The maximum coefficient of the aerofoil is 0.58 and of the plate 0.41. The rapid drop in pressure, due to the air stream breaking away at the burble point, is clearly shown by the sharp peak in the aerofoil curve. The sharpness of the drop 106 AEROFOILS varies among different aerofoils, the peaks in some forms being very flat and uniform for quite a distance in a hori- zontal direction, while others are even sharper than that shown. Everything else being equal, an aerofoil with a fiat peak is the more desirable as the lift does not drop off so rapidly in cases where the aviator exceeds the crit- ical angle, and hence the tendency to stall the machine is "lot as great. This form of chart is probably the simplest form to read. It contains only one quantity, the lift-co- efficient, and it shows the small variations more clearly than other types of graphs in which the values of Kx, lift- drag, and the resultant force are all given on a single sheet. Center of Pressure Movement. As in the case of the flat plate the center of pressure on an aerofoil surface varies with the angle of incidence, but unlike the plate the center of pressure (C. P.) moves backward with a decrease in angle. The rapidity of travel depends upon the form of aerofoil, in some types the movement is very great with a small change in the angle, while in others the movement is almost negligible through a wide range. In general, aerofoils are inherently unstable, since the C. P. moves toward the trailing edge with decreased angles, and tends to aggravate a deficiency in the angle. If the angle is too small, the backward movement tends to make it still smaller, and with an increasing angle the forward move- ment of the center of pressure tends to make the angle still greater. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the center of pressure movement for a typical aerofoil with the aerofoil at the top of the chart. The left side of the chart represents the leading edge of the aerofoil and the right side is the trail- ing edge, while the movement in percentages of the chord length is shown by the figures along the lower line. Thus figure ".3" indicates that the center of pressure is located 0.3 of the chord from the leading edge. In practice it is AEROFOILS 107 usual to measure the distance of the C. P. from the leading edge in this way. For an example in the use of the chart, let us find the location of the C. P. at angles of 0°, 3° and 7°. Starting with the column of degrees at the left hand edge of the chart, find 0°, and follow along the dotted line to the right a /5 •3 A ^ i ^L 1- \ t ^^ r •/ -2 •3 •-». S Chord. '6 •7 -8 -9 -^0 i^/fOfUti £OQ£. rpAa/A/QEDOt. Fig. 4. Chart Giving Relation Between Incidence and C.P. Movement. until the curve is reached. From this point follow down to the lower row of figures. It will be found that at 0° the C. P. lies about half way between 0.5 and 0.6, or more exactly at 0.55 of the chord from the leading edge. Simi- larly at 3° the C. P. is at 0.37 of the chord, and at 7° is at 0.3 of the chord. From 11° to 19°, the C. P. for this par- ticular aerofoil moves very little, remaining almost con- 108 AEROFOILS stant at 0.25 of the chord. Reducing the angle from 3*^ causes the C. P. to retreat very rapidly to the rear, so that at — 1° the C. P. is at 0.8 of the chord, or very near the trailing edge of the wing. Other Forms of Charts. The arrangement of wing per- formance charts differs among the various investigators. Some charts show the lift, drag, lift-drag ratio, angle of incidence, center of pressure movement, and resultant pressure on a single curve. This is very convenient for the experienced engineer, but is somewhat complicated for the beginner. Whatever the form of chart, there should be an outline drawing of the aerofoil described in the chart. Fig. 5 shows a chart of the "Polar" variety in which four of the factors are shown by a single curve. This type was originated by Eiffel and is generally excellent, except that the changes at small angles are not shown very clearly or sharply. The curve illustrates the proper- ties of the ''KaufTman" wing, or better known as the ^'Eiffel No. 7)7 r A more complete description of this aerofoil will be found under the chapter "Practical Wing Sections." A single curve is marked at different points with the angle of incidence (0° to 12°). The column at the left gives the lift-coefficient Ky, while the row at the bottom of the sheet gives the drag-coefficients Kx. At the top of the chart are the lift-drag ratios, each figure being at the end of a diagonal line. In this way the lift, drag, lift- drag and angle of incidence are had from a single curve. Take the characteristics at an angle of 10 degrees for example. Find the angle of 10° on the curve, and follow horizontally to the left for Ky. The lift-coefficient will be found to be 0.0026 in terms of miles per hour and pounds per square foot. Following down from 10°, it will be found that the drag-coefficient Kx = 0.00036. Note the diagonal lines, and that the 10° point lies nearest to the diagonal headed 7 at the top of the chart. (It is more nearly a Hft-drag ratio of 7.33 than 7.) In the same way AEROFOILS 109 it will be found that an angle of 8 degrees lies almost ex- actly on the lift-drag diagonal marked 9. The best lift- drag is reached at about 2 degrees at which point it is shown as 17.0. The best lift-coefficient Ky is 0.00276 at 12 degrees. A third class of chart is shown by Fig. 6. This single H 1TUI514 U 11 11 !• -% • T • 4 *0I2( /// // y /. / / / / / 7 -oott 1 // '/ / / J- /- 18 ■/ .MM 1 ■/' // 4 / 10* / / k '/ ^J 7® ? / / / UMM li 4 V / / / fO(UA ^ ! / I // V / 7^ IL m i^ , / / / ^tniA jflj k / /, / / MUM? m %' A / / *00K) i / / «ttMi m 11/, % '/ / Ik fW/; '/// '/ -'h AW 'W %- - ♦900* i 1 Co.//. JtntT ^/o n,if p^ * >v<- •nofit -i ' ARAMK- '00008 •00016 -00024 00032 -00040 -OOOfS -OOOM Fig. 5. Polar Type Chart Originated by Eiffel. chart shows three of the factors by means of three curves ; one for the lift-coefficient, one for the drag-coefficient, and one for the C. P. movement. Follow the solid curves only, for the dotted lines are for comparison with the results obtained by another laboratory in checking the characteristics of the wing. The curves refer to the R. A. F. — 6 section described in the chapter on ''Practical Wing 110 AEROFOILS Sections." The lift-coefficients K^ will be found at the right of the chart with the drag-coefficients Kx at the left and in the lower column of figures. The upper column at the left is for the C. P. movement and gives the C. P. location in terms of the chord length. The angles of in- cidence will be found at the bottom. Values are in terms of pounds per square foot, and miles per hour. In using this chart, start with the angle of incidence at O.I *1 i! ^ H-^e ^ PUC4 iwae ^ k OS 06 / ^ ' /r:- ^ m«=a. *7 o.« .it / / ? \il ^ r // 00 J » ^ oo?o fMSo /' oo.« 4i / oot^ — ^ 4^ ^. ^ 00.4 n z - / y K 00.2 k- 3 / / lU OOIO — n u / / oooe 2t it 11 V- ooo« 24 22 tt / ,^ ■' ^ I 000* HOJO s /•■' i'/^ k W«2 16 - •* < \\ (i // < 12 USJt 7^ y^ (^'^ .00O2 1 // ^ ^ ^- r,"- X)<»04 1: iNGL r or • MC OEM. e Fig. ■A' -2? O £• A' 6' «• 10* 12' I4-* i6* 16' 6. Chart of R.A.F.-6 Wing Section with Three Independent Curves. AEROFOILS 111 the bottom, and follow up vertically to the lift or drag curves. If the value of Ky is desired, proceed from the required incidence and up to the "Lift" curve, then hori- zontally to the right. To obtain the drag, follow up from the angle of incidence to the "drift" curve, and then hori- zontally to the left. For the position of the C. P., trace up from angle until the "Center of Pressure" curve is reached, and then across horizontally to the left. If the angle of 8 degrees is assumed, the lift-coefficient will be found as Ky = 0.0022, the drag Kx = 0.00016, and the center of pressure will be located at 0.32 of the chord from the leading edge. This test was made with the air density at 0.07608 pounds per cubic foot, and at a speed of 29.85 miles per hour. The peak at the burble point is fairly flat, and gives a good range of angle before the lift drops to a serious extent. The aerofoil R. A. F. — 6 is a practical wing form used in many machines, and this fact should make the chart of special interest. Surface Calculations. The calculation of lift and drag for an aerofoil are the same as those for a flat plate, that is, the total lift is expressed by the formula : L = KyAV- where A is the area in square feet, and V is the velocity in miles per hour. From this primary equa- tion, the values of the area and velocity may be found by transposition. k_ A = L/KyV^ and V = L/ KyA. ^< > - A ^f "■ The drag can be found from the old equation, D = Kx AV-, or by dividing the lift by the lift-drag ratio as in the case of the flat plate. Example : A wing of the R. A. F. — 6 form has an area of 200 square feet, and the speed is 60 miles per hour. What is the lift at 6° incidence? Solution. From Chart No. 6 the lift coefficient Ky is 0.00185 at 6°, hence the total lift is : L = KyAV^ = 0.00185 x200x(60x60) = 1332 pounds. With an angle of 8 degrees, and with the same speed and area, the Hft becomes, 112 AEROFOILS L=0.0022x200x (60x60) = 1584 pounds. The drag co- efficient Kx at an angle of 6° is 0.00012, and at 8° is 0.00016. The drag at 6° becomes D=KxAV2 = 0.00012x200x(60x 60) =86.4 pounds. The lift-drag ratio at this angle is L/D = 1332/86.4 = 15.4. The drag at 8° is D = K^AV^ = 0.00016 X 200 X (60 x 60) = 115.2 pounds. The lift-drag at 8° is L/D = 1584/115.2= 13.8. Forces Acting on Aerofoil. Fig. 7 is a section through an aerofoil of a usual type, with a concave under-surface In an aerofoil of this character all measurements are made from the chordal line X-X which is a straight line drawn across (and touching) the entering and trailing edges of the aerofoil. The angle made by X-X with the horizontal is the angle of incidence (i). The width of the section, measured from tip to tip of the entering and trail- ing edges, is called the *'Chord." In this figure the enter- ing edge is at the left. The direction of lift is "Up" or as in the case of any aerofoil, acts away from the convex side. In the position shown, with horizontal motion toward the left, the lift force is indicated by L, and the horizontal drag force by D, the direction of their action being indi- cated by the arrow heads. The force that is the resultant of the lift and drag, lies between them, and is shown by R. The point at which the line of the resultant force in- tersects the chordal line X-X is called the "Center of Pressure" (C. P.) The resultant is not always at right angles to the chordal line as shown, but may lie to either side of this right angle line according to the angle of incidence (i). A force equal to and in the same direction as R, will hold the forces L and D in equilibrium if applied at the center of pressure (C. P.) Owing to the difference in the relative values of L and D at various angles of incidence, the angle made by R with the chordal line must vary. The lift and drag are always at right angles to one another. The resultant can be found by AEROFOILS 113 drawing both the lines L and D through the C. P., and at right angles to one another, and then closing up the parallelogram by drawing lines parallel to L and D from the extreme ends of the latter. The resultant force in direction and extent will be the diagonal R drawn across the corners of the parallelogram. The forces acting on the upper and lower surfaces are different, both in direction and magnitude, owing to the fact that the upper and lower surfaces do not contribute equally to the support of the aerofoil. The upper surface Fig. 7. Forces Acting on an Aerofoil, Lift, Drag, and Resultant. Wind Is from Left to Right. Relative contributes from 60 to 80 per cent of the total lift. A change in the outline of the upper curved surface vitally affects both the lift and lift-drag, but a change in the lower surface affects the performance to an almost negli- gible amount. In the case of thin circular arched plates the curvature has a much more pronounced effect. When the curvature of a thin plate is increased, both the upper and lower surfaces are increased in curvature, and this undoubtedly is the cause of the great increase in the lift of the sheet metal aerofoils tested by Eiffel. The drag component of the front upper surface is 114 AEROFOILS ^'Negative," that is, acts with the horizontal force instead of against it. The lower surface drag component is of course opposed to the horizontal propelHng force by- enough to wholly overcome the assisting negative drag force of the front upper surface. The resultants vary from point to point along the section of the aerofoil both in extent and direction. A resultant true for the entering edge would be entirely different at a point near the trail- ing edge. Distribution of Pressure. To fully understand the rela- tive pressures and forces acting on different parts of the aerofoil we must refer to the experimental results ob- tained by the Eiffel and the N. P. L. laboratories. In these tests small holes were drilled over the aerofoil sur- face at given intervals, each hole in turn being connected to a manometer or pressure gauge, and the pressure at that point recorded. While the reading was being taken, the wind was passed over the surface so that the pressures corresponded to actual working conditions. It was found that the pressure not only varied in moving from the en- tering to trailing edge, but that it also varied from the center to the tips in moving along the length of the plane. The rate of variation differed among different aerofoils, and with the same aerofoil at different angles of incidence. On the upper surface, the suction or vacuum was gen- erally very high in the immediate vicinity of the entering edge. From this point it decreased until sometimes the pressure was actually reversed near the trailing edge and at the latter point there was actually a downward pres- sure acting against the lift. The positive pressure on the under surface reached a maximum more nearly at the center, and in many cases there was a vacuum near the entering edge or at the trailing edge. With nearly all aerofoils, an increase in the curvature resulted in a de- cided increase in the vacuum on the upper surface, par- ticularly with thin aerofoils curved to a circular arc. AEROFOILS 115 By taking the sum of the pressures at the various parts of the surface, it was found that the total corresponded to the lift of the entire aerofoil, thus proving the correct- ness of the investigation. The sum of the drag forces measured at the different openings gave a lower total than the total drag measured by the balance, and this at once suggests that the difference was due to the skin friction eft'ect that of course gave no pressure indication. The truth of this deduction is still further proved by the fact that the drag values were more nearly equal at large Fig. 8. Pressure Distribution for Thin Circular Section, the Effect of Increasing the Camber. (Eiffel) Fig. 9. Shows angles where the turbulence formed a greater percentage of the total drag. Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 are pressure distribution curves taken along the section of several aerofoil surfaces. These are due to Eiffel. In Fig. 8 is the pressure curve for a thin circular aerofoil section, the depth of the curve meas- ured from the chordal line being 1/13.5 of the chord. The vacuum distribution of the upper surface is indicated by the upper dotted curve, while the pressure on the bottom surface is given by the solid curve under the aerofoil. 116 AEROFOILS The pressures are given by the vertical column of figures at the right and are in terms of inches of water, that is, the pressure required for the support of a w^ater column of the specified height. Figures lying above and marked ( — ), refer to a vacuum or negative pressures, while the figures below zero are positive pressures above the atmos- pheric. The entering edge is at the right, and the angle of incidence in all cases is 6°. It will be seen that the vacuum jumps up very suddenly to a maximum at the leading edge, and again drops as suddenly to about one-half the maximum. From this point it again gradually increases near the center, and then declines toward the trailing edge. It will also be seen that the pressure on the lower surface, given by the solid curve, is far less than the pressure due to the upper surface. Since the lower pressure curve crosses up, and over the zero line at a point near the trailing edge, it is evident that the supper surface near the trailing edge is under a positive pressure, or a pressure that acts down and against the lift. The pressures in any case are very minute, the maximum suction being 0.3546 inch of water, while the maximum pressure on the under surface is only 0.085 inch. Fig. 9 shows the effect of increasing the curvature or camber, the aerofoil in this case having a depth equal to 1/7 the chord, or nearly double the camber of the first. The sharp peak at the entering edge of the pressure curve is sHghtly reduced, but the remaining suction pressures over the rest of the surface are much increased, indicating a marked increase in the total pressure. The pressure at the center is now nearly equal to the front peak, and the pressure is generally more evenly distributed. There is a vacuum over the entire upper surface and a positive pressure over the lower. The general increase in pressure due to the increased camber is the result of the greater downward deviation of the air stream, and the corre- AEROFOILS 117 spending greater change in the momentum of the air. The speed at which the tests were made was 10 meters per second, or 22.4 miles per hour. The curves are only true at the center of the aerofoil length and for an aspect ratio of 6. The average pressure over the entire surface in Fig. 8 is 1.202 pounds per square foot, and that of Fig. 9 is 1.440 pounds, a difference of 0.238 pound per square foot due to the doubling camber (16.5 per cent). Another aero- foil with a camber of only 1/27 gave an average pressure of 0.853 pound per square foot under the same conditions. A flat plane gave 0.546. Tabulation of these values will show the results more clearly. Camber Av. Pres. Inc. in Pres. Efficiency Of Surface Per Sq. Ft. in Lbs./Sq. Ft. Top. Bottom. Flat Plane. 0.546 0.000 0.89 0.11 1/27 0.853 0.307 0.72 0.28 1/13.5 1.202 0.349 0.71 0.29 1/7 1.440 0.238 0.59 0.41 In this table, the "Efficiencies" are the relative lift efficiencies of the top and bottom surfaces. For example, in the case of the 1/7 camber the top surface lifts 59 per cent, and the bottom 41 per cent of the total lift. Fig. 10 is a thin aerofoil of parabolic form, while Fig. 11 is an approximation to the compaf aiivcly thick wi? Tg oT a bird. In both these sections it will be noted that the front peak is not much greater than the secondary peak, and that the latter is nearer the leading edge than with the circular aerofoils. Also that the drop between the peaks is small or entirely lacking. The lower surface of the trailing edge is subjected to a greater down pressure in the case of the thin parabola, and there is also a con- siderable down pressure on the upper leading edge. The pressure in Fig. 10 is 1.00 pound per square foot, and that 118 AEROFOILS of No. 11 is 1.205, while the efficiency of the top surfaces is respectively 72 and 74 per cent. Fig. 12 shows the effect of changing the angle of the bird wing from zero to 8 degrees. The lift per square foot in each case is shown at the upper left hand corner of the diagram while the percentages of the upper and lower surface lifts are included above and below the wing. For these curves I am indebted to E. R. Armstrong, formerly z^^zzji^r Fig. 10. Thin Parabolic Aerofoil with Pressure Distribution. Fig. 11. Pressure Distribution of Thick Bird's Wing Type. (Eiffel) of "Aero and Hydro." As the angle is increased, the suction of the upper surface is much increased (0.541 to 1.370 pounds per square foot), and the pressure at the leading edge increases from depression to a very long thin peak. The maximum under pressure is not much increased by the angle, but its distribution and average pressure are much altered. At 0° and 2° the usual pres- sure is reduced to a vacuum over the front of the section as shown by the lower curve crossing over the upper side of the wing, and at this point the under surface sucks down and acts against the lift. AEROFOILS 119 Distribution of Drag Forces. The drag as well as the lift changes in both direction and magnitude for different points on the wing. In the front and upper portions the drag is "Negative," that is, instead of producing head re- sistance to motion it really acts with the propelling force. Hence on the upper and front portions the lift is ob- tained with no expenditure of power, and in fact thrust is given up and added to that of the propeller. The remain- ing drag elements at the rear, and on the lower surface, of course more than overcome this desirable tendency •BtR?' Fig, 12. Effect of Incidence Changes on the Pressure Distribution of a Thick Bird's Wing. (After Eiffel) and give a positive drag for the total wing. The distribu- tion is shown by Fig 13 which gives the lift, drag and resultant forces at a number of different points on two circular arc aerofoils having cambers of 1/13.5 and 1/7 respectively. In this figure, the horizontal drag forces are marked D and d, and the direction of the drag is shown by the arrows. The lift is shown by L and the resultant by R as in the Fig. 7. As shown, the arrows pointing to the right are the "Negative" drag (d) forces that assist in moving the plane forward, while the drag indicated by arrows (D) pointing to the left are the drag forces that oppose or 120 AEROFOILS resist the horizontal motion. With the smaller camber (1/13.5) the drag forces are very much smaller than those with the heavier camber of 1/7, and the negative drifts (d) are correspondingly smaller. All of the drag due to the lower surface, point to the left (D), and hence produce head resistance to flight. The drag to the rear of the center of the upper surface are the same. In front of the upper center we have right hand, or negative drifts (d), that aid the motion. These forward forces obtained by experiment prove the correctness of Lilienthal's ''For- ward Tangential" theory advanced many years ago. Fig. 13. Direction of Drag Over Different Portions of Circular Arc Aerofoils. Distribution on Practical Wings. With the exception of the bird wing, the distributions have been given for thin plates that are of little value on an aeroplane. They do not permit of strong structural members for carry- ing the load. The actual wing must have considerable thickness, as shown by the aerofoils in Figs. 1, 2, 3, etc., and are of approximately stream line form. Fig. 14 shows the distribution for actual aeroplane wings : (a) Wright, (b) M. Farman, (c) Breguet, (d) Bleriot 11. (d), (e) Bler- iot 11-bis. The Wright wing is very blunt and has an ex- ceedingly high lift at the leading edge. The M. Farman, which is slightly less blunt, has a similar but lower front peak. The Breguet is of a more modern type with the maximum thickness about 25 per cent from the leading AEROFOILS 121 edge. The latter shows a remarkably even distribution of pressure, and is therefore a better type as will be seen from the relative lifts of 0.916 and 0.986 pounds per square foot. The lift-drag ratio of the Breguet is also better, owing to the greater predominance of the negative drag wR»rr(cL) . PARKAN (^ ,BRERE5S.= O.OSWATgg PRfeSS. » 0. 35" WATER ■ {Jjl PRE55. = "Q.OS WATER ^^g Fig. 16. Showing Pressure Distribution on the Plan View of a Typical Wing, Leading Edge Along A-A, Trailing Edge D-C. Center of Pressure Marked "C.P." The Proportion Pressures Are Indicated by the Shading on the Surface, the Pressure Being Negative at the Tips and Near the Rear Edge. port monoplane wing in Fig. 15. Section (f) was taken near the body and shows the greater lift. Section (g) is midway between the tips and body, and (h) and (i) are progressively nearer the tips. As we proceed toward the tips from the body the pressure falls off as shown in the sections, this reducing from 1.07 to 0.55 pounds per square foot. This wing also thins down toward the tips or ''washes out," as it is called. CHAPTER VI. PRACTICAL WING SECTIONS. Development of Modern Wings. The first practical results obtained by Wright Brothers, Montgomery, Cha- nute, Henson, Curtiss, Langley, and others, were obtained by the use of cambered wings. The low value of the lift- drag ratio, due to the flat planes used by the earlier experi- menters, was principally the cause of their failure to fly. The Wrights chose wings of very heavy camber so that a maximum lift could be obtained with a minimum speed. These early wings had the very fair lift-drag ratio of 12 to 1. Modern wing sections have been developed that give a lift-drag ratio of well over 20 to 1, although this is attended by a considerable loss in the lift. As before explained, the total lift of a wing surface depends on the form of the wing, its area, and the speed upon which it moves in relation to the air. Traveling at a low speed requires either a wing with a high lift co-efii- cient or an increased area. With a constant value for the lift-drag ratio, an increase in the lift value of the wing section is preferable to an increase in area, since the larger area necessitates heavier structural members, more exposed bracing, and hence, more head resistance. Unfor- tunately, it is not always possible to use the sections giv- ing the heaviest lift, for the reason that such sections usually have a poor lift-drag ratio. In the practical machine, a compromise must be effected between the drag of the wings and the drag or head resistance of the struc- tural parts so that the combined or total head resistance will be at a minimum. In making such a compromise, 123 124 WING SECTIONS it must be remembered that the head resistance of the structural parts predominates at high speeds, while the drag of the wings is the most important at low speeds. In the early days of flying, the fact that an aeroplane left the ground was a sufficient proof of its excellence, but nowadays the question of efBciency under different conditions of flight (performance) is an essential. Each new aeroplane is carefully tested for speed, rate of climb, and loading. Speed range, or the relation between the lowest and highest possible flight speeds, is also of increas- ing importance, the most careful calculations being made to obtain this desirable quality. Performance. To improve the performance of an aero- plane, the designer must increase the ratio of the horse- power to the weight, or in other words, must either use greater horsepower or decrease the weight carried by a given power. This result may be obtained by improve- ments in the motor, or by improvements in the machine itself. Improvements in the aeroplane may be attained in several ways: (1) by cutting down the structural weight; (2) by increasing the efficiency of the lifting sur- faces ; (3) by decreasing the head resistance of the body and exposed structural parts, and (4) by adjustment of the area or camber of the wings so that the angle of incidence can be maintained at the point of greatest plane efftciency. At present we are principally concerned with item (2), although (4) follows as a directly related item. Improvement in the wing characteristics is principally a subject for the wind tunnel experimentalist, since with our present knowledge, it is impossible to compute the performance of a wing by direct mathematical methods. Having obtained the characteristics of a number of wing sections from the aerodynamic laboratory, the designer is in a position to proceed with the calculation of the areas, power, etc. At present this is rather a matter of elimina- tion, or "survival of the fittest," as each wing is taken WING SECTIONS 125 separately and computed through a certain range of per- formance. Wing Loading. The basic unit for wing lift is the load carried per unit of area. In English units this is expressed as being the weight in pounds carried by a square foot of the lifting surface. Practically, this value is obtained by dividing the total loaded weight of the machine by the wing area. Thus, if the weight of a machine is 2,500 pounds (loaded), and the area is 500 square feet, the "unit loading" will be: w«=2,500/500 = 5 pounds per square foot. In the metric system the unit loading is given in terms of kilogrammes per square meter. Conversely, with the total weight and loading known, the area can be computed by dividing the weight by the unit loading. The unit loading adopted for a given machine depends upon the type of machine, its speed, and the wing sec- tion adopted, this quantity varying from 3.5 to 10 pounds per square foot in usual practice. As will be seen, the loading is higher for small fast machines than for the slower and larger types. A very good series of wings has been developed, rang- ing from the low resistance type carrying 5 pounds per square foot at 45 miles per hour, to the high lift wing, which gives a lift of 7.5 pounds per square foot at the same speed. The medium lift wing will be assumed to carry 6 pounds per square foot at 45 miles per hour. The wing carrying 7.5 pounds per square foot gives a great saving in area over the low lift type at 5 pounds per square foot, and therefore a great saving in weight. The weight saved is not due to the saving in area alone, but is also due to the reduction in stress and the corresponding reduction in the size and weight of the structural mem- bers. Further, the smaller area requires a smaller tail surface and a shorter body. A rough approximation gives a saving of 1.5 pounds per square foot in favor of the 7.5 pound wing loading. This materially increases the 126 WING SECTIONS horsepower weight ratio in favor of the high lift wing, and with the reduction in area and weight comes an im- provement in the vision range of the pilot and an increased ease in handling (except in dives). The high lift types in a dive have a low limiting speed. As an offset to these advantages, the drag of the high lift type of wing is so great at small angles that as soon as the weight per horsepower is increased beyond 18 pounds we find that the speed range of the low resistance type increases far beyond that of the high lift wing. According to Wing Commander Seddon, of the English Navy, a scout plane of the future equipped with low resistance wings will have a speed range of from 50 to 150 miles per hour. The same machine equipped with high lift wings would have a range of only 50 to 100 miles per hour. An excess of power is of value with low resist- ance wings, but is increasingly wasteful as the lift co-effi- cient is increased. Landing speeds have a great influence on the type of wing and the area, since the low speeds necessary for the average machines require a high lift wing, great area, or both. With the present wing sections, low flight speeds are obtained with a sacrifice in the high speed values. In the same way, high speed machines must land at dan- gerously high speeds. At present, the best range that we can hope for with fixed areas is about two to one ; that is, the high speed is not much more than twice the lowest speed. A machine with a low speed of 45 miles per hour cannot be depended upon to safely develop a maximum speed of much over 90 miles per hour, for at higher speeds the angle of incidence will be so diminished as to come dangerously near to the position of no lift. In any case, the travel of the center of pressure will be so great at extreme wing angles as to cause considerable manipulation of the elevator surface, resulting in a. further increase in the resistance. WING SECTIONS 127 Resistance and Power. The horizontal drag (resist- ance) of a wing, determines the power required for its support since this is the force that must be overcome by the thrust of the propeller. The drag is a component of the weight supported and therefore depends upon the loading and upon the efficiency of the wing. The drag of the average modern wing, structural resistance neglected, is about 1/16 of the weight supported, although there are several sections that give a drag as low as 1/23 of the weight. The denominators of these fractions, such as *'16" and *'23," are the lift-drag ratios of the wing sec- tions. Drag in any wing section is a variable quantity, the drag varying with the angle of incidence. In general, the drag is at a minimum at an angle of about 4 degrees, the value increasing rapidly on a further increase or decrease in the angle. Usually a high lift section has a greater drag than the low lift type at small angles, and a smaller drag at large angles, although this latter is not invariably the case. Power Requirements. Power is the rate of doing work, or the rate at which resistance is overcome. With a con- stant resistance the power will be increased by an increase in the speed. With a constant speed, the power will be increased by an increase in the resistance. Numerically, the power is the product of the force and the velocity in feet per second, feet per minute, miles per hour, or meters per second. The most common English power unit is the "horsepower," which is obtained by multiplying the resist- ing force in pounds by the velocity in feet per minute, this product being divided by 33,000. If D is the hori- zontal drag in pounds, and v = velocity of the wing in feet per minute, the horsepower H will be expressed by — Dv H = 33,000 128 WING SECTIONS Since the speed of an aeroplane is seldom given in feet per minute, the formula for horsepower can be given in terms of miles per hour by — DV' H= 375 Where V = velocity in miles per hour, D and H remain- ing as before. The total power for the entire machine would involve the sum of the wing and structural drags, with D equal to the total resistance of the machine. \ Example. The total weight of an aeroplane is found to be 3,000 pounds. The lift-drag ratio of the wings is 15.00, and the speed is 90 miles per hour. Find the power required for the wings alone. Solution. The total drag of the wings wall be : D = 3,000/15 = 200 pounds. The horsepower required: H = DV/375=200 X 90/375 = 48 horsepower. It should be remembered that this is the power absorbed by the wings, the actual motor power being considerably greater owing to losses in the propeller. With a propeller efficiency of 70 per cent, the actual motor power will become : Hm = 48/0.70 = 68.57 for the wings alone. To include the effi- ciency into our formula, we have — DV H = 375E where E = propeller efficiency expressed as a decimal. The greater the propeller efficiency, the less will be the actual motor power, hence the great necessity for an efficient propeller, especially in the case of pusher type aeroplanes where the wings do not gain by the increased slip stream. The propeller thrust must be equal and opposite to the drag at the various speeds, and hence the thrust varies with the plane loading, wing section, and angle of inci- dence. Portions of the wing surfaces that lie in the pro- WING SECTIONS 129 peller slip stream have a greater lift than those lying outside of this zone because of the greater velocity of the slip stream. For accurate results, the area in the slip stream should be determined and calculated for the increased velocity. Oftentimes it is desirable to obtain the **Unit drag"; that is, the drag per square foot of lifting surface. This can be obtained by dividing the lift per square foot by the lift-drag ratio, care being taken to note the angle at which the unit drag is required. Advantages of Cambered Sections Summarized. Mod- ern wing sections are always of the cambered, double- surface type for the following reasons : 1. They give a better lift-drag ratio than the fiat sur- face, and therefore are more economical in the use of power. 2. In the majority of cases they give a better lift per square foot of surface than the fiat plate and require less area. 3. The cambered wings can be made thicker and will accommodate heavier spars and structural mem- bers without excessive head resistance. Properties of Modern Wings. The curvature of a wing surface can best be seen by cutting out a section along a line perpendicular to the length of the wing, and then viewing the cut portion from the end. It is from this method of illustration that the different wing curves, or types of wings, are known as 'Sving sections." In all modern wings the top surface is well curved, and in the majority of cases the bottom surface is also given a curvature, although this is very small in many instances. Fig. 1. shows a typical wing section with the names of the different parts and the methods of dimensioning the curves. All measurements to the top and bottom surfaces are taken from the straight ''chordal line" or '/ 130 WING SECTIONS ''datum line" marked X-X. This line is drawn across the concave undersurface in such a way as to touch the surface only at two points, one at the front and one at the rear of the wing section. The inclination of the wing with the direction of flight is always given as the angle made by the line X-X with the wind. Thus, if a certain wing is said to have an angle of incidence equal to 4 degrees, we know that the chordal line X-X makes an angle of 4 degrees with the direction of travel. This angle is generally designated by the letter (i), and is also known as the "angle of attack." The distance from the extreme front to the extreme rear edge (width of wing) is called the "chord width" or more commonly "the chord." In measuring the curve, the datum line X-X is divided into a number of equal parts, usually 10, and the lines 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11 are drawn perpendicular to X-X. Each of the vertical numbered lines is called a "station," the line No. 3 being called "Station 3," and so on. The vertical distance measured from X-X to either of the curves along one of the station lines is known as the "ordinate" of the curve at that point. Thus, if we know the ordinates at each station, it is a simple matter to draw the straight line X-X, divide it into 10 parts, and then lay off the heights of the ordinates at the various sta- tions. The distances from datum to the upper curve are known as the "Upper ordinates," while the same measure- ments to the under surface are known as the "Lower ordinates," This method allows us to quickly draw any wing section from a table that gives the upper and lower ordinates at the different stations. A common method of expressing the value of the depth of a wing section in terms of the chord width is to give the "Camber," which is numerically the result obtained by dividing the depth of the wing curve at any point by the width of the chord. Usually the camber given for a wing is taken to be the maximum camber; that is, the WING SECTIONS 131 camber taken at the point of greatest depth. Thus, if we hear that a certain wing has a camber of 0.089, we take it for granted that this is the camber at the deepest por- tion of the wing. The correct method would be to give 0.089 as the "maximum camber" in order to avoid con- fusion. To obtain the maximum camber, divide the maximum ordinate by the chord. Example. The maximum ordinate of a certain wing is 5 inches, and the chord is 40 inches. What is the max- 5-^ 4^ MAY. -CHORD =C- STATION NUMBERS. S <2> -7 /o iLilA^ili.^ 2/ = LOV^ER ORDINA TES CHOROAL OR DATUM LINE. XJ = UPPER OR DIN AT E5 • Fig. 1. Section Through a Typical Aerofoil or Wing, the Parts and Measure- ments Being Marked on the Section. The Horizontal Width or "Chord" Is Divided Into 10 Equal Parts or "Stations," and the Height of the Top and Bottom Curves Are Measured from the Chordal Line X-X at Each Station. The Vertical Distance from the Chordal Line Is the "Ordinate" at the Point of Measurement. imum camber? The maximum camber is 5/40 = 0.125. In other words, the maximum depth of this wing is 12.5 per cent of the chord, and unless otherwise specified, is taken as being the camber of the top surface. The maximum camber of a modern wing is generally in the neighborhood of 0.08, although there are several successful sections that are well below this figure. Unfor- tunately, the camber is not a direct index to the value of a wing, either in regard to lifting ability or efficiency. By knowing the camber of a wing we cannot directly 132 WING SECTIONS calculate the lift or drag, for there are several examples of wings having w^idely different cambers that give prac- tically the same lift and drift. At the present time, we can only determine the characteristics of a wing by expe- riment, either on a full size wing or on a scale model. In the best wing sections, the greatest thickness and camber occurs at a point about 0.3 of the chord from the front edge, this edge being much more blunt and abrupt than the portions near the trailing edge. An efficient wing tapers very gradually from the point of maximum camber towards the rear. This is usually a source of difficulty from a structural standpoint since it is difficult to get an efficient depth of wing beam at a point near the trailing edge. A number of experiments performed by the Na- tional Physical Laboratory show that the position of maximum ordinate or camber should be located at 33.2 per cent from the leading edge. This location gives the greatest lift per square foot, and also the least resistance for the weight lifted. Placing the maximum ordinate further forward is worse than placing it to the rear. Thickening the entering edge causes a proportionate loss in efficiency. Thickening the rear edge also decreases the efficiency but does not afifect the weight lifting value to any great extent. The camber of the under surface seems to have but little effect on the efficiency, but the lift increases slightly with an increase in the camber of the lower surface. Increasing the camber of the lower surface decreases the thickness of the wing and hence decreases the strength of the supporting members, particularly at points near the trailing edge. The increase of lift due to increasing the under camber is so slight as to be hardly worth the sacrifice in strength. Variations in the camber of the upper surface are of much greater importance. It is on this surface that the greater part of the lift takes places, hence a change in the depth of this curve, or in its outline, will cause wider variations in the characteristics WIXG SECTIONS 133 of the wing than would be the case with the under sur- face. Increasing the upper camber by about 60 per cent may double the lift of the upper surface, but the relation of the lift to the drag is increased. From this, it will be seen that direct calculations from the outline would be most difficult, and in fact a practical impossibility at the present time. By putting a reverse curve in the trailing edge of a wing, as shown by Fig. 2, the stability of the wing may be PR/iC TICAL L IMI T QF REFLjEX . £'XC£S3IVE: RERLEiX (C. R MO VEMErrr fr/^ctic/^l l y^£-Ro) Fig. 2. (Upper) Shows a Slight "Reflex" or Upward Turn of the Trailing Edge. Fig. 3. (Lower) Shows an Excessive Reflex Which Greatly Reduces the C.P. Movement. increased to a surprising degree, but the lift and efficiency are correspondingly reduced with each increase in the amount of reverse curvature. In this way, stability is attained at the expense of efficiency and lifting power. With the rear edge raised about 0.037 of the chord, the N. P. L. found that the center of pressure could be held stationary, but the loss of lift was about 25 per cent and the loss of efficiency amounted practically 12 per cent. With very slight reverse curvatures it has been possible to maintain the lift and efficiency, and at the same time to keep the center of pressure movement down to a reason- able extent. The New U. S. A. sections and the Eiffel 134 WING SECTIONS No. 32 section are examples of excellent sections in which a slight reverse or ''reflex" curvature is used. The Eiffel 32 wing is efficient, and at the same the center of pressure movement between incident angles of 0° and 10° is prac- tically negligible. This wing is thin in the neighborhood of the trailing edge, and it is very difficult to obtain a strong rear spar. Wing Selection. No single wing section is adapted to all purposes. Some wings give a great lift but are ineffi- cient at small angles and with light loading. There are others that give a low lift but are very efficient at the small angles used on 'high speed machines. As before explained, there are very stable sections that give but poor results when considered from the standpoint of lift and efficiency. The selection of any one wing section depends upon the type of machine upon which it is to be used, whether it is to be a small speed machine or a heavy flying boat or bombing plane. There are a multitude of wing sections, each possessing certain admirable features and also certain faults. To list all of the wings that have been tried or proposed would require a book many times the size of this, and for this reason I have kept the list of wings confined to those that have been most commonly employed on prominent ma- chines, or that have shown evidence of highly desirable and special qualities. This selection has been made with a view of including wings of widely varying character- istics so that the data can be applied to a wide range of aeroplane types. Wings suitable for both speed and weight carrying machines have been included. The wings described are the U. S. A. Sections No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; the R. A. F. Sections Nos. 3 and 6, and the well known Eiffel Wings No. 32, 36 and 37. The data given for these wings is obtained from wind tunnel tests made at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National Physical Laboratory (England), and the Eiffel WING SECTIONS 135 Laboratory in Paris. For each of these sections the lift co-efficient (Ky), the Hft-drift ratio (L/D), and the drag co-efficient (K;^) are given in terms of miles per hour and pounds per square foot. Since these are the results for model wings, there are certain corrections to be made when the full size wing is considered, these cor- rections being made necessary by the fact that the drag does not vary at the same rate as the lift. This *'Size" or "Scale" correction is a function of the product of the wing span in feet by the velocity of the wind in feet per second. A large value of the product results in a better wing per- formance, or in other words, the large wing will always give better lift-drag ratios than would be indicated by the model tests. The lift co-efficient Ky is practically unaf- fected by variations in the product. If the model tests are taken without correction, the designer will always be on the safe side in calculating the power. The method of making the scale corrections will be taken up later. Of all the sections described, the R. A. F.-6 is probably the best known. The data on this w^ing is most complete, and in reality it is a sort of standard by which the per- formance of other wings is compared. Data has been published which describes the performance of the R. A. F.-6 used in monoplane, biplane and triplane form ; and with almost every conceivable degree of stagger, sweep back, and decalage. In addition to the laboratory data, the wing has also been used with great success on full size machines, principally of the ''Primary trainer" class where an ''All around" class of wing is particularly desirable. It is excellent from a structural standpoint since the section is comparatively deep in the vicinity of the trailing edge. The U. S. A. sections are of com- paratively recent development and are decided improve- ments on the R. A. F. and Eiffel sections. The only objection is the limited amount of data that is available on these wings— limited at least when the R. A. F. data 136 WING SECTIONS is considered — as we have only the figures for the mono- plane arrangement. WING SELECTION. (1) Lift-Drag Ratio. The lift-drag ratio (L/D) of a wing is the measure of wing efficiency. Numerically, this is equal to the lift divided by the horizontal drag, both quantities being expressed in pounds. The greater the weight supported by a given horizontal drag, the less will be the power required for the propulsion of the aero- plane, hence a high value of L/D indicates a desirable w^ing section — at least from a power standpoint. In the expression L/D, L = lift in pounds, and D = horizontal drag in pounds. Unfortunately, this is not the only im- portant factor, since a wing having a great lift-drag is usually deficient in lift or is sometimes structurally weak. The lift-drag ratio varies with the angle of incidence (i), reaching a maximum at an angle of about 4° in the majority of wings. The angle of incidence at which the lift-drag is a maximum is generally taken as the angle of incidence for normal horizontal flight. At angles either greater or less, the L/D falls off, generally 3.t a very rapid rate, and the power increases correspondingly. Very effi- cient wings may have a ratio higher than L/D = 20 at an angle of about 4°, while at 16° incidence the value may be reduced to L/D = 4, or even less. The lift is generally greatest at about 16°. The amount of variation in the lift, and lift-drag, corresponding to changes in the inci- dence differs among the different types of wings and must be determined by actual test. After finding a wing with a good value of L/D, the value of the lift co-efficient Ky should be determined at the angle of the maximum L/D. With two wings having the same lift-drag ratio, the wing having the greatest lift (Ky) at this point is the most desirable wing as the greater WING SECTIONS 137 lift will require less area and will therefore result in less head resistance and less weight. Any increase in the area not only increases the weight of the wing surface proper, but also increases the wiring and weights of the structural members. With heavy machines, such as seaplanes or bomb droppers, a high value of Ky is necessary if the area is to be kept within practical limits. A small fast scouting plane requires the best possible lift-drag ratio at small angles, but requires only a small lift co-efficient. At speeds of over 100 miles per hour a small increase in the resistance will cause a great increase in the power. (2) Maximum Lift (Ky). With a given wing area and weight, the maximum value of the lift co-efficient (Ky) determines the slow speed, or landing speed, of the aero- plane. The greater the value of Ky, the slower can be the landing speed. For safety, the landing speed should be as low as possible. In the majority of wings, the maximum lift occurs at about 16° of incidence, and in several sections this max- imum is fairly well sustained over a considerable range of angle. The angle of maximum lift is variously known as the "Stalling angle" or the "Burble point," since a change of angle in either direction reduces the lift and tends to stall the aeroplane. For safety, the angle range for maximum lift should be as great as possible, for if the lift falls oft" very rapidly with an increase in the angle of incidence, the pilot may easily increase the angle too far and drop the machine. In the R. A. F.-3 wing, the lift is little altered through an angle range of from 14° to 16.5°, the maximum occurring at 15.7°, while with the R. A. F.-4, the lift drops very suddenly on increasing the angle above 15°. The range of the stalling angle in any of the wings can be increased by suitable biplane or tri- plane arrangements. If large values of Hft are accom- panied by a fairly good L D value at large angles, the wing section will be suitable for heavy machines. 138 WING SECTIONS (3) Center of Pressure Movement. The center of pres- sure movement with varying angles of incidence is of the greatest importance, since it not only determines the longitudinal stability but also has an important effect upon the loading of the wing spars and ribs. With the majority of wings a decrease in the angle of incidence causes the center of pressure to move back toward the trailing edge and hence tends to cause nose diving. When decreased beyond 0° the movement is very sharp and quick, the C. P. moving nearly half the chord width in the change from 0° to -1.5°. The smaller the angle, the more rapid will be the movement. Between 6° and 16°, the center of pressure lies near a point 0.3 of the chord from the entering edge in the majority of wing sections. Reduc- ing the angle from 6° to 2° moves the C. P. back to approximately 0.4 of the chord from the entering edge. There are wing sections, however, in which the C. P. movement is exceedingly small, the Eiffel 32 being a not- able example of this type. This wing is exceedingly stable, as the C. P. remains at a trifle more than 0.30 of the chord through nearly the total range of flight angles. An aeroplane equipped with the Eiffel 32 wing could be provided with exceedingly small tail surfaces with- out a tendency to dive. Should the elevator become inoperative through accident, the machine could probably be landed without danger. This wing has certain objec- tionable features, however, that offset the advantages. It will be noted that with the unstable wings the center of pressure movement always tends to aggravate the wing attitude. If the machine is diving, the decrease in angle causes the C. P. to move back and still further increase the diving tendency. If the angle is suddenly increased, the C. P. moves forward and increases the tendency toward stalling. If the center of pressure could be held stationary at one point, the wing spars could be arranged so that each WING SECTIONS 139 Spar would take its proper proportion of the load. As it is, either spar may be called upon to carry anywhere from three-fourths of the load to entire load, since at extreme angles the C. P. is likely to lie directly on either of the spars. Since the rear spar is always shallow and ineffi- cient, this is most undesirable. This condition alone to a certain extent counterbalances the structural disadvan- tage of the thin Eififel 32 section. Although the spars in this wing must of necessity be shallow, they can be arranged so that each spar will take its proper share of the load and with the assurance that the loading will remain constant throughout the range of flight angles. The comparatively deep front spar could be moved back until it carried the greater part of the load, thus relieving the rear spar. With a good lift-drag ratio, and a comparatively high value of Ky, the center of pressure movement should be an important consideration in the selection of a wing. It should be remembered in this regard that the stability effects of the C. P. movement can be offset to a consider- able extent by suitable biplane arrangements. (4) Structural Considerations. For large, heavy ma- chines, the structural factor often ranks in importance with the lift-drag ratio and the lift co-efficient. It is also of extreme importance in speed scouts where the num- ber of interplane struts are to be at a minimum and where the bending moment on the wing spars is likely to be great in consequence. A deep, thick wing section per- mits of deep strong wing spars. The strength of a spar increases with the square of its depth, but only in direct proportion to its width. Thus, doubling the depth of the spar increases the strength four times, while doubling the width only doubles the strength. The increase in weight would be the same in both cases. While very deep wings are not usually efficient, when considered from the wing section tests alone, the total 140 WING SECTIONS efficiency of the wing construction when mounted on the machine is greater than would be supposed. This is due to the lightness of the spars and to the reduction in head resistance made possible by a greater spacing of the inter- plane struts. Thus, the deep wing alone may have a low L/D in a model test, but its structural advantages give a high total efficiency for the machine assembled. Summary. It will be seen from the foregoing matter that the selection of a wing consists in making a series of compromises and that no single wing section can be expected to fulfill all conditions. With the purpose of the proposed aeroplane thoroughly in mind, the various sec- tions are taken up one by one, until a wing is found that most usefully compromises with all of the conditions. Reducing this investigation to its simplest elements we must follow the routine as described above : (1) Lift-drift ratio and value of Ky at this ratio. (2) Maximum value of Ky and L/D at this lift. (3) Center of pressure movement. (4) Depth of wing and structural characteristics. yy^^alculations for Lift and Area. Although the principles // of surface calculations were described in the chapter on 11 elementary aerodynamics, it will probably simplify \\ matters to review these calculations at this point. The lift of a wing varies with the product of the area, and the velocity squared, this result being multiplied by the co-efficient of lift (Ky). The co-efficient varies with the wing section, and with the angle of incidence. Stated as a formula: L = KyAV^ where A = area in square feet, and V = velocity of the wing in miles per hour. Assum- ing an area of 200 square feet, a velocity of 80 miles per hour, and with K = 0.0025, the total life (L) becomes^ L= Ky A V^ =0.0025 X 200 X (80 X 80 = 3,200 pounds. Assuming a lift-drag ratio of 16, the "drag" of the wing, or its resistance to horizontal motion, will be expressed by D = L/r = 3,200/16 = 200 pounds, where r = lift-drag ratio. It is this resistance of 200 pounds that the motor WING SECTIONS 141 must overcome in driving the wings through the air. The total resistance offered by the aeroplane will be equal to the sum of the wing resistance and the head resistance of the body, struts, wiring and other structural parts. In the present instance we will consider only the resistance of the wings. When the lift co-efficient, speed, and total lift are known, the area can be found from A = L/KyV-, the lift, of course, being taken as the total weight of the machine. The area of the supporting surface for a speed of 60 miles per hour, total weight of 2,400 pounds, and a lift co-effi- cient of 0.002 is calculated as follows : A == L/K,\-^= 2,400/0.002 X (60 X 60) =333 sq. ft. A third variation in the formula is that used in finding the value of the lift co-efficient for a particular wing load- ing. From the weight, speed and area, we can find the co-efficient Ky, and with this value we can find a wing that will correspond to the required co-efficient. This method is particularly convenient when searching for the section with the greatest lift-drag ratio. Ky = L/ AV", or when the loading per square foot is known, the co-effi- cient becomes Ky=LyV". For example, let us find the co-efficient for a wing loading of 5 pounds per square foot at a velocity of 80 miles per hour. Inserting the numerical values into the equation we have, Ky = L7V"= 5/(80 X 80) =0.00078. Any wing, at any angle that has a lift co-efficient equal to 0.00078 will support the load at the given speed, although many of the wings would not give a satisfactory lift-drag ratio with this co-efficient. It should be noted in the above calculations that no correction has been made for ''Scale," aspect ratio or biplane interference. In other words, we have assumed the figures as applying to model monoplanes. In the following tables the lift, lift-drag and drag must be cor- rected, since this data was obtained from model tests on monoplane sections. The effects of biplane interference 142 WING SECTIONS will be described in the chapter on "Biplane and Tri- plane Arrangement," but it may be stated that superposing the planes reduces both the lift co-efficient and the lift- drag ratio, the amount of reduction depending upon the relative gap between the surfaces. Thus with a gap equal to the chord, the lift of the biplane surface will only be about 80 per cent of the lift of a monoplane surface of the same area and section. Wing Test Data. The data given in this chapter is the result of wind tunnel tests made under standard condi- tions, the greater part of the results being published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The tests were all made on the same size of model and at the same wind speed so that an accurate comparison can be made between the different sections. All values are for mono- plane wings with an aspect ratio of 6, the laboratory models being 18x3 inches. The exception to the above test conditions will be found in the tables of the Eiffel 37 and 36 sections, these figures being taken from the results of Eiffel's laboratory. The Eiffel models were 35.4x5.9 inches and were tested at wind velocities of 22.4, 44.8, and 67.2 miles per hour. The tests made at M. I. T. were all made at a wind speed of 30 miles per hour. The lift co-efficient Ky is practically independent of the wing size and wind velocity, but the drag co-efficient Kx varies with both the size and wind velocity, and the variation is not the same for the different wings. The results of the M. I. T. tests were published in ^'Aviation and Aero- nautical Engineering" by Alexander Klemin and G. M. Denkinger. The R. A. F. Wing Sections. These wings are prob- ably the best known of all wings, although they are inferior to the new U. S. A. sections. They are of English origin, being developed by the Royal Aircraft Factory (R. A. F.), with the tests performed by the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington, England. The WIXG SECTIONS U3 R. A. F.-6 is the nearest approach to the all around wing, this section having a fairly high L/D ratio and a good value of Ky for nearly all angles. It is by no means a speed wing nor is it suitable for heavy machines, but it comprises well between these limits and has been exten- sively used on medium size machines, such as the Cur- tiss JN4-B, the London and Provincial, and others. The R. A. F.-3 has a very high value for Ky, and a very good lift-drag ratio for the high-lift values. It is suitable for seaplanes, bomb droppers and other heavy machines of a like nature that fly at low or moderate speeds. The outlines of these wings are shown by Figs. 7 and 8, and the camber ordinates are marked as percentages of the chord. In laying out a wing rib from these diagrams, the ordinate at any point is obtained by multiplying the chord length in inches by the ordinate factor at that point. Referring to the R. A. F.-3 diagram, Fig. 8, it will be seen that the ordinate for the upper surface at the third station from the entering edge is 0.064. If the chord of the wing is 60 inches, the height of the upper curve measured above the datum line X-X at the third station will be, 0.064X60^=3.84 inches. At the same station, the height of the lower curve will be, 0.016 X 60 = 0.96 inch. The chord is divided into 10 equal parts, and at the entering edge one of the ten parts is subdivided so as to obtain a more accurate curve at this point. In some wing sections it is absolutely necessary to subdivide the first chord division as the curve changes very rapidly in a short distance. The upper curve, especially at the enter- ing edge, is by far the most active part of the section and for this reason particular care should be exercised in getting the correct outline at this point. Aerodynamic Properties of the R. A. F. Sections. Table 1 gives the values of Ky, K^, L/D, and the center of pres- sure movement (C. P.) for the R. A. F.-3 section through 144 WING SECTIONS a range of angles varying from — 2° to 20°. The first column at the left gives the angles of incidence (i), the corresponding values for the lift (Ky) and the drag (Kx) being given in the second and third columns, respectively. The fourth column gives the lift-drag ratio (L/D). The fifth and last column gives the location of the center of pressure for each different angle of incidence, the figure (7) BJir-6 Wtn^ (<5) -RAV-3 Wm& Figs. 7-8. R.A.F. Wing Sections. Ordinates as Decimals of the Chord. indicating the distance of the C. P. from the entering edge expressed as a decimal part of the chord. As an example in the use of the table, let it be required to find the Hft and drag of the R. A. F.-3 section when inclined at an angle of 6° and propelled at a speed of 90 miles per hour. The assumed area will be 300 square feet. At 6° it will be found that the lift co-efficient Ky is 0.002369. From our formulae, the lift will be : L = Ky AV- er numerically, L = 0.002369 X 300 X (90 X 90 = 5,756.7 lbs. At the same speed, but with the angle of incidence WING SECTIONS 1-15 reduced to 2^ the lift will be reduced to L = 0.001554 X 300 X (90 X 90) =3,776.2 pounds, where 0.001554 is the lift co-efficient at 2°. It will be noted that the maximum lift co-efficient occurs at 14° and continues at this value to a little past 15°. The lift at the stalling angle is fairly constant.from 12° to 16°. The value of the drag can be found in either of two ways: (1) by dividing the total lift (L) by the lift-drag ratio, or (2) by figuring its value by the formula D = KxAV". The first method is shorter and preferable. By consulting the table, it will be seen that the L/D ratio at 6° is 14.9. The total wing drag will then be equal to 5,756.7/14.9=386.4 lbs. Figured by the second method, the value of K^ at 6° is 0.000159, and the drag is therefore : D==K,AV2 = 0.000 159 X 300 X (90 X 90) =386.4. This checks exactly with the first method. The lift-drag ratio is best at 4°, the figure being 15.6, while the lift at this point is 0.001963. With the same area and speed, the total lift of the surface at the angle of best lift-drift ratio will be 0.001963 X 300 X (90 X 90) = 4,770 lbs. At 4° the center of pressure is 0.385 of the chord from Table 1. R.A.F. 3 Wing. i Ky Kx L/D C.P. _2 000601 .000125 —1 000879 .000109 001100 .000101 -fl 001314 .000100 2 001554 .000105 4 001963 .000126 6 002369 .000159 8 002777 .000207 12 003439 .000315 14 003481 .000378 14K- 003481 .000405 15 003481 .000425 16 003472 .000465 18 003406 .000598 20 003376 .000908 4.8 .785 8.0 .620 11.0 .522 13.2 .470 14.9 .435 15.6 .385 14.9 .352 13.4 .332 10.9 .315 9.2 .298 8.6 .293 8.2 .290 7.4 .295 5.7 .328 3.7 .382 146 WING SECTIONS Table 2. R.A.F. 6. i Ky Kx L/D C.P. —2 000172 .000090 0.92 —1 000285 .000081 3.40 .682 000571 .000077 7.20 .522 1 000821 .000069 12.10 .445 2 001072 .000068 15.75 .401 4 001477 .000090 16.58 .360 6 001873 .000128 14.14 .328 8 002268 .000167 13.69 .310 10 002634 .000207 12.92 .298 12 002882 .000255 11.18 .289 14 003018 .000321 9.28 .292 16 003045 .000434 6.92 .300 18 002987 .000698 4.48 .319 20 002871 .000887 3.20 .360 the entering edge. If the chord is 60 inches wide, the center of pressure will be located at 0.385 X 60 = 23.1 inches from the entering edge. At 15°, the center of pres- sure will be 0.29X60 = 17.4 inches from the entering edge, or during the change from 4° to 15° the center of pressure will have moved forward by 5.7 inches. At — 2°, the pressure has moved over three-quarters of the way toward the trailing edge — 0.785 of the chord, to be exact Through the ordinary flight angles of from 2° to 12°, the travel of the center of pressure is not excessive. The maximum lift co-efficient (Ky) is very high in the R. A. F.-3 section, reaching a maximum of 0.003481 at an incidence of 14°. This is second to only one other wing, the section U. S. A.-4. This makes it suitable for heavy seaplanes. Table 2 gives the aerodynamic properties of the R. A. F.-6 wing, the table being arranged in a manner similar to that of the R. A. F.-3. In glancing down the column of lift co-efficients (Ky), and comparing the values with those of the R. A. F.-3 section, it will be noted that the lift of R. A. F.-6 is much lower at every angle of incidence, but that the lift-drag ratio of the latter section is not always correspondingly higher. At every angle below WING SECTIONS 147 2°, at 6°, and at angles above 14°, the L/D ratio of the R. A. F.-3 is superior in spite of its greater lift. The maximum L D ratio of the R. A. F.-6 at 4° is 16.58, which is considerably higher than the best L/D ratio of the R. A. F.-3. The best lift co-efficient of the R. A. F.-6. 0.003045, is very much lower than the maximum Ky of the R. A. F.-3. The fact that the L D ratio of the R. A. F.-3 wing is much greater at high lift co-efficients, and large angles of incidence, makes it very valuable as at this point the greater L/D does not tend to stall the plane at slow speed. A large L/D at -great angles, together with a Avide stalling angle tends for safety in slow speed flying. Both wing sections are structurally excellent, being very deep in the region of the rear edge, the R. A. F.-6 being particularly deep at this point. A good deep spar can be placed at almost any desirable point in the R. A. F.-6, and the trailing edge is deep enough to insure against rib weakness even with a comparatively great overhang. Scale corrections for the full size R. A. F. wings are very difficult to make. According to the N. P. L. reports, the corrected value for the maximum L/D of the R. A. F.-3 wing is 18.1, the model test indicating a maximum value of 15.6. I believe that L/D =17.5 would be a safe full size value for this section. The same reports give the full size L/D for the R. A. F.-6 as 18.5, which would be probably safe at 18.0 under the new conditions. Properties of the Eiffel Sections (32-36-37). Three of the Eiffel sections are shown by Figs. 10, 11 and 12, these sections being selected out of an enormous number tested in the Eiffel laboratories. They dift'er widely, both aero- dynamically and structurally, from the R. A. F. aerocurves just illustrated. Eiffel 32 is a very stable wing, as has already been pointed out, but the value of the maximum L/D ratio is in doubt as this quantity is very susceptible to changes 148 WING SECTIONS in the wind velocity — much more than in the average wing. Since Eiffel's tests were carried out at much higher velocity than at the M. I. T., his lift-drift values at the higher speeds were naturally much better than those obtained by the American Laboratory. When tested at 67.2 miles per hour the lift-drift ratio for the Eiffel 32 Eirr£JljI\fo.32. BrrFEJL No.37 0.067^ Figs. 10-11-12. Ordinates for Three Eiffel Wing Sections. was 18.4 while at 22.4 miles per hour, the ratio dropped to 13.4. This test alone will give an idea as to the varia- tion possible with changes in scale and wind velocity. The following table gives the results of tests carried out at the Massachusetts laboratory, reported by Alexander Klemin and G. M. Denkinger in "Aviation and Aero- nautical Engineering." Wind speed, 30 miles per hour. WING SECTIONS U9 Table 3. Eiffel 32. i Ky Kx L/D C.R —2 +.000159 .0000735 2.2 .330 — 1 000378 .0000765 4.9 .327 000591 .0000747 7.9 .320 1 000798 .0000785 10.2 .318 2 001011 .0000843 12.0 .310 4 001467 .0001059 13.9 .305 6 001894 .0001305 14.5 .304 8 002250 .0001741 12.9 .308 12 002732 .000324 8.4 .335 16 002908 .000710 4.1 .357 18 002761 .000846 3.3 .370 20 002642 .000956 2.8 .378 The C. P. Travel in the Eiffel wing is very small, as will be seen from Table 3. At —2° the C. P. is 0.33 of the chord from the leading edge and only moves back to 0.378 at an angle of 20^, the intermediate changes being very gradual, reaching a minimum of 0.304 at 6° in- cidence. The maximum Ky of Eififel 32 is 0.002908, while for the R. A. F.-6 wing, Ky^ 0.003045 maximum, both co-efficients being a maximum at 16° incidence, but the lift-drag at maximum Ky is much better for the R. A. F.-6. Structurally, the EifTel 32 is at a disadvantage when compared with the R. A. F. sections since it is very nar- row at points near the trailing edge. This would neces- sitate moving the rear spar well up toward the center with the front spar located very near the leading edge. This is the type of wing used in a large number of German machines. It will also be noted that there is a very pro- nounced reverse curve or "Reflex" in the rear portion, the trailing edge actually curving up from the chord line. Eiffel 36 is a much thicker wing than either of the other Eiffel curves shown, and is deficient in most aerodynam- ical respects. It has a low value for Ky and a poor lift- drag ratio. It has, however, been used on several Amer- ican training machines, probably for the reason that it permits of sturdy construction. 150 WING SECTIONS Eiffel Z7 is essentially a high-speed wing having a high L/D ratio and a small lift co-efficient. The maximum lift-drag ratio of 20.4 is attained at a negative angle — 0.8°. The value of Ky at this point is 0.00086, an extremely low 34.0 4) »li .00300 290 .00230 210 260 -.00260 4 25C^ ooz^o 230t .ooa^o 2/0 2ao|- .00200 l©.C4-.0O/fi0 -- 170 \ne.c^■.ooleo ISO w.of-.oo/40 I30 I2.0|-.oo/20 )/0 |O.0|-.00/00 go ©.o-.oooNt^r^vovo u: oa\oor^'^fo •^OOCMOOOOO ^ ^} ^] '^. ^. ^. ^ \o oo o~ — — ~c:ooo ~ " ~ " " oo c; o oo o 2 (N) 00 PO O 00 Tt On On f^ ^ '-^ O O^ o 2:; '- fr) Lo r^ a\ o Sooo oo rgoopo-^^vocgoo j-ooN^^rMCvjr^i,— i^^X) 'OOOOOOOOO ■ooooooooo re ^J lO 00 -^ <^ ^1 "-r X Lo r^LO -^ r^ ro vo t^ Tf 00 O CM lo po o 00 rvj rvi 1— I . 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The weight of the tool kit shall not exceed 11 lbs. General Proportions of the Fuselage. The total length of the fuselage depends upon the type of power plant, upon the span or chord of the wings, and upon the ar- rangement of the tail surfaces. The rear end of the Fig. 16. Cock-pit of a "London and Provincial" Biplane. Control Lever in Foreground and Instrument Board Under Cowl. Courtesy of •'Flight." fuselage should be far enough away from the wings to insure that the rear surfaces are not unduly affected by the **down-wash" or the "wake-stream" of the wings. A very short fuselage gives a short lever arm to the control surfaces, hence these surfaces must be very large with a short body. With the stabilizer surface close to the wings, the "damping" effect is slight, that is, the sur- face does not effectively kill or "damp down" oscilla- 246 FUSELAGE CONSTRUCTION tions. Large tall surfaces are heavy, difficult to brace, and cause a very considerable amount of head resistance. The extra weight of a long fuselage is generally offset by the increased weight caused by the large tail area of the short body type. When machines are crated and shipped at frequent in- tervals, a very long fuselage is objectionable unless it is built in two sections. It also requires much storage space and a very long hangar. Machines for private use must often be sacrificed from the efficiency standpoint in order to keep the dimensions within reasonable limits. An aeroplane requiring an enormous hangar has certainly no attraction for the average man. Every effort must be made to condense the overall dimensions or to arrange the extremities so that they can be easily dismounted. Exhibition flyers require specially portable machines since they ship them nearly every day, and the expense of han- dling a long awkward fuselage may alone determine the choice of a plane. It is usually best to divide the body at a point just to the rear of the pilot's seat, although many flyers look upon a two-part body with disfavor unless they can be shown that the joint connections are as strong as the rest of the fuselage. As a guide in the choice of fuselage proportions, a set of diagrams and a table are attached which gives the gen- eral overall dimensions of several prominent makes of machines. The letters in the diagram refer to the letters heading the columns in the tables so that the general dimensions of any part can be readily determined. I do not claim that these dimensions should be followed relig- iously in every case, but they show what has been done in the past and will at least suggest the limits within which a new machine can be built. Fig. 19 gives the outline and dimension letters for two- place machines of what is known as the "Reconnaissance Type." Both water-cooled and air-cooled motor equip- FUSELAGE CONSTRUCTION 247 pfe^W -T^/A-D)- - Reconnaisance TVpe e CVL. VERTICAL MOTOP? DgTAILIOO. FRONT ELEVATION wU MAX. DEPTH Re-connaissance Type rotary air cooled FiG.19 Fig. 19. Fuselage Dimension Chart for Two Place Aeorplane Fuselage. Upper Diagram Is the Water Cooled Type and the Lower Figure Applies to a Machine with a Rotating Air Cooled Motor. See Table of Dimensions on Page 248. 'r «o d, J, d. c^ A d: .^ .k \ CQ CO CO g U5 CO rt _ PU 00 00 C<1 oc : '- : ■ o to ^ _ CO ;z; tc _ ^ 00 CO 00 o C-J ^ ^ '^ '~' S _ ^ 1^ c (M * C5 l« CO CO 03 o- o- c 00 OS n M Ifi o lO CO CO CO CO oc CM c: 03 lO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO ■<1< «0 C>5 CO t^ CO CO O <= CO CO C<1 ic T CO -s; 4. cJ, ■«!t< ck c^ c4 J, 5 lO CO •^ CM (N -S : . . . ■ > > ^ S3 S S3 S: s- !r > > £ S3 S - - > > > > > > > • - > > B^B3g (M C^ (M e<; CM CM CM i o o o 2 2 2 Z c- c- CT> c- 05 o ? cq s t 4 1 3 i ; 1 ^ : 1 > i p. i ^. p: •-S fe c^ pi c: X E- c « K W P3 T 3 a * ^ J ■ -1 1 il J il 1 [^ ^ •1 c c p: :i H < •« 3 a J a < I-; (£. (i. S" 1 FUSELAGE CONSTRUCTION 249 ments are shown, the top machine being of the water- cooled type while the lower figure shows a typical two- place machine with a rotary air-cooled motor. Under- neath this side elevation is a front view of the fuselage, and a section taken through the point of greatest depth. As shown, the fuselage is of square cross-section, but the dimension B appHes equally to the diameter of a cir- cular cross-section. Dimension C gives the height of the curved upper deck, or "turtle deck" of the fuselage. Dimension D shows the extreme length extending in front of the leading edge of the lower wing, and T shows the length of the rear portion back of the leading edge of the lower wing, the leading edge being taken as a base of measurement. The location of the deepest section, meas- ured from the extreme front of the fuselage, is given by E, the depth at this point being indicated by B. The extreme width is shown by I. In the machine shown, side radiators are used, the blunt front end dimensioned by G and K being the dimen- sion of the front engine plate. When front radiators are used, the dimensions G and K also apply to the size of the radiator. The amount of advance, or the distance of the chassis wheel center from the leading edge is given by S, and the distance of the wheel center below the leading edge is given by R. V is the length of the engine projecting above the fuselage top. The passenger or ob- server is indicated by 1 and the pilot by 2. The top plane is 3 and the bottom plane 4. The engine is located by 5, and the top fuselage-rail, or "longeron," by 7. Turtle deck is 6. FJg- 20 gives the diagrams of speed scout machines, both of the air-cooled and water-cooled types. These are the small, fast, single seat machines so much used in the European war for repelling air attacks and for guarding the larger and slower bombing and observation machines. The upper drawing shows a Curtiss Speed Scout equipped 250 FUSELAGE CONSTRUCTION ^^,ou S^cr^ou^^ H D U, Speed Scout Tvpg. ROTA RV/^ I R COOLED . Fig. 20. Fig. 20. Fuselage Dimension Diagrams Giving the Principal Dimensions of Speed Scout Machines. Upper Figure Shows Typical Scout with Water Cooled Motor (Curtiss), While Lower Diagram Shows an Arrangement Common with Rotary Air Cooled Motors (Nieuport) 8 ^ CO M CO I I I r>. c<5 i« a: ^^ C^ 00 r- lO 2 Pi «o 00 CO 00 g 05 S s ?^ ?? M s C5 .J 00 lO oo 00 ^ o W c^ o o ^ - c3 s M JP - s s s ^ n ^ S c« c» M «o o ^ s o CO ? ? ? T T ■«f — CO t~ lO «0 «0 CO :c r^ t^ O C5 C3 o S o « X hj - c ■;: 3 SJ 'C o S is a -.3 n OS 252 FUSELAGE CONSTRUCTION with a "V" type water-cooled motor and a circulcT front radiator. While the front of the body is circular, it grad- ually fades out into a square cross-section at the rear. The lower machine is a Nieuport speed scout equipped with a rotating cylinder air-cooled motor. In this scout, the diameter of the motor cowl is given by dimension K. Body is of square cross-section. It will also be noted that the chord of the lower plane is less than that of the upper plane and that the deep body almost entirely fills the gap between the two wings. Fig. 21. Curtiss J N 4-B Fuselage Boxed for Shipment. With some of the later speed scouts, the body entirely fills the gap between the wings and the top plane is fastened directly to the top members of the fuselage. This makes windows necessary in the sides of the fuselage. When vertical water-cooled motors are used on speed scouts, the front view is entirely cut off, for these are very large motors and project above the fuselage for a considerable distance. This obstruction is avoided in the Curtiss speed scout shown, by the use of a ''V" type motor. It will be noted that these two scouts, especially the Nieuport, are of excellent stream line form, a very important item with such high speed machines. The pro- peller of later Nieuports is provided with a conical spinner •cap which evidently reduces the head resistance to a con- siderable extent. The different portions of the machine are indicated by the same figures as in the case of the reconnaissance machine. CHAPTER XII DETAILS OF FUSELAGE CONSTRUCTION Classification of types. While there are a number of methods adopted in building up the fuselage structure, the common type is the *'wire truss" in which wood com- pression members are used in connection with steel wire or cable tension members. Four wooden "longerons" or "longitudinals" run the entire length of the body and are bent to its general outline. The longitudinals are spaced at the correct distance by wood compression mem- bers, which in turn are held in place by wire cross brac- ing. This method of trussing forms a very strong and light structure, although rather complicated, and difficult to build. The cross-section is rectangular, although in many cases the body is converted into a circular or ellip- tical section by the use of light wood formers fastened to the main frame. Another well known type is the *'Monocoque" body, first used on the Gordon-Bennett Deperdussin monoplane. This fuselage is a circular shell built up of three-ply tulip wood, thus forming a single piece body of great strength. The three-ply shell is really a veneer, the layers proceed- ing spirally around the body, each layer being securely glued to its neighbor. Between each layer is a scrim layer of treated silk, and another fabric layer is generally glued to the outside of the shell. The shell is very thin, the total thickness of the three layers of wood and fabric in modern machines being rather less than 1.5 millimeters (about 1/16 inch). In the original "Deps" this was some- what greater, 0.15 inch. Monocoque construction as a 253 . 254 FUSELAGE DETAILS rule is heavy and expensive, but offers the great advantage of strength, perfect alignment at all times, and of offering resistance to rifle and shell fire. If the longitudinals of a truss type are struck with a bullet, or shell fragment, the entire fuselage is likely to fail, but a monocoque body may be well perforated before failure is likely to take place. The American L. W. F. Tractor Biplane has a mon- ocoque body in which spruce laminations are used instead of hardwood. One ply runs longitudinally while the other two layers are spiralled to the right and left respectively. Between each layer is a scrim layer of treated silk, the whole construction being covered with a final layer of fabric, several coats of waterproof compound, and four final coats of spar varnish. When used for seaplanes the wood plies are stitched together with strong wires to prevent separation due to dampness. Since spruce is used in place of hardwood, the construction is lighter than in European models, and the L. W. F. Company claim that it is lighter than the usual truss construction. An additional advantage of the monocoque construction is that the pilot is protected against splinters or penetra- tion by the limbs of trees when making a forced landing in the brush. Another form of monocoque construction was adopted by the French builder, Bleriot, at the beginning of the war. The fuselage of this machine was covered with papier-mache, the ash longitudinals being buried in this, mixture. The papier-mache is built up with glue and silk threads. This construction is very light and strong, but is expensive and difficult to protect against moisture. The front of the fuselage is protected with a 3 millimeter steel armor plate to protect the pilot against bullets and shrapnel. The papier-mache portion of the body is not easily splintered by bullets. A third form of monocoque, experimented upon by the FUSELAGE DETAILS 255 author, is the steel shell type in which the three-ply wood veneer is supplanted by a thin steel shell. This outer shell is strengthened by suitable stiffener angles. With a shell thickness of 0.013 inch, the strength is equal to the strength of a wood shell and is slightly less in weight. It has the advantage of being easily and cheaply formed into shape and is absolutely proof against the influences of heat and moisture. It cannot splinter, will not catch fire and offers a maximum resistance against penetra- tion. There is yet much experimental work to be done before the construction is perfected. About midway between the truss fuselage and the monocoque is the veneer construction used on many of the modern German aeroplanes. In general, this may be described as being a veneer shell fastened to the con- ventional wood longitudinals. Stay wires are not in gen- eral use, the veneer taking the shear due to the bending movement. Six longerons are used instead of four, the two additional members being located midway on the vertical sides. Transverse wood frames take the place of the transverse stay wires used in the truss type. Examples of this type are met with in the "Albatros de Chasse" and in the "Gotha" bomb dropper. The single seater, '"Roland," has a fuselage of circular section, with a true monocoque veneer construction, but German-like, reinforces the construction with a number of very small longitudinals. In this machine there are 6 layers, or plies, of wood reinforced by fabrics. The entire thickness of the wood and fabric is only 1.5 millimeters (1/16 inch). Steel tube fuselage dates back to the beginning of the aeroplane industry. In this type the wood longitudinals of the wood truss type are replaced with thin gage steel tubes, the cross struts being also of this material. The diagonal bracing may be either of steel wire, as in the wood frames, or may be made up of inclined steel tube members that perform both the duty of the stay wires and 256 FUSELAGE DETAILS struts. For the greatest weight-efficiency, a steel tube body should be triangular in section rather than square. A triangular section saves one longitudinal and a multi- tude of wire struts and connections since no transverse bracing is necessary. Connections on a steel tube fuselage are difficult to make and are heavy. They require much brazing and welding with the result that the strength is uncertain and the joint is heavy. A very modern type of steel construction is that de- veloped by the Sturtevant Company. The members of the Sturtevant fuselage are in the form of steel angles and channels, similar in many respects to the sections used in steel buildings and bridges. The joints are riveted and pinned as in steel structural work. The longitudinals are angles and the struts are channels. Crystallization of the steel members is prevented by the use of special pin- connected joints provided with shock absorbing washers. Owing to the simplicity of the riveted joints, there is practically no weight due to connections, and since the weight of connections is a large item in the total weight of a fuselage, the Sturtevant is a very light structure. According to G. C. Loening, engineer of the company, the fittings of a large wood fuselage weigh at least 60 pounds. This is almost entirely saved with the riveted connections. A novel type of wood fuselage has been described by Poulsen in "Flight." Eight small longitudinals are used Avhich are held in place by three-ply wooden formers or diaphragms. Wire bracing is used in a longitudinal direc- tion, but not transversely in the plane of the diaphragms. The cross-section is octagonal, and the completed struc- ture is covered with fabric. For the amateur this offers many advantages since the wiring is reduced to a min- imum and all of the members are small and easily bent to shape. It is fully as light as any type of body, for the connections are only thin strips of steel bolted to the diaphragms with small machine screws. No formers are FUSELAGE DETAILS 257 ^^^^ 258 FUSELAGE DETAILS needed for the deck, and the machine can be given a close approximation to the ideal stream-line form with little trouble. Truss Type Fuselage. We will now take up the con- struction of the truss type of fuselage in more detail, and •investigate the merits of the different types of connec- tions used in fastening the frame together. Like every part of the aeroplane, the fuselage must either be right or wrong, there is no middle course. Fig. 23 shows a side elevation of a typical truss type fuselage built up with wood longitudinals and struts, the tension members being high tensile strength steel wire and cable. L and L' are the upper and lower longitudinals, S-S-S are the vertical struts, and T-T-T are the horizontal cross struts which run across the frame. The engine bed is the timber marked B at the front of the body. The upper wing is attached to the body through the "cabane" struts C, and the chassis connections are shown at D. The stern post E closes the rear end of the body in a knife edge and acts as a support for the rudder and the rear end of the stabilizer. F is the seat rail which carries the seats and supports the control yokes. All cross bracing is of high tensile strength steel wire, or of high strength aviation cable, these strands taking the tensile stresses while the wood struts are in compression. In the forward portion, double stranded cables are gen- erally used, with solid wire applied to the after portions. The longitudinals are of ash from the motor to the rear of the pilot's seat, while the rear longitudinals are gen- erally of spruce. In some machines, however, the entire length of the longitudinals is ash. The latter arrange- ment makes a heavier, but stronger body. The struts are usually of spruce as this material is stififer than ash and much lighter. Both the struts and longitudinals are frequently chan- nelled out for lightness, as shown by Fig. 27, the wooden 260 FUSELAGE DETAILS member being left rectangular in section only at the points where the connections are made with the struts and cables. The channelling-out process, if correctly fol- lowed, gives very strong stiff members with a minimum of cross-sectional area and weight. Many captured German machines, on the contrary, have solid longitudinals of rectangular section, wrapped with linen fabric. This fabric strengthens the construction and at the same time re- duces the chances of splintering the wooden members in a hard landing. The fabric is glued to the wood and the entire wrapping is then given several coats of a mois- ture repelling varnish. In the older types of fuselage, tlie longitudinals were often of the "laminated" class, that is, were built up of several layers of wood glued together in a single rectangular mass. This reduced the tendency toward splitting, but was very unreliable because of the uncertainty of the glued joints when exposed to the effects of heat and moisture. Laminated longitudinals are now seldom used, particularly in the region of the motor where water and oil are certain to wreck havoc with the glued up members. As the stresses rapidly diminish toward the tail, it is the general practice to taper down the section of the longitudinal toward the rear and to reduce the section of the struts. The longitudinals are generally kept con- stant in section from the motor to the rear of the pilot's seat, the taper starting at the latter point and continuing to the rear end. For example, if the longitudinal section at the motor is l^"xl^", the section at the rear will be V'xV\ the width of the struts corresponding to this taper. While tapering is very desirable from the weight stand- point, it makes the fitting problem very difficult since each fitting must be of a different dimension unless the connec- tions can be designed so that they are adjustable to changes in the section of the longitudinals. In one ma- chine, the width and depth of the longitudinals are kept FUSELAGE DETAILS 261 constant, the variation in weight and section being accom- plished by increasing the depth of the channelling as the rear is approached. With this design, the same fittings can be applied from one end to the other. Since the loading of the struts is comparatively light, thev can be much reduced in section by channelling or rrG.S>^^ FJ&2&B ne.23-C^ -^^ Figs. 27-28-29-30. Fuselage Framing Members and Details. by chamfering, as shown by Fig. 28. If the width and thickness is maintained, much of the interior material can be removed without danger of reducing the strength. Sketch (A) in Fig. 28 shows a very common method of strut reduction, the strut being of rectangular section throughout its length, but tapered in such a way that it is thickest at the center (d) and thinnest at the two ends (e). To obtain the correct relation between the center end thickness requires very careful calculation. As shown. 262 FUSELAGE DETAILS the strut is attached to the upper and lower longitudinals by sheet steel fittings or "sockets." Sketch (B) shows a simple method, the rectangular strut being chamfered off at each of the four corners, and left full size at either end where the fittings connect it with the longitudinals. This form is not correct from a technical standpoint, but is generally good enough for lightly loaded struts, and has the advantage of being cheaply and easily constructed. In sketch (C) a channelled strut is shown, the center por- tion being channelled out in a manner similar to the chan- nelling of the longitudinals. This lightening process is most commonly adopted with the large heavily loaded struts in the front portion of the fuselage, and at the points where the motor bed is suspended or where the wings and chassis are attached to the body. The black dots at the ends of the struts indicate the bolt holes for the fittings, it being permissible to drill holes in the ends of the struts but not in the longitudinal members. If the strut is large enough to resist the bending stresses at the center it will generally allow of holes being drilled near the ends without danger of strength reduction. Again, the struts are always in compression and hence the bolts may be depended upon to partly take the place of the removed material in carrying the compressive stresses. Holes should never be drilled in the longitudinals since these members may be either in tension or compression, depending upon the angle at which the elevator flaps are set. The hole not only destroys the strength at the point at which it is drilled, but this reduction also extends to a considerable distance on either side of the hole, owing to the fibrous nature of the wood. In steel members the effect of the hole is purely local and does not usually extend much beyond the edge of the hole. Considering the wood beam as consisting of a series of parallel fibers, it will be seen that severing any one of the fibers will decrease the strength of the wood through a distance FUSELAGE DETAILS 263 equal to the length of the cut fiber, or at least through a distance equal to the natural shear value of the resins that bind the fibers together. Fuselage fittings are almost numberless in the variety of design. They must be very light and strong, must be applied without drilling the longerons, and should be simple and cheap to construct. They are usually made of sheet steel of from 0.20 to 0.30 point carbon, and may be either bent or pressed into shape. At the points where the struts are joined to the longitudinals, the fittings con- nect struts and wires in three planes, the vertical struts and fore and aft wires ; the transverse wires and horizontal struts, and the top and bottom wires that lie in a hori- zontal plane. There are at least 6 connections at every strut, four of the connections being made to the stay wires or cables. A simple connection is therefore very hard to design. Fig. 29 shows a typical fuselage "panel" and the inter- connected members in their usual relation. LU and LL are the top and bottom longitudinals at the right, while LU' and LL' are the longitudinals at the right hand side. The vertical struts SV and SV separate the top and bottom longitudinals, while the horizontal struts SH and SH' separate the right and left hand sides of the fuselage body. The wires w-w-w-w brace the body fore and aft in a vertical plane. The wires t-t lie in a horizontal plane, produce compression in the horizontal struts SH-SH', and stiffen the frame against side thrust. The transverse rectangle SV-SH-SV'-SH' is held in shape by the trans- verse stay wires W-W, this rectangle, and the stays resisting torsional stress (twisting), act against the struts composing the sides of the rectangle. In some European machines, the wires WW are eliminated, and are re- placed by thin veneer panels, or short wood knee braces as shown by Fig. 30. The section shows the longitudinals L-L-L-L and the struts SV-SV'-SH-SH' braced by the 264 FUSELAGE DETAILS veneer sheet or diaphragm D. This diaphragm is well perforated by lightening holes and effectually resists any torsional stress that may be due to motor torque, etc. Since the transverse wires W-W in Fig. 29 are rather inaccessible and difficult to adjust, the veneer diaphragm in Fig. 27 has a great advantage. In this regard it may be stated that wire bracing is not a desirable construc- tion, and the substitution of solid veneer is a step in advance. Wire bracing has always seemed like a makeshift to the author. The compression and tension members being of materials of widely different characteristics are not suitable in positions where a strict alignment must be maintained under different conditions of temperature and moisture. The difference in expansion between wire and the wood compression members produces alternate tight- ness and slackness at the joints, and as this is not a uni- form variation at the different joints, the frame is always weaving in and out of line. Under the influence of mois- ture the wood either swells or contracts, while the wire and cable maintain their original lengths and adjustments. The result is that a frame of this kind must be given constant attention if correct alignment is desired. The adjustment of a wire braced wood fuselage should be performed only by a skilled mechanic, as it is easily possible to strain the members beyond the elastic limit by careless or ignorant handling of the wire straining turn- buckles. In the endeavor to bring an old warped fuselage back into line it is certain that the initial tension in the wires can be made greater than the maximum working stress for which the wires were originally intended. Shrinkage of the wood also loosens the bond between the wooden members and the steel fittings unless this is con- tinually being taken up. Some form of unit construction, such as the monocoque body, is far more desirable than the common form of wire trussed wood body. 266 FUSELAGE DETAILS Fuselage Fittings. In the early days of aviation the fuselage fittings on many machines were made of alu- minum alloy. This metal, while light, was uncertain in regard to strength, hence the use of the alloy was grad- ually abandoned. At present the greater part of the fittings are stamped steel, formed out of the sheet, and are of a uniform strength for similar designs and classes of material. The steel best adapted for the fittings has a carbon content of from 0.20 to 0.30, with an ultimate strength of 60,000 pounds per square inch, and a 15 per cent elonga- tion. The steel as received from the mill should be annealed before stamping or forming to avoid fracture. After the forming it can be given a strengthening heat treatment. A lower steel lying between 0.10 and 0.15 carbon is softer and can be formed without annealing before the forming process. This material is very weak, however, the tensile strength being about 40,000 pounds per square inch. Fittings made of the 0.15 carbon steel will therefore be heavier than with the 0.30 carbon steel for the same strength. The thickness of the metal will vary from 1/32^' to 1/16", depending upon the load com- ing on the fitting. A typical fuselage strut fitting is shown by Fig. 31-A in which L-L-L are the longerons, d is the fitting strap passing over the longerons, S and S' are the vertical and horizontal struts respectively. The stay wires are fastened to ears (b) bent out of the fitting, the wires being attached through the adjustable turnbuckles (t). The struts are provided with the sheet steel ferrules marked (F). There are no bolts passing through the longitudinals L-L', the fitting being clamped to the wooden member. This is very simple and light fitting. Fig. 31-B is a similar type, so simple that further dis- cussion is unnecessary. Fig. 32 shows a fuselage strut fitting as used on the FUSELAGE DETAILS 267 Standard Type H-3 Biplane. We are indebted to "Aerial Age" for this illustration. This consists of a sheet metal strap of "U" form which is bent over the longitudinal and is bolted to the vertical strut. At either side of the strut are through bolts to which bent straps attach the turn- buckles. These straps are looped around the bolts and form a clevis for the male ends of the turnbuckles. An old form of fuselage connection used on the Nieuport n^.airs Fig. 31. Typical Fuselage Strut Fittings. monoplane is shown by Fig. 33, an example of a type in which the bolts are passed through the longeron member. This fitting is very light but objectionable because of the piercing of the longeron. An Austrian aeroplane, the Hansa-Brandenberg, has a wood fuselage in which no stay wires are used. This fuselage is shown by Fig. 23a. Both the vertical and inclined members are wood struts. The outer covering of wood veneer makes the use of stay wires unnecessary since the sheath takes up all horizontal stresses, and hence 268 FUSELAGE DETAILS forms a sort of plate girder construction. The German Albatros also employs a wireless veneer fuselage, the con- struction being shown in detail by Figs. 36 and 36a. Three longerons are located on either side of the body, the third member being placed at about the center of the vertical side. As will be seen, the veneer makes the use of wire Fig. 32. Fuselage Strut Fittings of the Standard H-3 Training Biplane. bracing and metal connections unnecessary. The veneer also insures perfect alignment. Wing Connections. The lower wings are attached to the low^er longitudinals by a special sheet steel fitting which also generally connects to a vertical strut at this point, and to an extra heavy horizontal strut. A sheet metal clevis, or socket, on the wing spar is pinned to the fuselage half of the fitting so that the wing can be easily detached when the machine is to be dissembled. At this point a connection is also provided for the end of the inner interplane stay wires. The horizontal strut at the point n US! cCZ ' r L FUSELAGE DETAILS 269 of wing attachment is really a continuation of the wing spar and takes up the thrust due to the inclination of the interplane stays. In the majority of cases the horizontal thrust strut is a steel tube, with the hinged connection brazed to its outer ends. This is one of the most im- portant and heavily loaded connections on the machine and should be designed accordingly. Fig. Z7 shows a typical wing to fuselage connection of the hinge type. The wing spar (G) is covered with a sheet steel ferrule (A) at its inner end. Two eye bars (B) are bolted to the wing spar, and over the ferrule, the eyes of the bar projecting beyond the end of the spar. Fig. II. Fuselage Fittings of the Nieuport Monoplane. This forms the wing half of the connecting hinge. The eyes are fastened to the fuselage hinge member (H) by means of the pin (E). This pin has a tapered end for easy entry into the joint, and is pierced with holes at the outer end for cotter pins or a similar retaining device. The fuselage hinge member (H) is brazed to the end of the steel tube strut (T). This tube runs across the fuselage from wing spar end to wing spar end. Strut tube (T) lies on, and is fastened to, the fuselage longeron (L), and also lies between the two halves of the vertical strut (S). The vertical strut is cut out at its lower end for the receipt of the steel tube (T). A steel plate is brazed to the tube, is wrapped about the longeron (L) and is bolted to the vertical strut (S). The interplane stay (F) is attached to the pin (E) at the point of junc- ture of the wing spar eye and the fuselage member of the 270 FUSELAGE DETAILS -it 1' £nvergure sup? 6*60 '• "^ • R.f<(xlu,id f,om -VAtrofhl,- from i drawtufs madi by M LtgOTgttti, vnlh the assislanci ef Ikt Siniu d Aviation Jk M,Ulairt The "D.I." itpt "Albatroj de Ch»M«," or destroyer. Wings witbont V or .rrow. aod •: ,'^r^ almost eqaal fpio. .j.ii Single piece upper wing \ Single piece elevator. •\ Thick-coded luielige \ 160170 b.p. Mercedes engine ^ Twin macbine-gons (marked "Mitr.") L..., on each side of cngide in plan view. The tecllan ot fuselage Ihroogh Jnncllon •I raddcr po»t it ibown en lelt ot lalL Fig. 36. Veneer Fuselage Construction of the German "Albatros" Speed Scout. Body Outline Is Obtained by Veneer Diaphragms and no Stay Wires Are Used. FUSELAGE DETAILS 271 hinge. A collar (I) Is brazed to the tube, and forms a means of attaching the fuselage stays (D). The drift wires (C) of the wings are attached to an eye at the end of one of the wing spar bolts. As shown, the fitting (H) is a steel forging, very carefully machined and reduced in weight. The inside wing ribs are indicated by (K), from which it will be seen that there is a gap between the end of the wings and the outside face of the fuselage. Fig. 36-a shows the construction of the wing joint of the German Albatros machine. The fuselage is of mon- ocoque construction which allows of a simple attachment Th« AIb«tpo« D. I— Th« attachment of the eabant to tbm fuMlage, •howing tb« adjustment for altera- ttpa of atagfter. The sockets securing tfae chassis struts to the futelage. The stmts may quickly be detached by loosening the bolts on the sockets. The futelage constmctioa. Fig. 36-a. Details of Albatros Veneer Fuselage Construction. to the outer shell. This is a very sturdy and simple con- nection. Fig. 38-Z is the wing attachment detail of the English London and Provincial Biplane (1916), the fuselage in this case being of the wire trussed wood type. We are indebted to ''Flight" for this illustration. In some machines the interplane stay wires are attached to a lug formed from the attachment plate, but we do not consider that this construction is as good as the type in which the wire is attached directly to the wing spar pin. While the former may be easier to assemble, the attach- ment of the wire to the pin eliminates any eccentricity, or bending moment, due to the pull of the interplane stay. The attachment in the L. W. F. insures against any eccen- 272 FUSELAGE DETAILS tricity in the stay attachment, and at the same time makes the assembly and dismounting a very simple matter. Chassis Member Attachment. The attachment of the chassis struts generally involves some difficulty as these members usually intersect the line of the longerons at a very awkward angle. If the wing attachment is near the same point, as it generally is, the detail is made doubly Fig. n. Wing Connection to Fuselage. difficult. The chassis must be pin connected as in the case of the wing joint so that the chassis members can be easily and quickly removed. A detail of a chassis to body connection is shown by Fig. 39. In this figure (L) is the lower longeron, (S) is the vertical fuselage strut, and (C) is one of the chassis members. The upper end of the chassis member is enveloped in a sheet steel ferrule (D) which is bolted in place, and which is provided with a clevis at its upper end for the attachment pin (P). A plate (E) is bolted to the fuselage strut (S) and is passed around the lower longeron (L), a hinge joint (H) FUSELAGE DETAILS 273 being provided for attachment to the chassis ferrule through the pin (P). Ears or lugs are left at (G-G) for the attachment of the fuselage stays (B-B). On the inner side of the plate (E) are attachment lugs for the hori- zontal strut (H). It will be noted that the plate (E) is well provided with lightening holes so that the weight can be kept down to a minimum. The pin is tapered at rigY Fig. 38x. Wing Connection of the Albatros Reconnaissance Biplane. Fi( 38y. Wing Attachment of Albatros Fighter with Pin Joint. Fi{ 38z. Wing Connection of London and Provincial Biplane. the end, and is provided with cotter pin holes. The fitting in general is small, and does not produce any great degree of head resistance, the small part exposed being of good streamline form. Great care should be taken in brazing or welding these fittings, since the heat changes the structure of the metal and greatly reduces its strength. The brazing tempera- 274 FUSELAGE DETAILS ture varies from 1,500 to 1,700 degrees, a point well above the tempering heat of steel. Attempts have been made to heat treat the metal after the brazing operation, but with very little success, owing to the fact that the heat treat- ing temperature is generally at or above the melting point of the brazing spelter, hence is likely to cause holes and openings in the brazed joints. With acetylene welded joints the parts can, and should be, heat treated after the welding. While this is an apparent advantage of acety- Fig. 39. Chassis Connection. lene welding, all parts cannot be successfully handled in this manner. The welding torch can only join edges, while the brazing spelter can be appHed over almost any area of surface. Welding is very successful in joining thin steel tubes while in many fittings made of sheet metal, brazing is the only feasible operation. Both methods have a common fault, in that they are unreliable. Imperfect welds and brazing are not always apparent from the outside, actual breakage of the part being necessary to determine the true nature of the joint. FUSELAGE DETAILS 275 FUSELAGE WEIGHTS. Distribution of Weight. The weight of a fuselage de- pends upon the span of the wings, upon the seating capacity, and upon the weight and type of the power plant. The weight also varies considerably with the type of construction, that is, whether of truss, veneer, or monocoque construction. A heavily powered machine, or one carrying more than a single person, requires heavier structural members and hence weighs more than a small single seater. The amount of fuel carried also has a considerable bearing on the fuselage weight. Probably the best method of treating this subject is to give the fuselage weights of several types of well known machines. The reader will then have at least a com- parative basis for determining the approximate weight. (Truss type only.) FUSELAGE WEIGHTS Name Year Type Length Total H. P. Motor Span of Wings No. of Seats Weight Bare Wt. Fully Equipped ; .'anks, Pipe Etc. Wt.. Fully Equipped, Including Power Plant Aviatik ( Tighter » 1916 21' 6" 170 Benz T= 40' 8" L=35' 5" 2 757.0 1527 Standard Reconn. 1917 H-3 24' 6" 135 H-S T = 40' 1" L = 40' 1" 2 302.0 479.7 1218.5 Curtiss School 1917 JN-4 24' 6" 90 OX T = 43' 7" L = 33' 11" 2 296.3 408.9 904.7 Nieuport Scout 1916 "11" 15' 4" 80 LeR. T = 24' 8" L = 24 ' 3" 1 372.0 583.0 There are so many variables that the weight cannot be determined by any set rule or formula. Alexander Klemin in his "Course in Aerodynamics and Airplane Design" says that the approximate weight of a bare wood truss type fuselage is about 150 pounds for a ma- chine having a total weight of 2,500 pounds. For small biplane and monoplane scouts weighing approximately 1,200 pounds total, the bare fuselage frame will weigh about 70 pounds. These figures are for the bare frame alone and without seats, controls, tail skids or other fit- 276 FUSELAGE DETAILS tings. The weights given under the column headed "Wt, Bare" include the engine beds, tail skids, flooring, cowling and body covering, and hence exceed the *'bone bare" esti- mate of Klemin by a considerable amount. The all-steel fuselage of the large Sturtevant battle- plane (Model A) weighs 165 pounds inclusive of the steel engine bed. A wooden, wire braced fuselage of the same size and strength weighs well over 200 pounds, the metal fittings and wires weighing about 60 pounds alone. Ash is used in the wood example for the longerons. The struts and diagonal members in the Sturtevant metal fuselage are riveted directly to the longitudinals, without fittings or connection plates. The safety factor for air loads is 8, and for the ground loads due to taxi-ing over the ground, a safety factor of 4 is used. After a minute comparison of the items comprising the fuselage of the Curtiss JX4-B and the Standard H-3, Klemin finds that the fuselage assembly of the Standard H-3 amounts to 13.6 per cent of the total loaded weight, and that the fuselage of the Curtiss JN4-B is 15.5 per cent of the total. Tanks, piping and controls are omitted in both cases. For machines weighing about 2,500 pounds, Dr. J. C. Hunsaker finds the body weight averaging 8.2 per cent of the total, this figure being the average taken from a number of machines. On careful examination it will be found that the fuselage assembly (bare) amounts to a trifle less than the wing group for biplanes having a total weight of from 1,900 to 2,500 pounds. The relation between the wing weight and the fuselage weight seems to bear a closer rela- tion than between the fuselage and total weights. We will set these different relations forth in the following table : FUSELAGE DETAILS 277 PERCENTAGE OF FUSELAGE WEIGHT Name of Plane or Investigator Fuselage Weight as Percentage of the Total Load Wing Weight As Per- centage of Total Weight Body Assembly Bare Body Assembly and Equipment Body Assembly and Power Plant Curtiss JX4-B I5.50<7f 17.869-0 43.96rf 14.15% Standard H-3 13.60 Tr 17.707O 45.40 o(t t-Smep ducfftt , tlmm. Striper ai^d Cable , IQmn. bcnii Shock Absorber Shock Absorber- Fig. 1-a. "V" Type Chassis Used on Hansa-Brandenburg Biplane. Struts are clearly shown. The two struts are connected at the bottom by a metal fitting, and the rubber is wound over the axle and under this fitting. No guiding device is used for the axle, the machine being freely suspended by the chord. The struts are made as nearly streamline form as possible. Fig. 2 is a front view of a typical Vee chassis, and Fig. 3 is side view of the same device, the same reference letters being used in each view. The vertical struts C run from the fuselage at F to the connecting axle guide plate G. The wheels W-W are connected with the steel tube axle 290 CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION A, and the struts are braced against side thrust by the cross-tube D and the stay wire braces B-B. In Fig. 3 the metal fitting G is provided with the guiding slot S for the axle A. The elastic rubber cord absorber passes over the axle and is fastened to the plate G by the studs I. Fig. 4 is a side view of the chassis of the Lawson trainer, which like many other primary training machines, uses a front pilot wheel to guard against nosing over. The rear two wheels (W) are elastically supported between rxs.S rr&-2. Figs. 2-3. Typical "V" Chassis With Axle Guide. the Vee struts C and F, while the front wheel X is at- tached to the fuselage by the vertical strut E, and to the rear wheel frame by the tube G. It will be noted that the front wheel is smaller than the rear main wheels, as this wheel carries but little load. The tail skid T is hinged to the fuselage and is provided with elastic cord at the upper end so that the shock is reduced when the tail strikes the ground. Fig. 5 shown directly above the Law- son trainer, is the complete assembly of the Hansa-Bran- denburg already described. The tail skid of the Hansa- Brandenburg is indicated by T. The metal shod ash skid stick is hinged to the lower face of the fuselage, and at the upper end is attached to a stationary fuselage member through four turns of elastic CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION 291 cord. When the skid strikes an obstacle the rubber gives and allows the tail to move in relation to the ground. By this arrangement the greater part of the device is enclosed within the fuselage and, hence, produces little head resist- ance. Fig. 7 is the skid chassis of the Farman biplane which Fig 4 (Below). Lawson Training Tractor Biplane. Fig. S (Above). ansa-Brandenburg Fighting Biplane Showing Chassis and Tail Skid (t). shows clearly the arrangement of the skids and the shock absorbing suspension. A metal bridge is attached to the axle, and a series of short rubber bands are used in con- necting the axle bridge, and the bridge on the skid. A triangular tubular radius rod is attached to the axle and hinged to the skid. This restrains the travel of the axle in a fore and aft direction. Another form of skid shock absorber is given by Fig. 8, in which the rubber rings pass over a spool on the axle. The guiding links or 292 CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION radius rods on the inside of the skids regulate the axle travel. In general, the use of a radius rod is not de- sirable as it transmits a percentage of the shock to the machine. Fig. 7. (Left). _ Farman Skid Type rba';^.:?. Fig. S. Another Type of Skid Chassis in Which the Axle Is Guided by a Radius Rod or Lever. Fig. 9. Chassis Details of the Xieuport Monoplane. This Has a Central Skid and Uses an Automobile Type Steel Spring Instead of Rub- ber Cord. Fig. 10 Is a Detail of the Nieuport Spring. (At Right.) Fig. 9 is an older form of Nieuport monoplane chassis, a steel cross spring being used in place of the usual rubber bands. This is simple, but comparatively heavy, and is subject to frequent spring breakage. To guard against spring failure, a long ash skid is placed under the axle. The spring system is connected with the body by three sets of oval steel struts. An old type of Curtiss chassis is given by Fig. 11. This has been widely used by amateurs and exhibition flyers, but requires a fairly smooth landing ground as there are no shock absorbers. The only shock absorption is that due to the deflection of the tires. The CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION 293 extreme forward position of the front wheel effectually prevents any tendency toward nosing over when landing. A Standard H-3 shock absorbing system is given by Fig. 12. This has a bracket or hanger attached to the axle over which the elastic cord i? wrapped. The cord is Fig. 11. An Old Type of Curtiss Exhibition Chassis With Three Wheels. Fig. 12 (Left). Standard H-3 Shock Absorber. Cord on Axle. (Right). Rubber wrapped in continuous turns between the axle hanger and the bottom of the Vee support members. As shown, the upper streamlined bar is the axle, while the lower is the cross bar brace which serves to hold the lower ends of the U's. I am indebted to "Aerial Age" for this cut. In order to guide the axle in a straight line in its up and 294 CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION down movement, two radius links are attached between the axle and the front vertical strut. One decided ad- vantage of the "Standard construction is that the cords are wound without crossing the strands, thus reducing cutting and wear between the cord turns. Fig. 13 is a variation of Fig. 12, the cord being wound directly around spools on the axle and the lower station- ary cross tube. Th axle is guided by a slot in the guide plate at the right, while end motion is controlled by a radius link. Fig. 14 is the double wheel arrangement of a Fig. 14. Chassis for Twin Motored Biplane of Bombing Type. large "Twin" bombing plane. Two wheels are placed directly under each of the motor units so that a portion of the load is communicated to the chassis by tubes. Diag- onal tubes transmit the body load to the chassis. Folding Chassis. Owing to the .great relative resist- ance of the chassis it has been suggested by many de- signers to provide a folding frame which will atuomatic- ally fold up into the body after the machine has left the ground. This would be a decided advantage but the gear is complicated and probably not altogether reliable. Height of Chassis. The height of the chassis is made as small as possible with a sufficient clearance for the propeller tips. It is usual to have the tips of the propeller blades clear the ground by from 10 to 12 inches when the aeroplane is standing with the body in a horizontal posi- tion. Any smaller clearance is almost certain to result in CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION 295 broken blades when landing at a sharp angle or when run- ning through high grass. If the chassis is excessively high the resistance will be high and the machine is also likely to be top heavy. Location of Wheels. The exact location of the wheels, in a fore and aft direction, is of the greatest importance. If they are too far ahead of the center of gravity, too much Figs. 15-16. Methods of Calculating Wheel Position on Two Wheel Chas- sis. This Is an Important Item in the Design of an Aeroplane. w^eight will be placed on the tail skid and excessive run- ning will be required to get the tail ofif the ground. If the wheels are too far back, the machine will be likely to nose over when landing or running over the ground. In any case, the wheels must be w^ell ahead of the center of gravity so that the weight will resist a forward overturn- ing moment. In the majority of orthogonal biplanes, in which the leading edges of the upper and lower wings are on the same vertical line, the center of the wheel is from 3 to 6 inches back of the leading edges. In staggered 296 CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION biplanes the wheel center is from 6 inches to one foot in front of the lower leading edge. This difference is caused by the fact that the center of gravity is nearer the leading edge of a staggered wing than with the orthogonal type, and hence the wheels must be further forward. Fig 15 (upper diagram) shows the conditions when the machine is running over the ground with the body hori- zontal. The vertical line a-a passing through the center of gravity C G is a distance N from the center of the wheel. The weight acting down has a tendency to pull the tail down, this moment being equal to the weight of the machine multiplied by the distance N, or W x N. The elevator flap M exerts a lifting force K, which acts through the lever arm L, and opposes the moment due to the weight. The force K must be equal to K = WX/L. The distance I is the distance of the wheel center line from the entering edge of the wing. The weight on the tail skid S when the machine is resting on the ground will be equal to S = WN/M, and this may range anywhere from 40 to 200 pounds, according to the size of the aeroplane. Fig. 16 illustrates a principle of wheel location ad- vanced by Capt. Byron Q. Jones, and published in "Avia- tion and Aeronautical Engineers," Nov. 16, 1916. The body is shown in a horizontal position with the propeller axis X-X horizontal. The center of gravity is at G on X-X, the weight acting down as at P with the line pro- longed meeting the ground line at B. A line E-E is a line drawn tangent to the wdieels and the tail skid at D, the angle of this line with the ground determining the maximum angle of incidence. E-E is the ground line when the machine is at rest. For the best conditions, Capt. Jones finds that the line connecting the point of tagency C, and the center of gravity at G, should make an angle of 13 degrees and 10 minutes with the vertical GB dropped through the center of gravity. With the line GA drawn perpendicular to the resting line E-E, the angle CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION 297 BGA should be 10 degrees as nearly as possible. This is for a two-wheel \'ee chassis, but with a third front wheel as with the training of type the angle CGB can be made less. Capt. Jones has found that with the wheels in the above location there will be no tendency to nose over even with very poor landings, and this method has been applied to the training machines at the San Diego Signal Corps aviation school. If the angle BGA is greater than 10 degrees it is difficult to "taxi" the machine on the ground, this tending to make the machine spin or turn into the wind. Capt. Jones claims that a two-wheel chassis ar- ranged according to these rules is superior to the three- wheel type for training purposes since the tendency toward spinning is less. The location of the tail skid S should be such that the elevator and rudder surfaces are well off the ground with the skid fully deflected, and yet the skids must be low enough to permit of the maximum angle of incidence or an angle of EXX= 10 degrees. To a certain extent, the maximum angle of incidence determines the chassis height. If the angle EXX is made greater than the great- est angle of incidence, the wings can be used as air brakes in bringing the machine to a quick stop after landing. The track, or the distance between the centers of the wheels measured along the axle, must be about 1/7 or 0.15 of the span of the lower w^ng. This makes the track vary from 5 to 7 feet on the usual types, and as high as 15 feet on the large bombing planes. The track must be great enough to prevent overturning when making a landing on soft ground or with a cross wind. If the track is excessive, there will be a heavy spinning moment in cases where one wheel strikes a depression or soft spot in the ground. Shock Absorbers. The axle movement allowed by the elastic shock absorbers and guiding appliances averages from 5 to 6 inches. The greater the movement, the less will be the stresses induced by a given drop, but in prac- 298 CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION tice tlie movement is generally limited by considerations of chassis height and propeller clearance. It can be proved that a movement of 5 inches will produce a maximum stress equal to 8.6 times the weight of the machine under conditions of a one-foot drop, while with an absorber movement of 6 inches the stress is reduced to 7.5 times the weight. This calculation takes the tire deflection into consideration. With the absorber move- ment limited to one inch, the stress may be as high as 35 times the weight of the machine. F ^ W (2 -f 2.77/x) where W = weight of machine in pounds, F:^the stress produced by the fall, and x = the absorber movement in inches. Landing Gear Wheels. The wheels are generally of the tangent laced ware spoke type, and are enclosed with discs to reduce the resistance. They must have very wide hubs to resist the heavy end stresses caused by landing sidewise. The length of the hub should be at least twice the diameter of the tire and a greater width, say three times the tire diameter, is preferable. The narrow hubs used on motorcycle wheels are not safe against side blows, although they may be capable of withstanding the vertical load. The wheels are rated according to the outside diameter over the tire, and by the diameter of the tire casing. A 26" x 4" wheel signifies that the outside diameter is 26 inches with a casing diameter of 4 inches. Wheel Diam. Casing Diam. Ca Trying Capacity Per Casing Inflation Pressures Rim-Sizes 26 20 26 26 3 4 4 5 375 Lbs. 750 " 750 " 1,225 " 45 Lbs. 60 •• 60 " 70 " 26x3 20x4 26x4 26x5 The 26x4 tires are used on the majority of training machines of the two-wheel type, while a 20x4 wheel is used for the front wheel of the three-wheel trainer. Two larger sizes, 30x4 and 34x4, have also been used to some extent, particularly on the Ackerman spring wheels. CHAPTER XIV. ESTIMATION OF WEIGHT. Effect of Weight. Weight is an all important consid- eration and is most difficult to estimate unless one has accurate data on existing machines of the same type. The total weight in flying order depends upon the useful load to be carried, and upon the weight of the power plant. The weight of the latter varies both with the useful load and with the speed, climb, and duration of flight. The type of aeroplane determines the relative head resist- ance which again reflects back to the weight of the power plant. The only reason for the existence of an aeroplane is to carry a certain useful load for a given distance, and this useful load is the basis of our weight calculations. The basic useful load consists of the passengers and cargo, although in some specifications the live load may be con- strued as including the weight of the fuel, oil and instru- ments, and in the case of military aeroplanes, the weight of the armament, armor, ammunition, wireless and cameras. For comparison, the elements constituting the live load should always be specified. For a given horsepower, speed and climb, it is obvious that the dead or structural weight should be at a minimum for a maximum live load capacity. The dead load carried in present aeroplanes will be undoubtedly reduced in the future by the adoption of lighter and stronger materials, better methods of bracing, and by reductions in the weight of the power plant. Just as the automobile industry de- veloped light and powerful materials of construction, so 299 300 WEIGHT ESTIMATES will the aeroplane designer develop more suitable ma- terials for the aircraft. While the present power plant has been refined to a remarkable extent when compared with the older types, it is still far from the lowest possible limit. At present the complete power unit — the motor, radiator, propeller, water, etc. — wdll weigh from 2 to 5 pounds per horsepower. With a given aeroplane, the performance is determined by the total w^eight and power. The duration and flight range can be increased by increasing the fuel weight at the expense of the passenger or cargo weight. The power available for climbing is the excess of the total power of the motor over the power required for horizontal flight. Since the power for horizontal flight depends principally upon the weight, it is at once evident that the weight is a regulating factor in the climbing speed. In fact the climbing speed may be almost directly determined from the weight carried per horsepow^er at normal flight speed. A fast climbing scout may weigh from 8 to 12 pounds per horsepower, w^hile the large low climbing m.achine will weigh from 16 to 20 pounds per horsepower, the respective climbing speeds being approximately 1,200 and 350 feet per minute. Fuel Efficiency and Weight. The efficiency of the motor, or its fuel consumption for a given output, has a very marked effect upon the total w^eight of the aeroplane. Under certain conditions a very light motor with a high fuel consumption will often contribute more to the total weight than a heavier but more economical motor. In short flights, up to 3 hours, the very light rotating cylinder motor with its high fuel consumption probably gives the least total w^eight, but for longer flights the more efficient and heavier water-cooled type is preferable. For flights of over three hours the fuel w^eight is a considerable per- centage of the total weight. The proper motor for any machine must be selected by computing the w^eight of the WEIGHT ESTIMATES 301 fuel and oil required for a given duration and then adding this to the total weight of the engine and its cooling s\stem. Distribution of Weight. Practically the only way to predict the weight of a proposed machine is to compare it with a similar existing type. After the ratio of the useful load to the total load has been determined, the use- ful load of the proposed machine can be divided by the ratio factor to obtain the total weight. It should be noted in this regard that if the proposed machine is much larger than the nearest existing example, a liberal allowance must be made to compensate for the increase in the pro- portional weight of the structural members. There have been many mathematical formulas advanced for predict- ing the weight, but these are very inaccurate in the ma- jority of cases. As a rough estimate, based on a number of successful machines, the weight of the actual aeroplane structure without power-plant, live load, fuel, oil, or tanks, is very nearly 32 per cent (0.32) of the total weight. The remain- ing 68 per cent is divided up among the power-plant, fuel and live load. Thus, the aeroplane structure proper of a machine weighing 2000 pounds total will be 2000 x 0.32 = 640 pounds. Taking the weight of the power plant, tanks and piping at 28 per cent, the total dead load of the bare machine without fuel or oil will be 60 per cent of the total. With a training aeroplane built for a 6-hour flight, the fuel and oil will approximate 16 per cent, so that the total percentage possible for the crew and cargo will be 24 per cent. With a given live load, the total load can now be calculated by dividing the live load by its per- centage. Using the above value, for example, the total weight in order of flight with a live load of 720 pounds becomes : W = 720/0.24 = 3000 pounds. In government specifications the total weight of the pilot and passenger are taken at 330 pounds, or 165 pounds 802 WEIGHT ESTIMATES per man. Gasoline and oil are for a 4-hour flight. A safer average figure will be 170 pounds per man, and a fuel allowance of 6 hours. The floats of a seaplane or flying boat bring the percentage of the dead load much higher than with the land type of chassis. The following table will give an idea as to the weight distribution expressed both in pounds, and as a percentage of the total weight. It covers a wide range of types, vary- ing from the training types Curtiss JN-4B and the Stand- ard H-3, to the Handley-Page Giant bomber and the Nieuport speed scout. The average values found by Hun- saker for a number of machines weighing in the neighbor- hood of 2500 pounds is given in the fourth column. Under each heading are the actual weights and the percentages of the total weight for each item. Items marked (*) include both gasoline and oil. Mark (C) is the power plant complete, and (@) includes radiator. Weight Per Horsepower. As already explained, the weight carried per horsepower varies with the type of machine. When the total weight is determined for any aeroplane, the power requirements can be calculated by dividing the total weight by the weight per horsepower ratio. A fair value for a training or exhibition machine is from 18 to 20 pounds per horsepower, while for a very high speed machine, such as a chaser, the weight will be taken at 10 pounds per horsepower. For two-seater fight- ers 16 to 18 pounds is fair practice. For a comparison of the horsepower-weight ratios used on different well- known machines see tables in Chapter II. Thus, if our total weight is found to be 2400 pounds as determined from the above table, and if this is a training machine, the horsepower will be: 2400/20^120 horsepower. Using the same total weight, but powered for two-seater fighter conditions, the power will be increased to 2400/16= 150 horsepower. As a scout the power will be increased still further to 2400/10 = 240 horsepower. WEIGHT ESTIMATES 303 o CO o « l-H ^-» o ^ < 1) V. CU £ • o I"" ^^ c c K5 §•3 t) o t) O • «r) Tj-' iri "^ oooooo "2 . rs.' TT d Tj; • 0\ • cm' cm' -OS Ji oa t^ 'a- -■ .- • ooo -00 100 •oo(MO»ootM. I O VOro rt rt .o\Tj-\ou-)'-ieio. od iooeg'vo ;t-~ieg»-JfWTt-Tftoegi U j= 00 . '-i _ o =-^^ rt 3 o rt O O^^JZ c« o 3 304 WEIGHT ESTIMATES As a problem in solving the weight and horsepower from the data, we will assume that we are to design a two-seater fighter with a total useful load of 1200 pounds. This load consists of the following items : Personnel (2) = 330 pounds ; gas and oil = 500 pounds ; guns and am- munition = 370 pounds. The nearest example that we have to this live load is that of the Standard H-3, which carries 744 pounds and in which the percentage of live load is 28.1 per cent. As our machine will be somewhat larger, we will not be far from the truth if we take the per- centage as 0.27 instead of 0.281. The total weight, in fly- ing order, will now be 1200/0.27 = 4440 pounds. At 16 pounds per horsepower the motor will be : 4440/16 = 277 horsepower. An empirical formula for a high-speed scout was set forth in ''Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering" by D. W. Douglas. This is based on the horsepower unit. A unit wing loading of 8.45 pounds per square foot, and a low speed of 55 miles per hour was assumed. The wing section chosen was the U. S. A.-l. In the formula, H = horsepower : Power plant weight = 3 H. Chassis weight ^0.7 H. Tail weight = 0.25 H. Fuel for 2.25 bourse 1.4 H. Military load = 250 pounds. Tanks and piping = 0.42 H. Fuselage weight = 1.84 H. Wing weight = 1 lb. sq. ft. Propeller = 2.8/H. (Total) = 7.61 H + 2.5/H + 250 = Weight of aero- 7.45 plane fully loaded in the order of flight. Weight of Wings. The weight of the wings depends upon the span, very small machines having wings that WEIGHT ESTIMATES 305 weigh only 0.38 pounds per square foot, while the wings of very large machines may run as high as 1.1 pounds per square foot. For average size biplanes from 0.75 to 0.80 pounds per square foot would probably be safe — that is, for areas ranging from 450 to 550 square feet. The weight of the upper wing of the Nieuport is 0.815 pounds per square foot, while the lower wing (short chord) is 0.646 pounds per square foot. The wings of the Standard H-3 trainer will average 0.77 pounds per square foot, the lower wing and center section being heavier than the upper wing. The wings of the Curtiss JN-4B will aver- age 0.75 pounds per square foot. These weights do not include the interplane wires or struts, nor the fittings. The total weight of the interplane struts of the JN-4B, the Aviatic, and machines of similar size will average from 28 to 30 pounds. The ailerons will weigh about 12 pounds each. Weight of Motors. There is a considerable difference in the weight of air-cooled and water-cooled motors. The water, water piping, radiators and jackets of the water- cooled motors adds considerably to the weight of the complete power plant. The mountings are heavier for the water-cooled motors, and because of the tandem arrangement of the cylinders, the crankshaft and crank- case weigh more. In taking the bare weight of the power plant all of the accessories must be included. In the following table, the "bare engine" includes the carbureter, magneto, and necessary integral accessories, but does not include the jacket water, mounting, radiator, oil in base, water piping, nor controls. Water-cooled motors are marked by (W) and air-cooled by (A). Rotary air-cooled are (RA), and gallons (G). 306 WEIGHT ESTIMATES WEIGHTS OF AERONAUTICAL MOTORS. The bare radiator will weigh from 0.48 to 0.56 pounds per horsepower, the average being safe at 0.52. The water contained in the radiator will average 0.35 pounds per horsepower. The weights of the piping and the water contained therein will be computed separately. The cir- cular sheet metal cowl used over the rotary cylinder air- cooled motor is equal to twice the square root of the motor weight, according to Barnwell. Propeller weight varies considerably with the di- ameter, pitch, etc., but a safe rule will give the weight as 2.8 VH where H = horsepower. The tanks will weigh from 0.75 to 1.2 pounds per gallon of contents, or ap- proximately 1/5 the weight of the contents when com- pletely filled. Chassis and Wheel Weight. The chassis of a two- wheel trainer will weigh about 90 pounds complete, although there are chassis of training machines that weigh as much as 140 pounds. The chassis of speed scouts will be from 22 to 40 pounds complete. Tail skids can be taken at from 6 to 8 pounds. Tangent wire wheels complete with tires are about as follows: 26x4^21 pounds; 26x5 = 28 pounds; 26x3 = 14 pounds. Ackerman spring spoke wheels are es- timated as follows: 20x4=17.5 pounds; 26x3 = 22 pounds; 26x4 = 32 pounds; 30x4 = 35 pounds; 34x4 = 45 pounds. Military Loads. A 20-mile wireless outfit devised by Capt. Culver weighed 40 pounds with storage batteries, while the 120-mile outfit weighed 60 pounds with a 180- watt generator. The 140-mile U. S. A. mule-back wire- less of 1912 weighs 45 pounds. The "Blimp" specifica- tions allow 250 pounds. The Lewis gun as mounted on the "11" Nieuport weighs 110 pounds, including mount, gun and ammunition. WEIGHT ESTIMATES 307 m ^ HH « o /-S CO W CO u 1^ Wi O ^ o Cfl < o u p< 2 Tl < CO CO 0^ u O ii s o 13 s O pi< •4-* o J3 CO 4> O 1— 1 H ^ °£ &I 60 = p4 o' r>I ,ooo • inxri o . o CT^ i^j C O O O "^ . o o • o ; d ■*■ : o cq C^J eg ro ■^ ^ 'O ^ T Tj- ^O "^ uT* P-i ♦^ O OOu^ o o o o •* O O O to o r^ONOOoooooOMOO'^ooeovO^ p p-ffff*: a^r u'--i >,>.3 3 3 3 3 — ^•S.-JSiJ 308 WEIGHT ESTIMATES Lewis gun bare is 26 pounds. The Davis 6-pounder, Mark IV, weighs 103 pounds with mounting but with- out ammunition, while the same make of 3-inch 12- pounder weighs 238 pounds under the same conditions. Controls and Instruments. The Deperdussin type con- trols used on the Curtiss JN-4B weigh 16 pounds per control, while those installed in the Standard H-3 weigh about 13 pounds. An average of 15 pounds per control is safe. An instrument board for the aviators' cock-pit, fully equipped, weighs from 20 to 24 pounds. The front, or students' instrument board will average 10 pounds. Pyrene extinguisher and brackets = 7 pounds ; Speak- ing tube = 3 pounds ; Oil pressure line and gage = 3 pounds; Side pockets = 3 pounds; Tool kit — 10 pounds. Contr.ol Surfaces. The rudder, stabilizer, fin, and ele- vator can be made so that the weight will not exceed 0.60 to 0.65 pounds per square foot. General Notes on Weight. Before starting on the weight estimates of the machine the reader should care- fully examine the tables in Chapter II which give the weights, and general characteristics of a number of mod- ern machines. Weights and Wing Area. When the weight of the machine is once determined, the next step will be to determine the wing area. For speed scouts or very large heavy duty machines the choice of a wing section must be very carefully considered. For the speed scout sev- eral wings giving a minimum high speed resistance should be examined, such as the Eiffel 37 or the U. S. A.-l or U. S. A.-6. For the low-speed aeroplane to be de- signed for great lift, a number of sections such as the U. S. A.-4 or the R. A. F.-3 should be tried for a number of speeds and angles. For training machines a wing of the "x\ll around" type such as the R. A. F.-6 should be adopted, the structural characteristics in the case of a trainer having an important bearing on the subject. If WEIGHT ESTIMATES 309 W = weight of the machine in pounds, V = low speed in miles per hour, A = total area in square feet, and Ky — lift coefficient, then the area becomes A=W/KyV-. Compensation must be made for biplane interference for aspect ratio, and stagger as previously explained. For an ordinary training machine with the usual gap/chord ratio, and aspect ratio, the correction factor of 0.85 may be safely employed. Example. We will take the case of an aeroplane carry- ing a personnel load of 340 pounds, oil and gasoline 370 pounds, and baggage amounting to 190 pounds, instru- ments 100 pounds. Total live load will be 1000 pounds. Taking the live load percentage as 0.30, the total load will be 1000/0.30 = 3333 pounds. If the low speed is 50 miles per hour, and the maximum Ky of the chosen wing is 0.003 at this speed, the area will be A = W/KyV^ = 3333/0.003 X (50 x 50) = 444 square feet. Since this is a biplane with a correction factor of 0.85, the corrected area will be : 444/0.85 = 523 square feet. The unit loading, or weight per square foot will be : 3333/523 = 6.36 pounds. The corrected area includes the ailerons and the part of the lower wing occupied by the body. Empirical Formula for Loading. After investigating a large number of practical biplanes, the author has de- veloped an expression for determining, the approximate unit loading. When this is found, the approximate area can be found by dividing the total weight by the unit loading. This gives an idea as to the area used in practice. It was found that the unit loading increased with the velocity at nearly a uniform rate. This gave an average straight line formula that agreed Very closely with 128 examples. If V = Maximum velocity in miles per hour, and w = weight per square foot, then the unit loading becomes : w = 0.065V — 0.25 for the average case. For high speed scouts this gives a result that is a trifle low, the 310 WEIGHT ESTIMATES formula for a fast machine being more nearly w = 0.65V — 0.15, for speeds over 100 miles per hour. A two-seat machine of average size weighs 2500 pounds, and has a maximum speed of 90 miles per hour. Find the approximate unit loading and area. The load- ing becomes : w = 0.065 V — 0.25 = (0.065 x 90) — 0.25 = 5.6 pounds per square foot. The approximate area will be: 2500/5.60 = 446 square feet. If the above machine had a speed of 110 miles per hour, the formula would be changed for the high-speed type machine, and the loading would become : w = 0.065V — 0.15 = (0.065 x 110) — 0.15 = 7.00 pounds per square foot. The required area will be : 2500/7.0 = 372 square feet. When the unit load is ap- proximately determined in this way it is a very simple matter to choose the wing section from Ky = w/V'. Area From Live Load and Speed. By a combination of empirical formula we can approximate the area di- rectly. For the average size machine, w^ 0.065V — 0.25. And the total weight W = U/0.32 where U is the useful or live load. Since A = W/w, then A = U/0.65 V — 0.25) x 0.32 = U/0.021 V — 0.08. Thus if an aeroplane travels at 90 miles per hour and has carried a useful load of 800 pounds (including gas and oil), the approximate area is: A^U/0.021V = 0.08 = 800/ (0.021 X 90) — 0.08 = 442 square feet. This as- sumes that the useful load is 0.32 of the total load and that the speed is less than 100 miles per hour. CHAPTER XV. BALANCE AND STABILITY. Elements of Stability. When we balance a board on a fulcrum so that it stands in a perfectly horizontal posi- tion, the board is said to be "In equilibrium," or is sup- ported at its "Center of gravity." There is only one point at which a body will balance, and this point is at the center of gravity or "C. G." In an aeroplane, the combined mass of the body, motor, wings, fuel, chassis, tail and live load has a center of gravity or a balancing point at which the lift must be applied if the machine is to rest in equilibrium. When the center of Hft (or center of pressure) does not pass through the center of gravity of the aeroplane, some other force must be ap- plied to overcome the unbalanced condition. When the machine is unbalanced in a fore and aft direction with the tail low, a force must be applied by the elevator flaps that is opposite and equal to the moment of the un- balanced forces. An aeroplane is stable when it is bal- anced in such a way that it returns to a state of equilibrium after meeting with a disturbance. When disturbed, a stable body does not usually return instantly to its position of equilibrium, but reaches it after a series of decreasing oscillations. The heavier the body, and the more compact its form, the longer will it oscillate about its fulcrum before coming to rest. By arranging broad surfaces at the ends of the oscillating body, a portion of the energy will be expended in cre- ating air currents, and the motion will be readily "damped out." If the damping effect is so great that the 311 312 STABILITY body does not swing back after once reaching the posi- tion of equilibrium, the body is said to be "dead beat," or "dynamically stable." There is a great difference between the static forces that tend to return the body to a position of equilibrium and the dynamic retarding forces that tend to damp out the oscillations. Usually, a body with excessive static stability is far from being stable in a true sense, since such a body tends to oscillate longer, and more violently, than one in which the static restoring forces are not so strongly marked. A body may be statically but not dynamically stable, but a dynamically stable body must of necessity be statically stable. Static stability in calm air is determined by the loca- tion of the center of gravity, the center of lift, the center of propeller thrust, the center of area of the surfaces, and the center of the forward resistance. The forces act- ing through these centers are: (1) The weight; (2) The lifting force; (3) The propeller thrust; (4) The resist- ance. The weight and lift are vertical forces equal and opposite in direction. The thrust and resistance are hori- zontal forces, also equal and opposite in direction. When all of these forces intersect at a common point, they will completely neutralize one another and the body will be in equilibrium. Dynamic stability is attained by the use of large damp- ing surfaces such as the stabilizer surface, fins, and the elevator. These act to kill the oscillations. set up by the static righting couples or forces. Without suitable damp- ing surfaces the machine would soon be out of control in gusty weather since successive wind gusts will act to in- crease the oscillations of the righting forces until the machine will turn completely over. On the other hand, an aeroplane can be too stable and therefore difficult to steer or control in gusts because of its tendency toward changing its attitude with every gust in order to restore STABILITY 313 its equilibrium. A machine should only be partially stable, and the majority of pilots are firmly set against any form of mechanical or inherent control. No matter how simple the method, mechanical control always in- troduces a certain amount of mechanism that may go wrong. The question of stabihty has already been solved to a sufficient extent. A disturbance that simply changes the direction of travel is not considered an unstable force since it normal- ly does not tend to endanger the machine. Nearly any machine, equipped with any possible form of control apparatus, tends to change its direction when being righted. Axes of Stability. An aeroplane has six degrees of freedom or motion. Three are of translation or straight line motion, and three are of rotation about rectangular axes. It can travel forward in a straight line, rise and fall in a vertical plane, or skid sidewise. When it rolls from side to side about the fore and aft axis (X axis) it is laterally unstable. When pitching up and down in a fore and aft direction, and around an axis parallel with the length of the wings (Y axis), the machine is said to be longitudinally unstable. When swinging or "Yaw- ing" from right to left about a vertical axis (Z axis) it is unstable in "Yaw." Rolling is resisted by the ailerons, pitching by the ele- vators and stabilizer, and yawing by the vertical direc- tional rudder. Lateral oscillation are damped out by the wing surfaces and by vertical surfaces or "Fins." Longi- tudinal oscillations are damped mostly by the stabilizer and elevator surfaces. Directional or yawing vibrations are corrected by the damping action of the vertical tail fin, vertical rudder and the sides of the body, the latter also serving to damp out longitudinal vibrations. On an absolutely calm day, the pilot can shut oft the motor and glide down without touching the controls if the 314 STABILITY machine is longitudinally stable. The glide generally starts with a few pitching oscillations, but these grad- ually are damped out by the tail as soon as the machine picks up its natural gliding angle and speed, and from this point it will continue without oscillating. The Spiral and Nose Dive. There are two forms of instability that have not yet been fully corrected, and both are highly dangerous. One of these is known as the "spiral dive" or nose spin, and the other as the straight nose dive. The aeroplane in a spiral nose dive rotates rapidly about a vertical axis during the dive. Spiral instability resulting from lateral instability, can be minimized by decreasing the area of the vertical rud- der and by the proper placing of fins so that there is not so great an excess of vertical area to the rear of the C. G. The covered-in body acts as a fin and will be pro- ductive of spiral instability if the area is not properly distributed. In the majority of cases the rear of the body is equivalent to a large fin placed to the rear of the C. G. A fin above the G. G. tends to reduce all spiralling. Stability and Speed. An aeroplane in straight hori- zontal flight must be driven at such an angle, and such a speed, that the weight is just sustained. To be inherently stable the machine must always tend to increase its speed by diving should the power be cut off in any way. An aeroplane that does not tend to increase its speed in this way, "Stalls" or becomes out of control. Any machine that will automatically pick up its gliding angle after the propeller thrust has ceased is at least partially inherently stable, and if it does not possess this degree of stability, other forms of stability are practically worthless. The machine having the smallest, flattest gliding angle is nat- urally safest in cases of power failure, and hence the glid- ing angle is somewhat related to the subject of stability. The longitudinal stability decreases with a decrease in the speed, the fore and aft vibrations becoming more STABILITY 315 rapid due to the decreased effect of the tail surfaces, and to the reduction of wing Hft. InstabiHty at low speeds is common to all aeroplanes, whether inherently stable or not, and at a certain critical speed the machine becomes absolutely unstable in a dynamic sense. If a machine is to be stable at low speeds, it must not fly at too great A Spanish Aeroplane Using a Peculiar Form of Upper Fin. These Fins Also Perform the Duty of Vertical Rudders as Well as Acting as Stabilizers. an angle of incidence at these speeds, and it should have a very large tail surface acting at a considerable distance from the wings. Hunsaker states that the lowest speed should not require more than 80 per cent of the total lift possible. Inertia or Flywheel EfiFect. The principal weights should be concentrated as nearly as possible at the center of gravity. Weights placed at extreme outer positions. 316 STABILITY as at the wing tips, or far ahead of the wings, tend to maintain oscillations by virtue of their flywheel effect. ) The measure of this inertia or flywheelage is known as ! the "Moment of Inertia" and is the sum of the products of all the masses by the squares of their distances from the center of gravity. A great amount of inertia must be met by a large damping surface or control area if the vibrations are to be damped out in a given time. In twin- motored aeroplanes the motors should be kept as close to the body as the propellers will permit. Wind Gusts and Speed. A machine flying at high speed is less affected by wind gusts or variations in den- sity than a slow machine, since the disturbing currents are a smaller percentage of the total speed. In addition, a high speed results in smaller stresses due to the gusts. Gyroscopic Instability. The motor gyroscopic forces do not affect the stability of a machine to any great ex- tent, and in twin motored aeroplanes the gyroscopic ac- tion of the propellers is almost entirely neutralized. At one time the gyroscopic torque was blamed for every form of instability, but on investigation it was found that the practical effect was negligible. Instability Due Power Plant. The power plant affects stability in a number of ways. The thrust of the pro- peller may cause a fore and aft moment if the center line of thrust does not pass through the center of resistance. This causes the machine to be held head up, or head down, according to whether the line of thrust is below or above the C. G. If the propeller thrust tends to hold the head up in normal flight, the machine will tend to dive, and assume its normal gliding velocity with the power off, hence this is a condition of stability. With the effect of the thrust neutral, or with the thrust passing through the center of resistance, the machine will not tend to maintain the speed, and hence it is likely to stall unless immediately corrected by the pilot. With the line STABILITY 317 of thrust above the C. G., the stall effect is still further increased since with this arrangement there is a very decided tendency for the machine to nose up and increase the angle of incidence when the power is cut oft*. The slip stream of the propeller has a very decided effect on the tail surfaces, these being much more effec- I tive when the propeller slip stream passes over them. Steel Elevator and Rudder Construction Used on a European Machine. The Elevators Also Act as Stabilizers, the Entire Surface Turning About the Tube Spar. With lifting tails, or tails that normally carry a part of the load, the stoppage of the slip stream decreases the lift of the tail and consequently tends to stall the machine. Non-lifting tails should be arranged so that the slip stream strikes down on the upper surface. This' tends to force the tail down, and the head up in normal; flight, and when the power ceases the tail will be re-l lieved and there will be an automatic tendency toward] diving and increase in speed. On a twin aeroplane, a 318 STABILITY similar effect is obtained by making the upper tips of both propellers turn inwardly. The air is thus thrown down on the tail. With a single motor, the "Torque tends to turn the aeroplane in a direction opposite to the rotation of the propeller. Lateral stability is thus interfered with when the motor is cut off or reduced in speed. With right- hand propeller rotation, for example, the machine will be turned toward the left, forcing the left tip down. To maintain a horizontal attitude, the left aileron must be held down by an amount just sufficient to overcome the torque. In some machines one wing tip is given a perma- nent increase in incidence so that the down seeking tip is given permanent additional lift. Lateral Stability. WTien an aeroplane is turned sharp- ly in a horizontal plane, or *'Yaws," the outer and faster moving wing tip receives the greater lift, and a lateral rolling moment is produced about the fore and aft axis. In the opposite condition, a lateral rolling moment tends to yaw or to throw the aeroplane off a straight course. Below a certain critical speed, the lateral or rolling oscil- lations increase in amplitude, with a strong tendency to side slip, skid or spiral. The tail fin or rudder retards the tail velocity in a side slip, and thus turns the slipping or skidding machine into a vertical spiral or spinning nose dive. This spin increases the angle of bank and hence the side slip. This in turn increases the turning or yawing velocity, and the spiral starts. This tendency toward a spiral dive can be corrected by a vertical fin placed forward, and above the center of gravity, or by raising the wing tips. An upper fin of this type will give a force that tends to break up the bank when side slip starts and thus will prevent spinning. At normal speeds the rolling is damped down by the wing surfaces, and can be further controlled by the ap- plication of the ailerons. At the lower critical speed STABILITY 319 ?^ OJ aj x-2 2 Bw5 "on «j a ^:^ ■ail o S --> 320 STABILITY when the machine is stalled, one wing tip has no more lift than the other, and hence the damping effect of the wings and the action of the ailerons becomes negligible. Dutch Roll. In "Dutch Roll," the rolling is ac- companied by an alternate yawing from right to left. This is aggravated by a fin placed high above the C. G., and hence corrections for spiral dive conflict with correc- tions for Dutch roll. The rolling is accompanied by some side slip, and the motion is stable providing that there is sufficient fin in the rear and not an excessive amount above the C. G. Degree of Stability. Excessive stability is dangerous unless the control surfaces are powerful enough to over- come the stable tendency. Since a stable machine always seeks to face the relative wind, it becomes difficult to handle in gusty weather, as it is continually changing its course to meet periodic disturbances. This is aggravated by a high degree of static stability, and may be positively dangerous when landing in windy weather. Control Surfaces. A non-lifting tail must give no lift when at a zero angle of incidence. It must be sym- metrical in section so that equal values of lift are given by equal positive and negative angles of incidence. Square edged, flat surfaces are not desirable because of their great resistance. A double cambered surface is suitable for such controls as the stabilizer, elevator and rudder. It has a low resistance, permits of strong in- ternal spars, and is symmetrical about the line of the chord. Some tails are provided with a cambered top and a flat bottom surface so that the down wash of the wings is neutralized. Under ordinary conditions this would be an unsymmetrical lifting surface, but when properly adapted to the wings the lifting effect is completely neutralized by the down v^ash. The curvature of the section should be such that the movement of the center of pressure is as small as possi- STABILITY 321 ble. With a small movement of the center of pressure, the surface can be accurately balanced and hinged on the center of pressure line. It is desirable to have the maximum thickness of section at, or near to the C. P., so that a deep spar can be used for the support of the hinge system. Usually the movement of the control sur- faces is limited to an angle of 30 degrees on either side of the center line, as the lift of all surfaces start to de- crease after this point is reached. The surface move- ment should be limited by the maximum lift angle of the section in any case, since an accident will be bound to occur if they are allowed movement beyond the angle of maximum lift. In locating the control surfaces, careful attention should be paid to the surrounding air conditions so that they will not be unduly affected by the wash-down of the wings or body. The effectiveness of the tail surfaces is very much reduced by bringing them close to the wings, and the lift is always reduced by the wash of a covered fuselage. The wash-down effect of the wings on the tail is pro- portional to the chord and not to the span, and for this reason an increase in span does not always necessitate an increase in the length of the body. An adequate damp- ing effect requires a large surface at the end of a long lever arm. Balancing the Aeroplane. Figs. 1 to 6 show the prin- ciples involved in the balancing of the aeroplane. In Fig. 1 a number of weights r-2'-3' and 5M are supported on a beam, the load being balanced on the fulcrum point M. The load 2' being directly over the fulcrum, has no influence on the balance, but load V at the left tends to turn the mass in a left-hand direction, while 3' and 5M tend to give it a right-hand rotation. This turning tendency depends upon the weights of the bodies and their distance from the fulcrum. The turning tendency or 322 STABILITY "Moment" is measured by the product of the weight and the distance from the fulcrum. If weight V should be 10 pounds, and its distance A' from the fulcrum should be 20 inches, then it would cause a left-hand moment of 10x20^200 inch pounds. If the system is to be in balance, then the left-hand moment of V should be equal to the sum of the moments of 3' and 5M. Thus: 1' x A = (3'xB) + (SMxC). The application of this principle as applied to a mono- plane is shown by Fig. 4, in which X-X is the center of Figs. 1-6. Methods of Balancing an Aeroplane About Center of Lift. pressure or lift. The center of lift corresponds to the fulcrum in Fig. 1, and the weights of the aeroplane masses and their distance from the center of lift are shown by the same letter as in Fig. 1. The engine V is at the right of the C. P. by the distance A, while the fuel tank 2 is placed on the C. P. in the same way that the weight 2' in Fig. 1 is placed directly over the fulcrum. By placing the tank in this position, the balance is not affected by the emptying of the fuel since it exerts no moment. The chassis G acting through the distance E is in the same direction as the engine load. The body 5 with its center of gravity at M acts through the distance C, while the weight of the pilot 3 exerts a right-hand moment with the lever arm length B. If the moments STABILITY 323 of all these weights are not in equilibrium, an additional force must be exerted by the tail V. Fig. 2 shows an additional weight 4' that corresponds to the weight of the passenger 4 in Fig. 5. This tends to increase the right turning moment unless the fulcrum is moved toward the new load. In Fig. 2 the fulcrum M remains at the same point as in Fig. 1, hence the system requires a new force P' acting up at the end of the beam. If ihe load was in equilibrium before the addition of 4', then the force P' must be such that P'xT' = 4'xD'. In the equivalent Fig. 5, the center of gravity has moved from its former position at S to the new position at R, the extent of the motion being indicated by U. To hold this in equilibrium, an upward force P must be exerted by the elevator at Y, the lever arm being equal to (T + U). Fig. 6 shows the single-seater, but under a new condi- tion, the center of pressure having moved back from X-X to Z. To hold the aeroplane in equilibrium, a down- ward force must be provided by the tail V which will cause a right-hand moment equal to the product of the entire weight and the distance U. For every shift in the center of pressure, there must be a corresponding moment provided by the elevator surface. The condition is shown by the simple loaded beam of Fig. 3. In this case the fulcrum has been moved from M to N, a distance equal to the center of pressure movement in Fig. 6. This requires a downward force P' to maintain equilibrium. Center of Pressure Calculation. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the method of calculating the center of gravity. The reference line R is shown below the elevators and is drawn parallel to the center of pressure line W-W, the latter line being assumed to pass through the center of gravity. The line R may be located at any convenient point, as at the propeller flange or elsewhere, but for clearness in illustration it is located to the rear of the 324 STABILITY aeroplane. The weight of each item is multiplied by the distance of its center of gravity from the line R, these products are added, and the sum is then divided by the total weight of the machine. The result of this division gives the distance of the center of gravity from the line R. Thus, if the center of gravity of the body (11) is located at (10), then the product of the body weight mul- tiplied by the distance B will give the moment of the body about the line R. The weight of the motor (2) mul- tiplied by the distance F gives the moment of the motor about R, and so on through the list of items. CENTER OF GRAVITY TABLE. Mark Name of Weight of Distance from Product No. Item Item Line R-R 1 Propeller 10 lbs. G ^ 230" 2,300 2 Motor and Radiator.. . 400 lbs. F=190" 76,000 4-6 Wing Surfaces 200 lbs. E=180" 36,000 5 Chassis 75 lbs. 190" 14,250 8 Pilot and Seat 170 lbs. C=150" 25,800 9 Fuel Tank 120 lbs. D=170" 20,400 1 1 Fuselage 300 lbs. B -= 140" 42,000 12 Stabilizer 40 lbs. A = 50" 2,000 15 Horizontal Rudder... 10 lbs. K= 20" 200 16 Elevator 20 lbs. K = 20" 400 Totals 1,375 219,350 Total Product The distance of the center of gravity (or center of pressure) from the reference line R is given by H + K. This gives the numerical value 219350/1375=159.6 inches. Thus if we measure 159.6 inches from R toward the wings we will have located the center of gravity. The location of the C. G. can be changed by shifting the weights of the motor, passenger, or other easily moved items. In any case, the C. G. should lie near the center of pressure. Tail Lever Arms. The effective damping moment exerted by the fixed stabilizer surface (12) will be the product of its area by the distance (I), measured from the center of pressure of the wing to the center of pressure of the stabilizer. The lever arm of the elevator STABILITY 325 is the distance (H) measured from the centers of pressure as before. Resultant Forces and Moments in Flight. The aero- plane is in equilibrium when all of the forces pass through a common center, as shown by Fig. 8. In this figure the lift (L), the weight (W), the line of propeller thrust (T), and the resistance (R) all pass through the center of .^ u u. o Fig. 7. Method of Determining the Center of Gravity of an Aeroplane. gravity shown by the black dot C. G. There are no moments and hence no correction is needed from the ele- vator (T). In Fig. 9, the thrust and resistance pass through the center of gravity as before, but the center of lift (L) does not pass through the center of gravity, the distance betwen the two being indicated by (n). This causes a moment, the length of the lever arm (n) being effective in giving a right-hand rotation to the body. If 326 STABILITY horizontal flight is to be had this must be resisted by the upward elevator force (E). In Fig. 10, the lift passes through the center of gravity, but the line of resistance lies below it by the amount (m). The thrust (T) tends to rotate the machine in a left- handed direction. The elevator must exert a downward force (e) to resist the moment caused by (m). This is a bad disposition of forces, as the machine would tend to stall or tail-dive should the propeller thrust cease for even an instant. The stability of Figs. 8 and 9 would not be affected by the propeller thrust, as it passes through the C. G. in both cases. In Fig. 11, the center line of thrust is below the line of resistance (R), so that the thrust tends to hold the nose up. Should the motor fail in this case, the nose would drop and the machine would start on its gliding angle and pick up speed. In Fig. 12 none of the forces intersect at a common point, the lift and weight forming a right-handed couple, while the thrust (T) and the resistance (R) form a left- handed couple that opposes the couple set up by the weight and lift forces. If the thrust-resistance couple can be made equal to the lift-weight couple, the aero- plane will be in equilibrium and will need no assistance from the elevator. As the weights in the aeroplane are all located at different heights, it is necessary to obtain the center of gravity of all the loads in a vertical plane as well as horizontally. Thus in Fig. 13 the line C. G. is the center of gravity of the engine weight (1), the wing weight (2), the pilot's weight (3), the chassis weight (4), the fuselage weight (5), and the fuel tank weight (6). The Hne C. G. is the effective center of all these loads, and is calculated by taking the products of the weights by the distance from a reference line such as R-R. The center of resistance is the effective center of all the resistance producing items such as the wings, body, struts, chassis, etc. STABILITY 327 A suggestion of the method employed in obtaining the center of resistance is shown by Fig. 14, the center line of resistance R-R being the resultant of the wing resist- ance (D), the body resistance (B), and the chassis re- sistance (C). It will be noted that the wing resistance Figs. 8-15. Forces Affecting the Longitudinal Stability of an Aeroplane. of biplane wings (W-W) does not lay midway between the wings but rather closer to the upper wing, as shown by (E). This is due to the upper wing performing the greater part of the lift. In locating the center of resist- ance, the resistance forces are treated exactly like the weights in the C. G. determination. Each force is mul- tiplied by its distance from a horizontal reference line, 328 STABILITY and the sum of the products is divided by the total resistance. As shown, the center of resistance R-R passes through the center of gravity C. G. The center of pressure Hne X-X also contains the center of resistance. A staggered biplane cell is shown by Fig. 15, the cen- ter of pressure of the upper and lower wings being con- nected by the line X-X as before. The center of resist- ance of the pair is shown at (D), where it is closer to the upper wing than to the lower. A vertical line Y-Y dropped through the center of resistance gives the loca- tion of the center of lift. As shown, the center of lift is brought forward by the stagger until it is a distance (g) in front of the leading edge of the lower wing. The cen- ter of lift and the center of resistance both lie on a line connecting the center of pressure of the upper and lower wings. Calculation of Control Surfaces. It is almost impossi- ble to give a hard and fast rule for the calculation of the control surfaces. The area of the ailerons and tail sur- faces depends upon the degree of stability of the main wings, upon the moment of inertia of the complete machine, and upon the turning moments. If the wings are swept back or set with a stagger-decalage arrange- ment, they will require less tail than an orthogonal cell. All of these quantities have to be worked out differently for every individual case. Aileron Caculations. The ailerons may be used only on the upper wing (2 ailerons), or they may be used on both the upper and lower wings. When only two are used on the upper wing it is usually the practice to have considerable overhang. When the wings are of equal length either two or four ailerons may be used. Roughly, the ailerons are about one-quarter of the wing span in length. With a long span, a given aileron area will be more effective because of its greater lever arm. If a = area of ailerons, and A = total wing area in STABILITY 329 square feet, with S = wing span in feet, the aileron area becomes: a = 3.2A/S. It should be borne in mind that this appHes only to an aeroplane having two ailerons on the upper wing, since a four-aileron type usually has about 50 per cent more aileron area for the same wing area and wing span. For, example, let the wing span be 40 feet and the area of the wings be 440 square feet, then the aileron area will be: a = 3.2A/S = 3.2 x 440/40 = 35.2 square feet. If four ailerons were employed, two on the upper and two on the lower wing, the area would be increased to 1.5 x 35.2 = 52.8 square feet. As an example in the sizes of ailerons, the following table will be of interest: AILERON SIZES. Name of Year Wing Wing No. of Area of Total Length Machine Tvpe Span Area Ailers 1 Ai'er Area Ailer L.W.F. (Amer.) 1916 46'6" 490 2 19.0 38 10'3" 38'8" Eastern (Amer.) 1916 42'0" 420 2 23.0 46.0 lO'O" 39'0" Mavo (Amer.) 1915 38'0" 375 4 16.0 64.0 S'O" 38'0" London-Prov 1916 37'0" 350 4 13.5 54.0 S'O" 37'0" Albatros (Ger.) 1915 43'3" 458 2 16.2 32.4 9'3" 37'3" Standard (Amer.) 1916 40'1" 520 4 15.5 62.0 8'4" H-3 40'1" Nieuport (Scout) 1916 24'6" 145 2 7.0 14.0 5'9" 23'0" Curtiss (Baby) 1916 20'0" 155 2 7.0 14.0 4'9" 18'0" In cases where the upper and lower spans are not equal, take the average span — that is, one-half the sum of the two spans. Stabilizer and Elevator Calculations. These surfaces should properly be calculated from the values of the upsetting couples and moments of inertia, but a rough rule can be given that will approximate the area. If a' = combined area of stabilizer and elevator in square feet; L = distance from C. P. of wings to the C. P. of tail sur- face ; A = Area of wings in square feet, and C = chord of wings in feet, then, a' = 0.51AC/L. Assuming our area as 430 square feet, 330 STABILITY the chord as 5.7 feet, and the lever arm as 20 feet, then, a' = 0.51AC/L = 0.51 x 430 x 5.7/20 = 62.5 square feet, the combined area of the elevators and stabilizer. The relation betwen the elevator and stabilizer areas is not a fixed quantity, but machines having a stabilizer about 20 per cent greater than the elevator give good results. In the example just given, the elevator area will be: 62.5/2.2:^28.41 square feet, where 2.2 is the constant obtained from the ratio of sizes. The area of the stabilizer is obtained from: 28.41x1.2 = 34.1 square feet. Negative Stabilizers. A considerable amount of in- herent longitudinal stability is obtained by placing the stabilizing surface at a slight negative angle with the wings. This angle generally varies from — 2° to — 6°. At small angles of wing incidence the negative angle of the tail will be at a maximum, and acting down will oppose further diving and tend to head the machine up. At large wing angles, the tail will be depressed so far that the tail angle will become positive instead of nega- tive, and thus the lift on the tail will oppose the wings and will force the machine to a smaller angle of incidence. The negative angle can thus be adjusted to give longi- tudinal stability within the ordinary range of flight angles. Stabilizer Shapes and Aspect Ratio. Stabilizers have been built in a great number of different shapes, semi- circular, triangular, elliptical, and of rectangular wing form. Measured at the rear hinged joint, the span or width of the stabiHzer is about 1/3 the wing span for speed scouts, and about 1/4 the wing span for the larger machines. Nearly all modern machines have non-lifting tails, or tails so modified that they are nearly non-lifting. Since flat plates give the greatest lift with a small aspect ratio, and hence are most effective when running over the ground at low speeds, the stabilizers and elevators STABILITY 331 are of comparatively low aspect. In general, an aspect ratio of 3 is a good value for the stabilizer. Vertical rud- ders generally have an aspect ratio of 1, and hence are even more effective per unit area than the stabilizers. This is particularly necessary in ground running. Vertical Rudders. The calculation of the vertical rudders must take the moment of inertia and yawing Stick Control Used on the Caudron Biplane. Wing Warp Is Used Instead of Ailerons. Back and Forth Movement Actuates Elevator. moments into effect, and this is rather a complicated calculation for the beginner. As an approximation, the area of the rudder can be taken from 9 to 12 square feet for machines of about 40 feet span, and from 5 to 8 square feet for speed scouts. Wing Stability. Under wing sections, the subject of the center of pressure movement has already been dealt with. The variation of the center of pressure with the angle 332 STABILITY of incidence tends to destroy longitudinal stability since the center of pressure does not at all times pass through the center of gravity. On some wings, the camber is such that the variation in the position of the center of German Stick Control With Double Grips. A Latch on the Side of the Stick Acts on a Sector So That the Lever Can Be Held at Any Point. It Is Released by the Pressure of the Knees. pressure is very little, and hence these are known as stable wings. A reflex curve in the trailing edge of a wing reduces the center of pressure movement, and swept back wings are also used as an aid in securing longitudinal stability. Introducing stagger and decalage into a biplane STABILITY 333 pair can be made to produce almost perfect static longi- tudinal stability. It should be noted that stability ob- tained by wing and camber arrangements is static only, and requires damping surfaces to obtain dynamic stability. Manual Controls. In flight, the aviator has three con- trol surfaces to operate, the ailerons, elevator, and rudder. In the usual form of machine the ailerons and elevator are operated by a single lever or control column, while the rudder is connected with a foot bar. In the smaller machines "Stick Control" is generally used, the ailerons Form of Control Used on the Nieuport Monoplane. and elevator being moved through a simple lever or "Joy Stick" which is pivoted at its lower end to the floor. The Deperdussin or *'Dep" control is standard with the larger machines and consists of an inverted **U" form yoke on which is mounted the wheel for operating the ailerons. Stick Control. With the stick pivoted at the bottom, a forward movement of the lever causes the machine to descend while a backward movement or pull toward the pilot causes the aeroplane to head up or ascend. The stick is connected with the elevators with crossed wires, so that 334 STABILITY the flaps move in an opposite direction to the "Stick." Moving the stick from side to side operates the ailerons. Deperdussin Control. A "U" shaped yoke, either of bent wood or steel tube, is pivoted the bearers at the sides of the fuselage. Wires are attached to the bottom of the yoke so that its back and forth movement is com- municated to the elevator flaps. On the top, and in the -*^ left s/de Righf- s'id€ of machine of tvach/nc Standard "Dep" Control and Movements Used in the U. S. A. ■^^ sr/c/c Lcff tide RighfSidt of machim of machine down down Standard Stick Control and Movements Used in the U. S. A. center of the yoke, is pivoted a hand wheel of the auto- mobile steering type. This is provided with a pulley and is connected with the aileron flaps in such a way that turning the wheel toward the high wing tip causes it to descend. Pushing the yoke forward and away from the aviator causes the machine to descend, while a reverse movement raises the nose. The "Dep" control is reliable STABILITY 335 and powerful but is bulky and heavy, and requires a wide body in order to allow room for the pilot. Rudder Control. Foot bar control for the rudder is standard with both the stick and Dep controls. The foot Foot Rudder Bar Used in the Standard H-3. Courtesy "Aerial Age." bar is connected with the rudder in such a way that the aeroplane turns opposite to the movement of the foot bar in the manner of a boat. That is, pushing the right end of the bar forward causes the machine to turn toward the right. CHAPTER XVI. HEAD RESISTANCE CALCULATIONS. Effect of Resistance. Resistance to the forward mo- tion of an aeroplane can be divided into two classes, (1) The resistance or drag due to the lift of the wings, and (2) The useless or "Parasitic" resistance due to the body, chassis and other structural parts of the machine. The total resistance is the sum of the wing drag and the parasitic resistance. Since every pound of resistance calls for a definite amount of power, it is of the greatest importance to re- duce this loss to the lowest possible amount. The adop- tion of an efficient wing section means little if there is a high resistance body and a tangle of useless struts and wires exposed to the air stream. The resistance has a much greater effect on the power than the weight. Weight and Resistance. We have seen that the aver- age modern wing section will lift about 16 times the value of the horizontal drag, that is, an addition of 16 pounds will be equal to 1 pound of head resistance. If, by unnecessary resistance, we should increase the drag by 10 pounds, we might as well gain the benefit of 10 x 16=160 pounds of useful load. The higher the lift- drag efficiency of the wing, the greater will be the pro- portional loss by parasitic resistance. Gliding Angle. The gliding angle, or the inclination of the path of descent when the machine is operating without power, is determined by the weight and the total head resistance. With a constant weight the angle is greatest when the resistance is highest. Aside from considera- 337 I / 338 HEAD RESISTANCE tions of power, the gliding angle is of the greatest impor- tance from the standpoint of safety. The less the resist- ance, and the flatter the angle of descent, the greater the landing radius. Numerically this angle can be expressed by: Glide = W/R, where W = the weight of the aeroplane, and R = total resistance. Thus if the weight is 2500 pounds and the head resistance is 500 pounds, the rate of glide will be: 2500/500^=5. This means that the machine will travel forward 5 feet for every foot that it falls ver- tically. If the resistance could be decreased to 100 pounds, the rate of glide would be extended to 2500/100 = 25, or the aeroplane would travel 25 feet horizontally for every foot of descent. This will give an idea as to the value of low resistance. Resistance and Speed. The parasitic resistance of a body in uniform air varies as the square of the velocity at I I ordinary flight speeds. Comparing speeds of 40 and 100 [ miles per hour, the ratio will be as 40- is to 100^= 1600: I 10,000^6.25, that is, the resistance at 100 miles per hour Awill be 6.25 times as great as at 40 miles per hour. The above remarks apply only to bodies making con- stant angle with the air stream. Wings and lifting sur- faces make varying angles at different speeds and hence do not show the same rate of increase. In carrying a constant load, the angle of the aeroplane wing is decreased as the speed increases and up to a certain point the resistance actually decreases with an increase in the speed. The wing resistance is greatest at extremely low speeds and at very high speeds. As the total resistance is made up of the sum of the wing and parasitic resistance at the different speeds, it does not vary according to any fixed law. The only true knowledge of the conditions existing through the range of flight speeds is obtained by drawing a curve in which the sums of the drag and head resistance are taken at intervals. HEAD RESISTANCE 339 Resistance and Power. The power consumed in over- coming parasitic resistance increases at a higher rate than the resistance, or as the cube of the speed. Thus if the speed is increased from 40 to 100 miles per hour, the power will be increased 15.63 times. This can be shown by the following: Let V ^ velocity in miles per hour, H = Horsepower, K = Resistance coefficient of a body, A = Total area of presentation, and R = resistance in pounds. Then H = RV/375. Since R = KAV^ then H = KAV^ x V/375 = KAVV375. Resistance and Altitude. The resistance decreases with a reduction in the density of the air at constant speed. In practice, the resistance of an aeroplane is not in direct proportion to a decrease in the density as the speed must be increased at high altitudes in order to obtain the lift. The following example given by Capt. Green will show the actual relations. Taking an altitude of 10,000 feet above sea level where the density is 0.74 of that at sea level, the resistance at equal speeds will be practically in proportion to the densi- ties. In order to gain sustentation at the higher altitude, the speed must be increased, and hence the true resistance will be far from that calculated by the relative densities. Assume a sea level speed of 100 ft. /sec, a weight of 3000 pounds, a lift-drag ratio of L/D ^ 15, and a body resist- ance of 40 pounds at sea level. Because of the change in density at 10,000 feet, the fly- ing speed will be increased from 100 feet per second to 350 feet per second in order to obtain sustentation. With sea level density this increase in speed (3.5 times) would increase the body resistance 3.5 x 3.5 = 12.25 times, mak- ing the total resistance 12.25x40 = 490 pounds. Since the density at the higher altitude is only 0.74 of that at sea level, this will be reduced by 0.26, or 0.26 x 490 = 364 pounds. Thus, the final practical result is that the sea level resistance of the body (40 pounds) is increased 340 HEAD RESISTANCE 9.1 times because of the speed increase necessary for sustentation. Since the wing angle and hence the lift- drag ratio would remain constant under both condi- tions, the wing drag would be constant at both altitudes, or 3000/15 = 200 pounds. The total sea level resistance at 100 feet per second is 200 -|- 40 = 240 pounds, while the total resistance at 10,000 feet becomes 364 + 200 = 564 pounds. The speed varies as the square root of the change in density percentage. If V = velocity at sea level, v = velocity at a higher level, and d = percentage of the sea V level density at the higher altitude, then v = — . When Vd the velocity at the high altitude is thus determined, the resistance can be easily obtained by the method given in Capt. Green's article. The following table gives the percentage of densities referred to sea level density. Altitude Density Altitude Density Feet Percent Feet Percent Sea-level 1.00 7,500 0.78 1,000 .97 10,000 .74 2,000 .95 12,500 .66 3,000 .91 15,000 .61 5,000 .85 20,000 .52 If the velocity at sea level is 100 miles per hour, the velocity at 20,000 feet will be 100/0.72=139 miles per hour, where 0.72 is the square root of the density per- centage, or VO-52 = .72 at 20,000 feet. Total Parasitic Resistance. Aside from the drag of the wings, the resistance of the structural parts, body, tail and chassis depends upon the size and type of aeroplane. A speed scout has less resistance than a larger machine because of the small amount of exposed bracing, although the relative resistance of the body is much greater. The type of engine also has a great influence on the parasitic resistance. The following gives the approximate distribu- tion of a modern fighting aeroplane : HEAD RESISTANCE 3^1 Body 62 percent Landing gear 16 Tail, fin, rudder 7 " Struts, wires, etc 15 '* The body resistance is by far the greatest item. A great part of the body resistance can be attributed to the motor cooling system, since in either case it is diverted from the true streamline form in order to accommodate the radiator, or the rotary motor cowl. The body resist- ance is also influenced by the necessity of accommodating a given cargo or passenger-carrying capacity, and by the distance of the tail surfaces from the wings. A body is not a streamline form when its length greatly exceeds 6 diameters. Calculation of Total Resistance. The nearest approach that we can make to the actual head resistance by means of a formula is to adopt an expression in the form of R = KV- where K is a factor depending upon the size and type of machine. The true method would be to go over the planes and sum up the individual resistance of all the exposed parts. The parts lying in the propeller slip stream should be increased by the increased velocity of the slip stream. The parasitic resistance of biplanes weighing about 1800 pounds will average about, R = 0.036V^ where V = velocity in miles per hour. Biplanes averaging 2500 pounds give R^0.048V-. Machines of the training or 2-seater type weigh from 1800 to 2500 pounds, and have an average head resistance distribution as follows : Body, radiators, shields 35.5 percent. Tail surface and bracing 14.9 *' Landing gear 17.2 Interplane struts, wires and fittings 23.6 " Ailerons, aileron bracing, etc 8.8 " The averages in the above table differ greatly from the values given for the high speed fighting machine, prin- 342 HEAD RESISTANCE cipally because of the large control surfaces used in train- I ing machines, and the difference in the size of the motors. ' With the wing drag being equal to D = KxAV^ and the total parasitic resistance equal to R = KV^, the total resistance can be expressed by Rt = KxAV^ + KV-, where K == coefficient of parasitic resistance for different types and sizes of machines. The value of K for training machines will average 0.036, for machines weighing about 2500 pounds K = 0.048. Scouts and small machines will be safe at K = 0.028. The wing drag coefficient Kx varies w4th the angle of incidence and hence with the speed. For example, we will assume that the wing drag (Kx) of a scout biplane at 100 miles per hour is 0.00015, that the area is 200 square feet, and that the parasitic resistance coefficient is K = 0.028. The total resistance becomes: Rt = (0.00015 X 200 X 100 X 100) + 0.028 x 100 x 100 = 300 -\- 280 = 580 pounds. The formula in this case would be Rt=^KxAV2 + 0.028V^ ) Strut Resistance. The struts are of as nearly stream- line form as possible. In practice the resistance must be compromised with strength, and for this reason the struts having the least resistance are not always applicable to the practical aeroplane. From the best results published by the N. P. L. the resistance was about 12.8 pounds per 100 feet strut at 60 miles per hour. The width of the strut is 1 inch. A rectangular strut under the same conditions gave a resistance of 104.4 pounds per 100 feet. A safe value would be 25 pounds per 100 feet at 60 miles per hour. ! If a wider strut is used, the resistance must be increased in proportion. With a greater speed, the resistance must jbe increased in proportion to the squares of the velocity, j When the struts are inclined with the wind, the resistance jis much decreased, and this is one advantage of a heavy stagger in a biplane. The "Fineness ratio" or the ratio of the width to the depth of the section has a great effect on the resistance. HEAD RESISTANCE 343 With the depth equal to twice the width measured across the stream, a certain strut section gave a resistance of 24.8 pounds per 100 feet, while with a ratio of 3.5 the resistance was reduced to 11.4 pounds per hundred feet. Beyond this ratio the change is not as great, for with a ratio of 4.6 the resistance only dropped to 11.2 pounds. Radiator Resistance. For the exact calculation of the radiator resistance it is first necessary to know the motor power and the fuel consumption since the radiator area, and hence the resistance, depends upon the size of the motor and the amount of heat transmitted to the jacket water. An aeronautic motor may be considered to lose as much through the water jackets as is developed in use- ful power, so that on this basis we should allow about 1.6 square feet of radiation surface per horsepower. This figure is arrived at by J. C. Hunsaker and assumes that the wind speed is 50 miles per hour (73 feet per second). The most severe cooling condition is met with in climbing at low speed, and it is here assumed that 50 miles per hour will represent the lowest speed that would be maintained for any length of time with the motor full out. For a racing aeroplane that will not climb for any length of time, one-half of the surface given above will be sufiicient, and if the radiator is placed in the propeller sHp stream it can be made relatively still smaller as the increased pro- peller slip at rapid rates of climb partially offsets the additional heating. In the above calculations, Hunsaker does not take any particular type of radiator into consideration, merely assuming a smooth cooling surface. The Rome-Turney Company states that they allow 1.08 square feet of cooling surface per horsepower for honeycomb radiators, and 0.85 square feet for the helical tube type. The surface referred to means the actual suface measured all over the tubes- and cells, and does not refer to the front area nor the exterior dimensions of the radiator. While a radiator 344 HEAD RESISTANCE may be made 25 percent smaller when placed in the slip- stream, the resistance is increased by about 25 per cent, with a very small saving in weight, hence the total saving is small, if any. Side mounted radiators have a lower cooling effect per square foot than those placed in any other position, owing to the fact that the air must pass through a greater length of tube than where the broad side faces the wind. In the radiator section tested by Hunsaker, there were about 64 square feet of cooling surface per square foot of front face area, but for absolute assurance on this point one should determine the ratio for the particular type of radiator that is to be used. The Auto Radiator Manufac- turing Corporation, makers of the '*Flexo copper core radiators, have published some field tests made under practical conditions and for different types and methods of mounting. The four classes of radiators described are : (1) Front Type, in which the radiator is mounted in the end of the fuselage ; (2) Side Type, mounted on the sides of the body ; (3) Overhead Type, mounted above the fuselage and near the top plane ; (4) Over-Engine Type, placed above and connected directly to the motor, as in the Standard H-3. The following table gives the eft'ectiveness of the differ- ent mountings in terms of the frontal area required per horsepower and the cooling surface, the area being in square inches (Front face area of radiator). Area in wind of type (3) is half the calculated frontal area since one core lies behind the other: Taking the value of the Rome-Turney honeycomb radiator as 60 square feet of cooling surface per horse- power, the frontal area per horsepower will be 0.0169 square feet, assuming that the radiator is approximately 6 inches thick. This amounts to 2.43 square inches of frontal area per horsepower. Example. Find the approximate frontal area of a Rome- HEAD RESISTANCE 345 Turney type honeycomb radiator used with a motor giv- ing 100 brake-horsepower. Find Resistance at 50 miles per hour {73 feet per second). Class of Mounting Square Inches Per H.P. Cooling Surface Per H.P. Square Inch Front Type Side Type Overhead Type Over-Engine Type 4.00 7.20 2.70 5.00 117.00 104.00 112.00 121.00 Solution. Area = A =- 0.0169 HP = 0.0169 x 100 = 1.69 square feet. The honeycomb portion of surface for a square radiator of the above area will measure 16.2" x 16.2. Allowing a 1-inch water passage or frame all around the core, the side of the completed square radiator will meas- ure 16.2" -f 1" -f = 18.2". The diameter of a circular radiator core of the same 1.69x144 area will be 17.4 inches, since D = . Adding the 0.7854' water passage, the overall diameter becomes 17.4 -f- 1 -|- 1 = 19.4 inches. The round honeycomb front radiator used on the 100 horsepower Curtiss Baby Scout measures 20 inches. Hunaker found the resistance of a honeycomb radiator to be R:= 0.000814 AV-, there being 4 honeycomb cells per square inch. A = area of radiator in square feet, and V = velocity in feet per second. Adopting, for example, a speed of 73 feet per second, and an area equivalent to a 19.4-inch diameter circular radiator as above, the total resistance becomes : R = 0.000814 AV^ = 0.000814 x 3.1 x {73 x 73) = 13.32 pounds, at 50 M. P. H. where A = 3.1 square feet. Resistance of Chassis. Disc wheels (Enclosed spokes) have a resistance of about one-half that of open-wire wheels. The N. P. L. and Eiffel have agreed that the r 346 HEAD RESISTANCE resistance of a wheel approximating 26'' x 4" has a resist- ance of 1.7 pounds at 60 miles per hour (Disc type). For any other speed, the wheel resistance will be R=1.7 yV3600, where V = speed in miles per hour. We must also take into consideration the axle, chassis struts, wiring, / ^ shock absorbers, etc. The itemization of the chassis re- sistance, as given by the N. P. L. for the B. E.-2 biplane is as follows (60 miles per hour) : Wheels 2@1.75 pounds 3.5 pounds Axle 2.0 " Chassis struts and connections 1.1 " Total chassis resistance(g60 MPH .6.6 pounds At any other speed, the resistance for the complete chassis can be given by the formula R = 6.6VV3600. This allowance will be ample, as the B. E.-2 is an old type and is equipped with skids. Interplane Resistance. The interplane struts and wires are difficult to estimate by an approximate formula, the only exact way being to figure up each item separately from a preliminary drawing. The resistance varies with the form of the strut or wire section, the length, and the thickness. The fact that some of the struts lie in the pro- peller slipstream, and some outside of it, makes the calcu- lation doubly difficult. The only recourse that we have at present is to analyze the conditions on the B. E.-2. With struts approximating true streamline form, a great per- centage of the total resistance is skin friction, and as before explained, this item varies at a lesser rate than the square of the speed. According to a number of experiments on full size biplanes averaging 1900 pounds, it has been found that the interplane resistance (Struts, wires and fittings) amounts to about 24 per cent of the total parasitic head resistance HEAD RESISTANCE 347 of the entire machine, the drag of wings not being in- cluded. The maximum observed gave 29 per cent and the minimum 15 per cent. The resistance of the interplane bracing of speed scouts will be considerably less in pro- portion, as there are fewer exposed struts and cables on this type, the resistance probably averaging 15 per cent of the total head resistance. Based on these figures the re- INTERPLANE RESISTANCE OF BIPLANE B. E.-2 AT 60 M. P. H. Location of Items Length of Strut in Ft. Total Running Length Resistance in Lbs. Total Resist- ance of Group In translation stream. In translation stream. In translation stream. 8@6'0"=- 4@4'0"= 6@3'0"= 48'0" 16'0" 18'0" 4.20 1.40 1.60 In slipstream only... In slipstream only... Length 4@4'0"= 4@3'0"= = 82'0" 16'0" 12'0" 7.20 2.30 1.31 7.20 lbs. Length = 28'0" 3.61 3.61 lbs. sistance of the interplane bracing can be expressed by the following formula, in which I = resistance of interplane bracing in pounds, and V = translational speed in miles per hour: I = 0.009V' (For two-place biplanes weighing 1900 pounds). I ^ 0.0054V" (For biplane speed scouts or racing type biplanes). Strut Resistance. The above estimate includes wiring, strut fittings, etc., complete, and also takes the effect of the slipstream into consideration. A more accurate esti- mate can be made on the basis of strut length. To obtain this unit value we have recourse to the B. E.-2 tests. The translational speed in 60 miles per hour (88 feet per sec- ond) and the slipstream is taken at 25 feet per second. This gives a total velocity in the slipstream of 113 feet per second. The struts are \% inches wide, and vary in length from 3' — (y^ to 6' — 0". In the slipstream the increased 348 HEAD RESISTANCE velocity increases the resistance of the items by 64 per cent. Total running length =110' — 0''. Total resistance = 10.81 pounds. The resistance per foot = 10.81/110 = 0.099 pounds. Resistance of Wire and Cable. In this estimate we will take the resistance given in the B. E.-2 tests, since values are given in the slipstream as well as for the outer por- tions. In the translational stream there is 240' — 0" of cable, 70' = 0" of No. 12 solid wire, and 52 turnbuckles, the total giving a resistance of 38.10 pounds. In the slip- stream there is 50' — 0" of cable and 30' — 0" of solid wire with a resistance of 11.00 pounds. The total wire and cable resistance for the wings is therefore 49.10 pounds. The resistance of the wire and cable combined is 0.127 pounds per running foot. Summary of Interplane Resistance. The total inter- plane resistance includes the struts, wires, cables and turn- buckles, a portion of which are m the slipstream. Since the total head resistance of the entire machine (B. E.-2) is 140 pounds at 60 M. P. H., and the interplane resistance = 10.81 + 49.10= 59.91 pounds, the relation of the inter- plane resistance to the total resistance is 43 per cent. This is much higher than the average (24 per cent), but the B. E. — 2 is an old type of machine and the number of struts and wires were much greater than with modern aeroplanes. Control Surface Resistance. The resistance of the con- trol surfaces is a variable quantity, since so much depends upon the arrangement and form. Another variation oc- curring among machines of the same make and type is due to the various angles of the surfaces during flight, or at least during the time that they are used in correcting the attitude of the machine. With the elevator flaps or ailerons depressed to their fullest extent, the drag is many times that with the surfaces in ''neutral," and as a general HEAD RESISTANXE 349 thing the controls are depressed at the time when the power demand is the greatest — that is, on landing, flying slow, or in ''getting off." Ailerons ''in neutral" can be considered as being an integral part of the wings when they are hinged to the wing spar. In the older types of Curtiss machines the ailerons were hinged midway between the planes and the resistance was always in existence, whether the ailerons were in neutral or not. Wing warping, in general, can be assumed as in the case where the wings and ailerons are combined. With ailerons built into the wings, the re- sistance of the ailerons, and their wires and fittings, can be taken as being about 4 per cent of the total head resist- ance. With the aileron located between the two wings, the resistance may run as high as 20 per cent of the total. Like the ailerons, the elevator surfaces and rudder are variable in attitude and therefore give a varying resist- ance. In neutral attitude the complete tail, consisting of the rudder, stabilizer, elevator, fin and bracing, will aver- age about 15 per cent of the total resistance, it being understood that a non-lifting stabilizer is fitted. With lifting tails the resistance will be increased in proportion to the load carried by the stabilizer. In regard to the tail resistance it should be noted that these surfaces are in the slipstream and are calculated accordingly, although the velocity of the slipstream is somewhat reduced at the point where it encounters the tail surfaces. The total tail resistance of the B. E.-2 is given as 3.3 pounds. Resistance of Seaplane Floats. The usual type of sea- plane with double floats may be considered as having about 12 per cent higher resistance than a similar land machine. Some forms of floats have less resistance than others, owing to their better streamline form, but the above figure will be on the safe side for the average pon- toon. Basing our formula on a 12 per cent increase on the 350 HEAD RESISTANCE total head resistance, the formula for the floats and bracing will become: Rf = 0.00436V2 where Rf = resistance of floats and fit- tings. Body Resistance. This item is probably the most diffi- cult of any to compute, owing to the great variety of forms, the difference in the engine mounting, and the dis- position of the fittings and connections. The resistance of the pilot's and passenger's heads, wind shields, and pro- peller arrangement all tend to increase the difficulty of obtaining a correct value. Aeroplanes with rotary air- cooled motors, or with large front radiators have a higher resistance than those arranged with other types of motors or radiator arrangements. Probably the item having the greatest influence on the resistance of the fuselage is the ratio of the length to the depth, or the "fineness ratio." In tractor monoplanes and biplanes, of the single pro- peller type, the body is in the sHpstream, and compensa- tion must be made for this factor. If it were not for the motor and radiator, the tractor fuselage could be made in true dirigible streamline form, and would therefore present less resistance than the pres- ent forms of "practical" bodies. The necessity of placing the tail surfaces at a fixed distance from the wings also involves the use of a body that is longer in proportion than a true streamline form, and this factor alone introduces an excessive head resistance. The ideal ratio of depth to length would seem to range from 1 to 5.5 or 1 to 6. The fineness ratio of the average two-seat tractor is considera- bly greater than this, ranging from 1 to 7.5 or 8.5. A single-seat machine of the speed-scout type can be made much shorter and has more nearly the ideal proportions. The only possible way of disposing of this problem is to compare the results of wind tunnel tests made on dif- ferent types of bodies, and even with this data at hand HEAD RESISTANCE 351 a liberal allowance should be made because of the in- fluence of the connections and other accessories. Eiffel, the N. P. L., and the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology have made a number of experiments with scale models of existing aeroplane bodies. It is from these tests that we must estimate our body resistance, hence a table of the results is attached, the approximate outlines being shown by the figures. As in calculating the resistance of other parts, the re- sistance of the body can be expressed by R = KxAV-, where Kx = coefficient of the body form, A = Cross-sec- tional area of body in square feet (Area of presentation), and V = velocity in miles per hour. The area A is ob- tained by multiplying the body depth by the width. The "area of presentation" of a body 2' — 6" wide and 3' — 0" deep will be 2.5 x 3 = 7.5 square feet. The experimental data does not give a very ready com- parison between the different types, as the bodies not only vary in shape and size, but are also shown with different equipment. Some have tail planes and some have not; two are shown with the heads of the pilot and passenger projecting above the fuselage, while the remainder have either a simple cock-pit opening or are entirely closed. The presence of the propeller in two cases may have a great deal to do with raising the value of the experimental results. The propeller was stationary during the tests, but it was noted that the resistance was considerably less when the propeller was allowed to run as a windmill, driving the motor. This latter condition would correspond to the resistance in gliding with the motor cut off. In all cases, except the Deperdussin, the bodies are covered with fabric, and the sagging of the cloth in flight will probably result in higher resistance than would be indi- cated by the solid wood or metal model used in the tests. The pusher type bodies give less resistance than the tractors, but the additional resistance of the outriggers 352 HEAD RESISTANCE and tail bracing will probably bring the total far above the tractor body. In the accompanying body chart are shown 7 repre- sentative bodies : (a) Deperdussin Monocoque Mono- plane Body, a single-seater ; (b) N. P. L.-5 Tractor Biplane Body, single-seater ; (c) B. F.-36 Dirigible Form, without propeller or cock-pit openings ; (d) B. E.-3 Two-Place Tractor Body, with passenger and pilot; (e) Curtiss JN Type Tractor Body, with passengers, chassis and tail ; (f ) Farman Pusher type, with motor, propeller and exposed passengers; (g) N. P. L. Pusher Body, bare. Body (a) was tested with a 1/5 scale model at a wind tunnel speed of 2S meters per second, the resistance of the model being 0.377 kilograms (0.83 pounds). Body (d) in model form was 1/16 scale and was tested at 20.5 miles per hour, at which speed the resistance was 0.0165 pounds. Model (e) was 1/12 scale and was tested at 30 miles per hour. These varying test speeds, it will be seen, do not allow of a very accurate means of comparison. The resistance of model (e) was 0.1365 pounds at the specified wind-tunnel air speed. TABLE OF BODY RESISTANCE. Full Size Re- Coefficient of Fineness Model Tests sistance l-'ig. Name of Body Resistance Kx Ratio Scale Speed M.P.H. A = 8 Sq. Ft. @ 100 M.P.H. (a) Deperdussin .... 0.000541 5.60 1/5 62.6 52.16 lbs. (b) N.P.L.-5 0.000444 5.50 33.24 lbs. (c) B.F.-36 Dirig 0.000258 5.75 20.50 lbs. (H) B.E.-3 0.000720 7.35 1/16 20.5 97.60 lbs. (e) Curtiss Type JN. 0.002730 8.20 1/12 30.0 218.40 lbs. (t) Farman Pusher. . 0.000855 3.20 67.59 lbs. (g) N.P.L. Pusher... 0.000271 3.00 21.60 lbs. The speeds given in the above table are simply transla- tional speeds, and are not corrected for slipstream velocity. With a slipstream of 25 per cent, increase the body resist- ance by 40 per cent. It would be safe to add an addi- tional 10 per cent to make up for projecting fittings, baggy fabric, and scale variations. HEAD RESISTANCE 353 Since a body of approximately streamline form has a considerable percentage of skin friction, scale corrections for size and velocity are even of more importance than with wing sections. No wind-tunnel experiments can de- termine the resistance exactly because of the uncertainty of the scale factor. The resistance as given in the table is also affected by the proximity of the wing and tail sur- JDnPHF^DU^^ZN- COEFFICIENT /<= 0,00054/ CIRCULAR secr/o/y CuBTi^^ Tractor coeffici^jvtH'^O. 002.73 © 2?.PZrS Tractor o Fae^mai^iFu^sher Wm^M COEFFICIENT /r= 0.00O42O CIRCULAR SECT/ON COEFFICIENT K^O. 00064 SCpU/IRE SECT/ ON © £.E:<36 JDlRKSLBLB COEFFICIENT /i'=a oooasQ CIRCULAR 3EC:TJ0N ^ K.FL. F^^HEis? COEFFICIENT HiO.0OO27l U CIRCULAR SECT/ON ^JB.E.-3 TRACTon ® /]l.FZ. T^ACTQFf COEFFICIENT- H=a000720 SQUARE SECT/ON COEFF/aErrr /T'CkOOO 7/^ sc;>uAR£ sccrr/orf. t:^ ^^-rP li^ RESISTANCE IN FKiUNDS. J^-^LAV jr ^ resist CO^FF T=5P£irDINM.R/i. A- CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA /N S\^fE2 ^ ^. \ N^' "0-GUDING /^NGLE \ \ ^W — B A Fig. 2. Gliding Angle Diagram Showing Component of Gravity That Causes Forward Motion. The Gliding Angle Depends Upon the Ratio of the Resistance to the Weight. the approximate values are known. Sustaining a given weight, we can vary the angle, area, wing section, or the speed, the choice of these items being regulated principally by the power. Given a small area and a great angle of incidence, we can support the load, but the power con- sumption will be excessive because of the low value of the L/D ratio at high angles. If small area is desired, a large value of Ky due to a high lift-wing section is pref- erable to a low lift wing at high angles. In general, the area should be so arranged that the wing is at the angle of the maximum lift-drag ratio at the rated speed. A low POWER 363 angle means a smaller motor, less fuel, and hence a lighter machine. This selection involves considerable difficulty, and a number of wing sections and areas must be tried by the trial and error method until the most economical com- bination is discovered. The first consideration being the total weight, we must first estimate this from the required live load. This can be estimated from previous examples of nearly the same type. Say that our required live load is 660 pounds, and that a live load factor of 0.30 is used. The total weight now becomes 660/0.30 = 2200 pounds. To make a pre- liminary estimate of the area we must find the load per square foot. An empirical formula for biplane loading reads : w = 0.065 V — 0.25 where V = maximum speed in M. P. H., and w = load per square foot. If we assume a maximum speed of 90 M. P. H. for our machine, the unit loading is w = (0.065 x 90) — 0.25 = 5.6 pounds per square foot. The approximate area can now be found from 2200/5.6 = 393 square feet. (Call 390.) The mini- mum speed is about 48 per cent of the maximum, or 43 M. P. H. We can now choose one or more wing sections that will come approximately to our requirements by the use of the basic formula, Ky = w/V". At high speed, Ky = 5.6/(90 x 90) = 0.000691. At low speed, Ky = 5.6/(40x40) =0.003030. We must choose the most economical wing between these limits of lift, and on reference to our wing section tables we find : Wing Section Low Speed Values. High Speed Values. T> A t:. ^^ umber (i) L/D Ky (i) L/D Ky ^•A-F.-6 14° 9.28 0.003018 0°-30' 10.5 0.000690 RA.F.-3 10° 12.00 0.003000 l°-30' 6.5 0.000690 E>ffel-32 16° 4.10 0.002908 0°-30' 9.2 0.000690 U.S.A.-l 14° 10.40 0.003165 0°-00' 11.0 0.000721 It would seem from the above that the chosen area is a little too large, as the majority of the L/D ratios at high speed are poor, the best being 11.00 of the U. S. A.-l. The angles are small, being negative in most cases at high speed. While the lift-drag of the R. A. F.-3 is very good 36-i POWER at low speed, it is very poor at high, hence the area for this section should be reduced to increase the loading. The R. A. F.-6 and the U. S. A.-l show up the best, for they are both near the maximum lift at low speed and have fair L/D ratios at high speed. It will be seen that for the best results there should be a series of power curves drawn for the various wings and areas. This method is too compli- cated and tedious to take up here, and so we will use U. S. A.-l, which does not really show up so bad at this stage. Both the R. A. F.-6 and the U. S. A.-l have been used extensively on machines of the size and type under con- sideration. While we require Ky = 0.003030, and U. S. A.-l gives 0.003165, we will not attempt to utilize this excess, as it will be remembered that we should not assume the maximum lift for reasons of stability. The wing-drag at high speed will be 2200/11.0 = 200 pounds, and at low speed it will be: 2200/10.4 = 211 pounds. Since the maximum L/D is 17.8 at 3°, where Ky is 0.00133, the least drag will be : 2200/17.8 = 124 pounds. This least drag will occur at V = V5.6/0.00133 = 65 M. P. H. The wing drag for each speed must now be divided by the correction factor 0.85, which converts the monoplane values of drag into biplane values. Since this is prac- tically constant it does not affect the relative values of Kx in comparing wings, but it should be used in final results. For this type of machine we will take the total parasitic resistance as r = 0.036V-. At 90 M. P. H., r = 0.036 x 90 X 90 = 291.6 pounds. At 65 M. P. H., the resistance is: 0.036 X 65 x 65 = 152.1. At the extreme low speed of 43 M. P.H. we have r =0.036 x 43 x 43 = 66.56 pounds. The total resistance (R) is equal to the sum of the wing-drag and the parasitic resistance. At 90 M. P. H. the total resistance becomes 200 + 291.6 = 491.6 pounds. At 65 M. P. H. the total is 124 + 152.1 = 176.1, and at 43 M. P. H. it is 211 -f I i fi % M ^ 1 1 1 1 y i 1 i 1 \ 1 V, ° X IS ^ij 1 — i It POWER 365 66.56^ 277.56 pounds. The horsepower is computed from H = RV/375e, and at 90 M. P. H. this is : H = 491.6 x 90/ 375 x0.80 = 147.5 H. P. where 0.80 is the assumed propeller efficiency. At 65 M. P. H. the horsepower drops to H ^ 176.1 X 65/375 x 0.8 = 38.1 H. P., assuming the same efficiency. In the same way the H. P. at 43 M. P. H. is 39.8. A table and power chart should be worked out for a number of sections and areas according to the following table. The calculations should be computed at intervals of 5 M. P. H., at least the lower speeds. Wing drag is not corrected for biplane interference : Speed M.P.H. Lift Angle L/D Drag Para. Res. Total Res. Total (Kv) (i) (D) (R) (R) H.P.(H) 43 0.003031 14" 10.4 211 66.56 m.'bd 39.8 65 0.001333 3° 17.8 124 152.10 176.10 38.1 90 0.000721 0° 11.0 200 291.60 491.60 147.5 Weight and Power. The weight lifted per horsepower varies in the different types of aeroplanes, this difference lying principally in the reserve allowed for climbing and horizontal speed. A speed scout may carry as little as 8 pounds per horsepower, while a slow two-seater may exceed 20 pounds per horsepower. A rough estimate of the horsepower required may be had by dividing the total weight by the weight per horsepower ratio for that par- ticular type. Thus if the unit H. P. loading is 16 pounds and the total weight is 3200, then the horsepower will equal 3200/16 = 200 horsepower. Assuming that the live load w' is 0.32 of the total weight W, then W = w70.32. If m = lbs. per H. P., then H = W/m or H = w70.32m. Taking the case of a training machine where m = 20, and the live load is 640 pounds, the approximate horsepower will be : H = w70.32m = 640/0.32 x 20 = 100 horse- power. A speed scout carrying 320 pounds useful load, with m = 10, will require H = 320/0.32 x 10 = 100 horse- power. CHAPTER XVIII. PROPELLERS. Principles and Use of Propellers. A propeller converts the energy of the engine into the thrust required to over- come the resistance of the aeroplane. To maintain flight the thrust, or force exerted by the propeller, must always equal the total resistance of the aeroplane. A total resist- ance of 400 pounds requires a propeller thrust of 400, and as the resistance varies with the speed, the engine revolu- tions must be altered correspondingly. The propeller is the most complicated and least understood element of the aeroplane, and we can but touch only on the most ele- mentary features. The inclined blades of the propeller throw back an airstream, the reaction of which produces the thrust. The blades can also be considered as aerofoils moving in a circular path, the lift of the aerofoils corre- sponding to the thrust of the propeller. The reactions in any case are quite complicated and require the use of higher mathematics for a full understanding. Pitch and Velocity. When in action the propeller ro- tates, and at the same time advances along a straight line parallel to its axis. As a result, the tips of the propeller blades describe a curve known as *'Helix" or screw-thread curve. The action is very similar to that of a screw being turned in a nut. For clearness in explanation we will call the velocity in the aeroplane path the ''Translational ve- locity," and the speed of the tips in their circular path as the ''Rotational velocity." When a screw works in a rigid nut it advances a distance equal to the *Titch" in each revolution, the pitch of a single threaded screw being 366 PROPELLERS 367 equal to the distance between the threads. Since the propeller or "Air screw" works in a fluid, there is some slip and the actual advance does not correspond to the *Titch" of the propeller blades. The effective pitch is the distance traveled by the propeller in one revolution. The actual pitch or the angle of the blades must be greater than the angle of the effective helix by the amount of slip. If N = Revolutions per minute, P = eft'ective pitch in feet and V = translational velocity in miles per hour, then V=NP/88. With an effective pitch of 5 feet, and 1200 revolutions per minute, the translational velocity of the aeroplane will be : V = 1200 x 5/88 = 68.2 miles per hour. Excelsior Propeller, an Example of American Propeller Construction. This Propeller Is Built Up of Laminations of Ash. The actual pitch of the blades would be from 15 to 25 per cent greater than the effective pitch because of the slip. To have thrust we must have slip. With the translational velocity equal to the blade-pitch velocity, there is no air- stream accelerated by the blades, and consequently there is no thrust due to reaction. The air thrown to the rear of a propeller moves at a greater speed than the translation when thrust is developed, and this stream is known as the ''Slipstream." The difference between the translational and slipstream velocity is the slip. The angle of the blade face determines the pitch. The greater the angle of the blade with the plane of propeller rotation, the greater is the pitch. This angle is measured from the chord of the working face of the table, or from that side faced to the rear of the blade. In the majority of cases the working face is flat. The front face is always heavily cambered like a wing section, with the greatest 368 PROPELLERS thickness about one-third the chord from the entering edge. As in the case of the wing, the camber is of the greatest importance. A uniform pitch propeller has a varying blade angle, smallest at the tip and increasing toward the hub. With a uniform pitch propeller, every part of the blade travels through the same forward distance in one revolution, hence it is necessary to increase the angle toward the hub as the innermost portions travel a smaller distance around the circle of rotation. Theoretically, the angle at the exact center would be 90 degrees. The blade angles at the dif- ferent points in the length of a uniform pitch propeller are obtained as follows : Draw a right angle triangle in which the altitude is made equal to the pitch, and the base is equal to 3.1416 times the propeller diameter. The angle made by the hypotenuse with the base is the blade angle at the tip. Divide the base into any number of equal spaces and connect the division points with the upper angle. The angles made by these lines with the base are the angles of the different blade sections. Blade Form. The blade may be either straight-sided or curved. In the latter case the most deeply curved edge is generally the entering edge, and the maximum width is about one-third from the tip. Much care is exercised in arranging the outHne so that the center of pressure will not be located in an eccentric position and thus harmfully distort the blade when loaded. If this is not attended to, the pitch will vary according to the load. In one make of propeller the blade is purposely made flexible so that the pitch will accommodate itself correctly to different flight speeds and conditions. This, however, is carefully laid out so that the flexure is proportional throughout the blade to the changes in the load. Propeller Diameter. The largest propellers are the most efiicient. The propeller should be as large as can be safely swung on the aeroplane. Large, slow revolution PROPELLERS 369 ^:^ O u H13 a. r- u '^1 IT, ^ III I f^JS HZ 3^ 5 o >c/3 370 PROPELLERS propellers are far superior to the small high speed type. It is more economical to accelerate a large mass of air slowly with a large diameter than to speed up a small mass to a high velocity. The diameter used on any aero- plane depends upon the power plant, propeller clearance, height of chassis and many other considerations. Ap- proximately the diameter varies from about 1/3 the span on small speed scouts, to 1/5 or 1/6 of the span on the larger machines. Air Flow. The greater part of the air is taken in through the tips, and is then expelled to the rear. This condition prevails until the blade angle is above 45 de- grees, and from this point the flow is outward. Owing to the great angles at the hub, there is little thrust given by the inner third of the blade, the air in this region being simply churned up in a directionless mass of eddies. At the tips the angle is small and the velocity high, which results in about 80 per cent of the useful work being per- formed by the outer third of the blade. In some aero- planes a spinner cap is placed around the hub to reduce the churning loss and to streamline the hub. The blade section is very thick at the hub for structural reasons. The "Disc area" of a propeller is the area of the circle swept out by the blades. It is the pressure over this area that gives the thrust, and in some methods of calculation the thrust is based on the mean pressure per square foot of disc area. The pressure is not uniformly distributed over the disc, being many times greater at the outer cir- cumference than at the hub. The average pressure per square foot depends upon the blade section and angle. Because of the great intensity of pressure at the circum- ference, the effective stream is in the form of a hollow tube. Number of Blades. For training, and ordinary work, two-bladed propellers are preferable, but for large motors where the swing is limited, three or four blades are often PROPELLERS 371 used. A multlple-bladed propeller absorbs more horse- power with a given diameter than the two-blade type. In general, a four-bladed propeller revolving slowly may be considered more efficient than the two-blade revolving # rapidly. Where the swing and clearance are small, a small / four-blade may give better results than a larger and faster! 9 two-blade. A three-blade often shows marked superiority ! over a tw^o-blade even when of smaller diameter, and the ; hub of the three-blade is much stronger than the four- 1 blade, although neither the three or four is as strong as I the two-blade type. Effects of Altitude. At high altitudes the density is less, and consequently the thrust is less with a given num- ber of revolutions per minute. The thrust can be main- tained either by increasing the speed, or by increasing the pitch. For correct service at high altitudes the propeller should undoubtedly be of the variable pitch type, in which the pitch can be controlled manually, or by some auto- matic means such as proportional blade flexure. Effects of Pitch. Driven at a constant speed, both the thrust and horsepower increase with the pitch up to a certain limiting angle. For a given horsepower the static thrust depends both on the diameter and the pitch. If the pitch is increased the diameter must be decreased in proportion to maintain a constant speed. As the pitch is regulated by the trans- lational speed and revolutions, the static thrust of a high speed machine is very small. As the translational speed increases, the pitch relative to the wind is less, and conse- quently the thrust will pick up until a certain limiting speed is reached. Thrust and Horsepower. The calculation for thrust and power are very complicated, but the primary condi- tions can be given by the following: Let V = the pitch velocity in feet per minute, T = thrust in pounds, and H = horsepower, then H = TV/33000E from which T = 372 PROPLLLERS 33000HE/V, the efficiency being designated by E. Since the pitch velocity is NP, where N = revs, per minute and P = pitch in feet, then T = 33000HE/PN. Assuming a 5-foot pitch, 1200 revs., the efficiency = 0.75, and the horsepower 100, the thrust will be : T = 33000 X 100 X 0.75/5 x 1200 = 412.5 pounds. The pitch in this case is the blade pitch, and the great uncer- tainty lies in selecting a proper value for E. This may vary from 0.70 to 0.85. The diameter is also an unknown factor in this primitive equation. Materials and Construction. The woods used for pro- peller construction are spruce, ash, mahogany, birch, white oak, walnut, and maple. Up to 50 H. P. spruce is suitable, as it is light, and strong enough for this power. In Europe walnut and mahogany are the most commonly used, although they are very expensive. Birch is very strong and comparatively light for its strength, and can be used successfully up to 125 horsepower. Ash is strong, light and fibrous, but has the objectionable feature of warping and cannot withstand moisture. Maple is too beavy for its strength. White oak, quarter-sawed, is the best of propeller woods and is used with the very largest engines. It is strong for its weight and is hard, but is very difficult to work and glue. For tropical climates, Southern poplar is frequently used as it has the property of resisting heat and humidity. One-inch boards are rough dressed to % inch and then finished down to ^f or ^ inch. After a thorough tooth planing to roughen the surface for the glue, they are thor- oughly coated with hot hide glue, piled together in blocks of from 5 to 10 laminations, and then thoroughly squeezed for 18 hours in a press or by clamps until the glue has thoroughly set. Only the best of hide glue is used, applied at a temperature of 140° F. and at a room temperature of 100°. The glue must never be hotter, nor the boards cooler than the temperatures stated. The propeller after PROPELLERS 373 being roughed out is left to dry for ten days so that all of the glue stresses are adjusted. If less time is taken, the propeller will warp out of shape. The propeller is worked down within a small fraction of the finished size and is again allowed to rest. After a few days it is finished down to size by hand, is scraped, and tested for pitch, tracking and hub dimensions. The finish is glossy, and may be accomplished by sev- eral coats of spar varnish or by repeated applications of hot boiled linseed oil well rubbed in, finishing with three or four coats of wax polish. There should be at least 5 applications of linseed oil, the third coat being sandpapered with No. paper. The wood should be scraped to dimen- sion and must not be touched with sandpaper until at least two coats of varnish or oil have been applied. The wood must be absolutely clear and straight grained, and without discolorations. The boards must be piled so that the edge of the grain is on the face of the blades, and the direction of the annular rings must be alternated in the adjacent boards. Houleur ifM (avec Mice 3:io) 374 PROPELLERS CHAPTER XIX. OPERATION AND TRAINING. Self-Training. In the early days of aviation, there were few schools, and these were so expensive to attend that the majority of the aeronautical enthusiasts taught them- selves to fly on home-made machines. While this was a heroic method, it had the advantage of giving the student perfect confidence in himself, and if his funds were suffi- cient to outlast the crashes, it resulted in a finished and thorough flyer. In general, this process may be described as consisting of two hours of practice followed by a week or more of repairing. The present-day beginner has many advantages. He has the choice of many excellent schools that charge a reasonable tuition, and where the risk of injury is small. He has access to the valuable notes published in the aero- nautical magazines, and the privilege of consulting with experienced aviators. The stability and reliability of the planes and the motors have also been improved to a re- markable degree, and the student no longer has to con- tend with a doubtful aeroplane construction nor with the whims of a poorly-constructed motor. Training Methods. In the majority of American schools, the instructor accompanies the student in the first flights. The controls are *'Dual," or interconnected, so that the instructors' controls act in unison with those of the student, thus giving the latter an accurate knowl- edge of the movements necessary for each flight condition. After the first few^ flights the instructor can relax his con- trols at times so that the student can take charge. This continues until the student has shown the ability to handle 375 376 TRAINING AND OPERATION the machine alone under ordinary conditions and is then ready for his first "Solo" or flight alone. The first solo is a critical period in his training, for when once in flight he is beyond all human aid. At the navy training school at Pensacola, the student is first taken for a ride with one of the instructors without giving him access to the controls. This is simply to give the student an experience in the sensation of flight. After this he is taken for a series of short flights on a dual control machine, the instructor gradually allowing him to take charge to a greater and greater extent as he develops the "Air feel." During this time the intricacies of the maneuvers are also gradually increased, so that after about ten hours of this sort of work he is allowed to take his first solo. It has been found that the average student will require from 10 to 20 hours of dual control instruction before he is fit to fly alone. When his work has proven satisfactory he is then allowed to fly in rough weather, execute spirals, and attempt high altitude and long distance flying. Some instructors believe in showing what can be per- formed in the air from the very beginning. During the first dual flights, the pilot indulges in dives, vertical banks, side slip, or even looping. After an experience of this sort, the student is far more collected and easy during O the following instructions in simple straight flying. If f this preliminary stunt flying has a very material effect on the nerve of the student it may be taken for granted that he is not adapted for the work and can be weeded out without further loss of time. If he is of the right type, this "rough stufif" has a beneficial influence on his work during the succeeding lessons. During this time numer- ous landings are made, for it must be understood that this is one of the most difficult features of flying. With 15 minute lessons, at least 6 landings should be made per lesson. TRAINING AND OPERATION 377 A second method of instruction, and to the author's mind the most desirable, is by means of the "Penguin" or "Roller." This is a low-powered machine with very- small wings — so small that it cannot raise itself from the ground. By running the penguin over the ground, the student learns how to manage his engine and to steer with his feet. In this way he obtains a certain delicacy of touch without endangering either himself or an expensive machine. After he has progressed satisfactorily on this machine he graduates to a faster penguin or else to a very slow aeroplane with which he can actually leave the ground. Since the second penguin, or the slow aeroplane are much faster than the first machine, the student finds that the sensitiveness of the rudder and controls are greatly increased. They require more careful handling than in the first instance, and the slightest mis- take or delay will send the machine skidding. The aero- planes used at this stage are very low-powered, and are capable of rising only a few feet from the ground, but they give the student an opportunity of learning the aileron and tail controls in comparative safety. The same result can be obtained with a standard aeroplane by a permanent set in the throttle control, and by adjusting the stabilizer surface. The beginner is allowed to work only during calm weather, as the low speed and small lifting capacity is likely to cause an accident if the machine is caught by a side or following gust. He only learns how to get the machine oflf the ground, to keep the tail up and hold it in a straight line for a few seconds. The man taught by the penguin method is alone when he first leaves the ground, and hence is generally more self-reliant than one who has been "Spoon fed." His expe- rience in handling the controls has made his movements instinctive, so that when he first actually flies he is in a better position to analyze the new problems before him. It is a better and cheaper method for the school as the 378 TRAINING AND OPERATION breakage is less expensive and allows the unfit students to be weeded out before they cause damage to themselves or to the school property. Ground Instruction. Before attempting flight, the student should be thoroughly versed in the principles and constructional details of the aeroplane and the aeronautic motor. He should know how to take down, time and repair every type of motor with which he is likely to come into contact. He should be able to tell at a glance whether the machine is rigged or trued up properly, and have a general knowledge of the underlying principles of aero- dynamics. The study of these subjects is the function of- the ground school. At this school the student should learn the assembling and adjusting of the aeroplane struc- ture and its balance. Types Suitable for Pilots. There is a great diversity of opinion as to the type of man best suited for flying. In this country the government requirements regarding age and physical condition are very exacting, while in Europe it has been found that physical condition is not an index to a man's ability as a pilot. Many of the best French pilots were in such bad shape as to be rejected by the other branches of the army. Our men are well under 30 years of age, while in European service there are many excellent pilots well over 40. It is almost impossible to tell from external appearances whether a man can become a good pilot. In general he must be more intelligent and better edu- cated than the average infantryman. He should not be subject to an attack of "Nerves," nor become easily rat- tled, for such a man courts disaster in flying. Many exhi- bition flyers of reputation have proved absolute failures in military service. A knowledge of mechanics will be of great benefit and has been the salvation of many a pilot in active service. Automobile or motorcycle experience is particularly valuable. Recklessness, or a dare-devil sort TRAINING AND OPERATION 379 of a disposition, are farthest from being qualifications for an aviator. Such a man should not be permitted to fly, for he is not only a constant menace to himself but to everyone else concerned. Learning to Fly Alone. It is with the greatest hesi- tancy that the author enters into a "Ground course" of flight instruction. I can, however, list the principal things to avoid and some of the things to do, but this will never take the place of actual field instruction and experience. The first and last thing to remember is to "Proceed slowly and with caution." Never try a new stunt until you are absolutely sure that you have thoroughly mastered the preliminary steps in straight flying. Over-confidence at the beginning is almost as bad as no confidence at all, and the greatest difficulty met with by instructors during the first solo flights is to keep the student from imitating the maneuvers of the more experienced flyers. Spend plenty of time rolling or "Grass-cutting" before attempt- ing to leave the ground. Be sure that you can handle the rudder with accuracy, and at fairly high speeds before at- tempting to Hft. A few days spent in sitting in the ma- chine (motor dead), and acquainting yourself with the controls is excellent practice and certainly is not a loss of time. With the machine in the hangar, move the con- trols for imaginary turns, dips and other maneuvers so that the resistance, reach and limit of control movement will come more naturally when the machine is moving. During the ground rolling period, the elevator or stabil- izer should be set so that it is impossible to leave the ground, and the motor should be adjusted so that it cannot develop its full thrust. This will provide against an acci- dental lift. Be easy and gentle in handling the controls, for they work easily, and have powerful effect at high speeds. The desperate fervor with which the beginner generally yanks at the "joy stick" is generally the very reason for his accidents. Do not start oflf at full speed without first 380 TRAINING AND OPERATION getting use to the effect of the controls. Learn to find the location of the various devices so that you can reach them v^ithout looking or without fumbHng. The First Straight. By adjusting the stabilizer and ele- vators so that the latter has a greater degree of freedom, and by changing the motor so that it can be run at a slight- ly higher speed, we are in a position to attempt our first flight. Be careful that the adjustment will limit the climb of the machine, and choose only the calmest of weather. It should be remembered that the aeroplane will get off the ground at a lower speed than that required for full flight at higher altitudes, this being due to the cushioning effect between the wings and the earth. A machine trav- eling at a speed capable of sustaining flight at a few feet above the earth will cause it to stall when it is high enough to lose this compression. The adjustment should be such that the machine cannot rise above this "Cushion," and in this condition it is fairly safe for the beginner. In making the first runs under the new conditions of adjustment, the student should learn to manipulate the elevators so that they will hold the tail up in the correct position, that is, with the chord of the wings nearly hori- zontal. Do not allow the tail skid to drag over the ground further than necessary. At this point the student should be strapped in the seat by a quick-detachable safety belt. Now comes the test. Get under full headway with the tail well up, taking care to run against the breeze. The speed increases rapidly, then the motion and jar seem softer, and the motor ceases to roar so loudly. There is now a very distinct change in the note of the motor. You are off. At this point a very peculiar illusion takes place, for your elevation of a few feet seems about a thousand times greater than it really is. With this impression the student usually tries to correct matter by a sudden for- ward push on the control lever causing fine dive and a TRAINING AND OPERATION 381 smash. It must be borne in mind that only the slightest movement of the controls should be made, and if this does not prove sufficient after a moment or so, advance them still further but very gently. Sudden movements must be avoided. At first the "Hops" should not extend over a hundred yards or so until the student is sure of his con- trols. Little by little they can be increased in length and height. He should practice for some time before attempt- ing a flight of more than a mile. By this time, the student will have learned that the landing is by far the most diffi- cult feature in flying, and he should practice this inces- santly before trying flights in windy weather. The machine should be headed directly into the wind, both in getting off and in landing, especially in the latter case, as a sudden following gust will tend to stall a machine or upset it. With a head wind, the lift is main- tained at a low speed and hence is an aid in a safe landing. When flying in still air there is little if any use for the ailerons, but in gusts the student will need their aid in maintaining lateral balance. After the rudder and ele- vator controls have been well learned the effect of the ailerons can be tried. Gusty or squally weather must be avoided at this point in the training, and no turns should yet be attempted. When the student attains heights greater than a few feet he should take great care in obtaining a sufficient ground speed before trying to get off, for if lifted before the full flying speed is attained it is likely to stall. Fast climbing at sharp angles is dangerous unless a sufficient ground speed has been attained. Sustentation is due to forward speed, and this must not be forgotten. The quickest climb for getting over trees and other obstruc- tions is obtained by gaining full speed on the ground be- fore the climb begins, as the power of the engine is aided by the momentum of the machine. In landing in small fields it is necessary to bring the 382 TRAINING AND OPERATION machine to rest as soon as possible, and this stopping distance depends to a great extent upon the attitude of the machine when it first touches the ground. If it is landed so that the chassis wheels and tail skid strike the ground simultaneously, the incidence is so great that the wings act as air brakes. On landing, the angle in any case should be quickly increased past the angle of maximum lift. The lift is much reduced and the drag is increased by quickly pulling the control toward the aviator. This also reduces the tendency toward nosing over. A normal landing in a large field can be affected by first starting down at the normal gliding angle, and when from twenty to thirty feet above the ground the elevator con- trol is pulled back so that the machine will describe a curve tangent to the ground. In student's practice the curve should not be exactly tangent to the ground, but tangent to a level two or three feet above the ground. The machine is now losing speed, and to prevent settling the elevator should be pulled back a trifle. The speed continues to decrease until it settles down through the small remaining distance with the elevator full back. The points of support should strike simultaneously. It is dif- ficult for the beginner to make this sort of a landing, as there always seems to be an uncontrollable desire to jam the machine down on the ground. If a puff of wind hap- pens to strike the machine when a few feet off, the student becomes rattled by the suddenly increased elevation and jams her down doubly hard. Wind Flying. The nature of wind at low altitudes is determined to a great extent by the contour of the ground. Eddies are caused by trees, embankments, fences, small hills, etc., which tend to disturb the equilibrium or change the course of the aeroplane. As the altitude increases, the effects of these obstructions are less pronounced, until at from 2000 to 3000 feet the effect is practically negligible. Winds that may be "Bumpy" near the ground are fairly TRAINING AND OPERATION 383 regular when 3000 feet is attained. At the higher altitudes the velocity increases, and if the machine is flying against the wind the progress will naturally be much slower at the higher altitudes. When starting in a strong wind it is advisable to attain an altitude of at least 300 to 400 feet before turning. Turning in with the wind carries the pos- sibility of a drop or stall. A short gust striking the machine, head on, tends to retard the velocity in regard to the earth, but in reality in- creases the relative air speed and thus causes the machine to climb momentarily. A prolonged head gust may pro- duce a stall unless corrected by the elevator or met with by reserve power. A rear gust reduces the relative wind velocity and tends to make the machine stall, although there are a few cases where the gust velocity has been great enough to cause a precipitate drop. The higher the speed, the less the danger from rear gusts. The gusts are much more pronounced with low winds, say winds of about 5 to 15 miles per hour, and hence it is usually more tricky to fly in a wind of this velocity than with a higher wind. It is not the speed of the wind so much as it is its variation from the average velocity. One should start to work on a ''bump" at the moment it first starts to appear. When flying with the wind, the total speed in regard to the earth is the sum of the wind speed and the aeroplane speed. When flying against it is the difference between the aeroplane and air speeds. Thus, if the air speed of the aeroplane is 60 miles per hour, the speed in regard to the ground will be 7}) miles per hour with a following wind of 15 miles per hour, and 45 miles per hour when flying against a 15-mile wind. The speed when flying across the wind would be represented by the diagonal of a paral- lelogram, one side of which represents the aeroplane speed, and the other side the wind speed. The angle of the diagonal is the angle at which the machine must be 384 TRAINING AND OPERATION pointed. When viewed from the ground, an aeroplane in a cross wind appears to fly sideways. Turning. After the beginner is able to maintain longi- tudinal and lateral balance on straight away flights, he next attempts turns. At first, the turns must be of great radius. As the radius is gradually shortened, the effects of centrifugal force become greater, increasing the tendency toward skidding or outward side slip. To pre- vent skidding, the outer wing tip must be raised so that the lift will oppose the centrifugal force. The shorter the turn, and the faster it is made, the greater will be the banking angle. Should the bank be too steep, the gravita- tional force will pull the machine down, and inwardly in a direction parallel to the wings. This is known as an *Tnner side slip." The banking may be performed by the natural banking tendency of the aeroplane or may be assisted by depressing the aileron on the outer wing tip. Unless the speed is well up to normal, the machine will be likely to stall and drop on a turn, as the head resistance is much greater under these conditions. For safety one should take a short downward gHde before starting the turn, so that the speed will surely be sufficient to carry it around the turn. A turn should never be attempted when climbing unless one has a great reserve power. The com- bined effects of the turning resistance, and absorption of energy due to the climb, will be almost certain to stall the machine. There are banking indicators on the market which will prove of great service. These operate on the pendulum principle and indicate graphically whether the aeroplane is being held at the correct angle of bank. Proper Flight Speed. An aeroplane should always be provided with an air speed meter, giving the speed of the machine in relation to the air. When flying with the wind the pilot is likely to be confused by the tremendous ground speed at which his machine is flying. While the machine may be moved at a fast clip in regard to the earth, it may TRAINING AND OPERATION 385 be really, near the stalling speed. The pilot's sense of speed is influenced by the rapidly moving objects below him. Spinning Nose Dive. Most pilots sooner or later get into a spinning nose dive, either throtgh side slip or an incorrectly designed machine. If the machine is spirally unstable, it is almost certain to get into a spinning nose dive when it is stalled on a sharp turn or is sharply turned at a low speed. What first appears to be a side slip then starts. The nose will drop, and the tail will start to swing around in a larger circle than the nose. Unless immediate- ly corrected this will end in a bad smash. If the spin is opposite to the rotation of the motor, the motor should be stopped since the torque helps in maintaining the spin. Push the elevators into a diving position and turn the rudder against the direction of the spin. If this does not break up the rotation, wait until the elevators have brought the machine into a vertical diving position and then put the ailerons hard over against the spin direction. When the ailerons have stopped the spin, the dive can be straightened out by the elevators in the ordinary way. The controls may not take hold immediately, but this is no reason for changing the method of procedure. Straight Nose Dive. When the aeroplane is diving vertically, nose down, the center of pressure movement sometimes opposes the elevators and makes it difficult to straighten out of the dive. Naturally, the aviator will have the elevator tip pointed up, as in the case of straightening out from a glide, but if this is not effective in changing the attitude he should throw the elevator to the extreme opposite position for a moment. This will tend to swing the machine over on its back and relieve the pressure on the main surface. A quick movement of the elevator to its original position will give control. Gliding or Volplane. Gravity may be made to give a propelling component by pointing the nose down along an 386 TRAINING AND OPERATION inclined "Gliding path." In many ways this can be com- pared to a weight sliding down an inclined plane. The smaller the angle made with the horizontal, the greater will be the radius of action, and the better will be the opportunity of picking out a safe landing place. This angle is an inherent feature of every aeroplane and bears a direct relation to the weight and the head resistance. Very efficient machines will have a glide of about 1 in 12, or will travel 12 feet horizontally while dropping 1 foot. At an elevation of 2000 feet this aeroplane will travel for- ward a distance equal to 2000 x 12 = 24000 feet before touching the ground. Imimebnan Turn. This is a "Stunt" devised by the Ger- man flyer Immelmann for evading enemy machines. It allows the aeroplane to be driven straight at the enemy machine and then directly away from it. The machine is first rolled over on its back in a sideways rotation, and is then brought into a dive. When straightened out, right side up, the machine will be scooting away at full speed in the opposite direction. This is a very quick and effective method of dodging fire from the enemy guns. CHAPTER XX. AERONAUTICAL MOTORS. General Notes. It is assumed that the reader under- stands the principles of the automobile motor and its ac- cessories, for a minute description of gas-engine principles does not fall within the scope of this book. If more in- formation is desired on this subject, the reader is referred to the author's "Practical Handbook of Gas, Oil and Steam Engines." Only those features pecuHar to aeronautic motors will be discussed in this chapter. Aeronautic Requirements. The principal requirements of an aeronautic motor are light weight, low oil and fuel consumption, reliability and compactness. The outline as viewed from the shaft end is also very important, for the motor must be mounted in a narrow streamline body. The compression pressures are much higher than those em- ployed on auto motors, and the speed is generally lower. With one or two exceptions the four-stroke cycle has been universally adopted. Aeronautic service is a severe test for the motor. From the start to the finish of a flight, the aero- plane motor is on a steady grind, loaded at least to 75 per cent of its rated power. The foundations are light and yielding and the air density varies rapidly with changes in the altitude. As the fuel and oil require an expenditure of power for their support, the fuel consumption becomes of great importance, especially in long flights. Because of the heavy normal load the lubricating system must be as nearly perfect as it is possible to make it. A motor car runs normally at from 10 to 25 per cent of its rated horsepower, while the aero motor may develop 387 388 MOTORS as high as 75 per cent to 100 per cent for hours at a time. A car engine of 672 cubic inches displacement is rated at 65 horsepower, while the same size aero engine has a rating of 154. On the basis of normal output, this ratio is about 7 to 1, and taking the weight of the aero motor as one-half that of the auto type, the true output ratio be- comes 14 to 1. Up to the time of a complete overhaul (50 hours), and at 100 miles per hour, the average distance traveled by the aero motor is 5000 miles. The equivalent motor car mileage is 25,000, and the duration is about 1000 hours. This suggests the necessity for improved ma- terials of construction. Even on the present aeronautic motors the fiber stress in the crank-shaft ranges from 120,000 to 140,000 pounds per square inch against the 80,000-pound stress used in auto shafts. The crank case of an aeronautic motor must be particularly rigid to with- stand the stresses due to the Hght mounting, and this demands a higher grade metal than that ordinarily used with automobiles. Unlike the car engine, quality comes first and price is a secondary consideration. Cooling Systems. Both the air and water cooling sys- tem is used, the former for light fast aeroplanes such as speed scouts, and the latter for the larger and more heavily powered machines. Even in some types of speed scouts the air-cooled motor has been displaced by the water-cooled, owing to the fact that the air-cooler cannot be built satis- factorily for outputs much greater than 110 horsepower. By increasing the revolutions of the stationary water- cooled type an increase in power may be had with the same cylinders, but in the case of the rotary air-cooled type the speed is limited by the centrifugal forces acting on the cylinders. While the weight of the radiator, water and piping increase the weight of the water-cooled motor very con- siderably, the total weight is not excessive. When the fuel is considered, the total weight is below that of the MOTORS 389 rotary when long flights are attempted. The radiator and water add complication and are a source of danger. The A 6-CyIinder Hall-Scott Motor Installed in a Martin Biplane. radiators increase the head resistance and add very con- siderably to the maintenance cost. Each type of cooling has its limitations, and it is hoped that an improvement in cooling may be had in the near future. This system should primarily reduce the size and 390 MOTORS resistance of the power plant, and if possible the weight, although the latter is a secondary consideration. At pres- ent the cooling system prevents even an approach to the true streamline form of the body. Propeller Speed. For the best results, the propeller speed should not exceed 1200 revolutions per minute, and for structural reasons this is generally limited to 1500 R. P. M. This at once puts a limiting value on the output A Motor Installation in a Pusher Type Biplane, Showing the Motor at the Rear and the Double Radiator Sections Over the Body. of a given size engme unless a gear down arrangement is used. It should be understood, between certain limits, that the power output increases roughly as the speed. With direct drive arrangements in which the propeller is mounted directly on the end of the engine shaft, the motor revs, are necessarily the propeller revs., and the only way of increasing the speed is by increasing the length of the stroke or by gearing down. An increase in stroke adds rapidly to the weight by increasing the cylinder length, length of connecting rod, length of crank throws, etc. Horsepower Rating. At present there are many meth- MOTORS 391 ods of calculating the horsepower of gasoline engines. Formula applying to auto or boat motors does not apply to flight conditions, for the aero motor is essentially a high compression type and has a greater output per unit of displacement. It is not practical to give the rated horse- power as the maximum output possible under ideal con- ditions, for this would give no idea as to the practical capabilities except by long tedious calculation. The brake horsepower would give no overload capacity at a fixed propeller speed, and the conditions are entirely different from those regulating the rating of auto motors.. The lat- ter can be forced up to the wrecking speed, or many times the normal automobile speed of 30 miles per hour. As aero engines are generally well kept up, and well tuned at all times, the rated horsepower may be taken from 15 to 20 per cent below that of the maximum brake horsepower. In geared-down motors, the gear efficiency is still to be considered. The question of the quality of the mixture, and barometric pressure, also enter into the problem whether the power is rated on the maximum obtained with a rich mixture, or is calculated from the output at the maximum efficiency. A writer in "Aviation" suggests that the rated horsepower be taken as 95 per cent of the power developed at a point midway between the maximum output, and the output at the greatest efficiency. Barometric pressure to be 30 inches and the revolutions 1200. Owing to the great diversity in the bore-stroke ratio, a power formula must include the bore and stroke. This makes the S. A. E. formula for auto motors impossible. A formula is proposed by a writer in "Aviation." The writer has checked this up with the published performance of several well-known aeronautical motors. H = B-SXR Where B = bore in inches, S = stroke in 12.500 392 MOTORS inches, N = number of cylinders, R = Crank-shaft revo- lutions per minute, and H = rated horsepower. This ap- plies only to the four-stroke cycle type. Power and Altitude. The power drops oft rapidly with an increase in altitude unless corrections are made for compression and mixture. With constant volume, the decreased density causes decreased compression. As the weight of air taken in per stroke is reduced, this also reduces the amount of fuel that can be burned per stroke. By holding the compression constant through adjustment of the clearance or valve motion, a fairly constant output can be had through a wide range of altitudes. A compression of 115 pounds per square inch (com- monly used) is difficult to handle with a light construc- tion, but this pressure must be obtained if the output is to be kept within practical limits. Engines having a com- pression ratio of as high as 6 are running satisfactorily at sea level, this ratio giving a mean effective working pressure of 134 pounds per square inch. With this ratio the engine cannot be used with full open throttle at sea level for more than 10 or 15 minutes without causing dam- age to the shaft, bearing and valves. At about 10,000 feet the compression is normal. At great altitudes carburetion has become a great prob- lem, and as aerial battles have already taken place at ele- vations of 20,000 feet, it is quite possible that future motors will be equipped with some device that will force a measured fuel charge into the cylinders. The air neces- sary for the combustion will also have to be pumped in by some means. Weight Per Horsepower. The weight per horsepower of the engine is a very loose term since so much depends upon the equipment included in the weight. As many as 20 items may be considered as being in the doubtful list, and among these are the radiator water, piping, mounting, propeller hub, oil in sump, wiring, self-starter, etc. The MOTORS 393 only true unit weight is that obtained by taking the plant complete ( ready to run), with the cooling system, gasoline for an hour's flight, and the oil. The weight of the bare engine signifies nothing. The weights of the various items used on well known motors are given in a table under the chapter "Weight Calculations." While the bare weight of a certain engine may be very low per brake horsepower, an excessive fuel consumption will often run the effective weight up and over that of a type in which the bare weight is far greater. The weight of the engine per horsepower. Two Examples of Cowls Used Over Rotary Cylinder Motors (Air Cooled). including the magneto and carbureter, will run from 2.2 to 5.0 pounds, according to the type. Fuel Consumption. The fuel consumption of water- cooled motors varies from 0.48 to 0.65 pounds per horse- power hour, an average of 0.6 being safe. The fuel con- sumption of a rotary air-cooled motor will range from 0.6 to 0.75. The oil consumption varies from 0.18 gallons per horsepower in the air-cooled type to 0.035 with the water- cooled stationary motor. Radiators. Owing to extremes in the temperature of the air at different altitudes, the radiating surface should be divided into sections so that a constant cooling effect can be obtained by varying the effective surface of the radiator. The temperature can also be controlled by an 394 MOTORS automatically regulated by-pass which short circuits a part of the radiator water at low temperatures. Constant water temperature has much to do with the efficiency and general operation of the motor, and there will be only one temperature at which the best results can be obtained. ^ (A) (B) Typical Radiators. (A) Side or Top Type. (B) Front Type. Hunsaker finds that 0.83 square feet of actual cooling surface per horsepower is correct at 60 M. P. H., while others give a value of about 1.00 square foot under similar conditions. The front or projected area varies with the thickness of the radiator, the thicknesses varying from 2 to 5 inches. The Livingston radiator gives a cooling sur- face of 50 square inches per square inch of front surface. The total cooling effect depends upon the speed, the loca- MOTORS 395 tion in regard to the slipstream, and the position on the body. A radiator maker should always be consulted when making the final calculations. See Chapter X\'L Fuel Tanks and Piping. The fuel tanks may be of cop- per, aluminum or tin-coated steel, and all joints should be welded or riveted. Never depend upon solder, as such joints soon open through the vibration of the engine. Gasoline should not come into contact with steel, nor the zinc used on galvanized iron. Splash plates are provided to keep the fluid from surging back and forth while in flight. All gas should be supplied to the engine through a filter or strainer placed in the main gas line. The valves in the fuel lines should be provided with stopcocks, so arranged that they can be closed from the pilot's seat. In general, the carbureters should be fed by gravity from an overhead service tank, this tank being suppHed from the main reservoir by air pressure or a gasoline pump. The air can be compressed by a pump on the engine or by a paddle driven pump operated by the air- stream, and as a rule the latter is preferable, as it can be operated with the aeroplane gliding and with the engine dead. Air pressure systems are likely to fail through leaks, while with a good gasoline pump conditions are much more positive. The gravity service tank should be located so that it will feed correctly with the aeroplane tilted at least 30 degrees from the horizontal. The gasoline piping should be at least 5/16 inch inside diameter, and should be most securely connected and sup- ported against vibration. To guard against crystallization at the point of attachment, special flexible rubber hose is generally used. This must be hose made specially for this purpose, as ordinary rubber hose is soon dissolved or rotted by gasoline and oil. Air pockets must be avoided at every point in the fuel- and oil system. ' Rotating Cylinder Motors. The first rotating cylinder motor in use was the American Adams-Farwell, a type 396 MOTORS that Avas soon followed by the better known French "Gnome." Other motors of this type are the Clerget, LeRhone, Gyro and Obereusel. They are all of the air- cooled type — cooled partly by the revolution of the cyl- inders about the crank-shaft, and partly by the propeller slipstream. While the pistons slide through the cylinder bore, the rotating cylinder motor is not truly a recip- rocating type, as the pistons do not move back and forth Two Views ot the "Monosoupape" Gnome Rotary Cylinder Motor. This Motor Has 9 Cylinders Arranged Radially Around the Crankshaft and Develops 100 Horsepower. The Cylinders Are Air Cooled. in regard to the crank shaft. The cylinders revolve about the crank shaft as a center, while the pistons and connect- ing rods revolve about the crank pin, the difference in the pivot point causing relative, but not actual, recip- rocation. The original Gnome motor drew in the charge through an inlet valve in the piston head. The gas passed from the mixer, through the hollow crank-shaft, and then into the crank-case. The exhaust valve was in the cylinder head. This valve arrangement was not entirely satis- factory, and the company developed the "Monosoupape" MOTORS 39' Hall-Scott "Big Six" Aeronautical Motor of the Vertical Watercooled Type. 125 Horsepower. Hall-Scott 4-CyHnder Vertical Watercooled Motor. 80-90 Horsepower. 398 MOTORS or "Single valve" type. The 100 H. P. Monosoupape Gnome has 9 cylinders, 4.3" x 5.9". The total weight is 272 pounds and the unit weight is 2.72 pounds per horse- power. It operates on the four-stroke cycle principle. The gas consumption is 12 gals, per hour, and it uses 2.4 gals, of castor oil. The cylinders and cooling fins are machined from a solid steel forging, weighing 88 pounds. The finished cylinder weighs 5.5 pounds after machining. The Sturtevant "V" Type 8-Cylinder Water Cooled Aeronautical Motor. This Motor Is Provided With a Reduction Gear Shown at the Rear of the Crankcase. walls are very thin, probably about 1/16 inch, but they stand up well under service conditions. Assuming the piston to be on the compression stroke, the ignition will occur from 15° to 20° before the top dead center. Moving down on the working stroke, and at 85° from top dead center, the exhaust valve begins to open, and the exhaust continues until the piston returns to the upper dead center. With the valve still open, pure air now begins to enter through the exhaust valve and con- tinues to flow until the valve closes at 65° below the bot- AIOTORS 39f) torn center. Still descending, the piston forms a partial vacuum in the cylinder, until at 2° before the lower cen- ter the piston opens the ports and a very rich mixture is drawn in from the crank case. This rich mixture is diluted to the proper density by the air already in the cylinder, and forms a combustible gas. The upward movement of the piston on the compression stroke closes uction Gear, Four alve Motion. Dusenberg 4-Cylinder Vertical Water Cooled Motor With Red valves Are Used Per Cylinder. Note Peculiar Valvi the ports and compression begins. The mixture enters the crank case through a hollow shaft, with the fuel jets near the crank throws. A timed fuel pump injects the fuel at the proper intervals. Curtiss Motors. The Curtiss motors are of the water- cooled "V" type, with 6 to 8 cylinders per row. These are probably the best known motors in America and are the result of years of development, as Curtiss was the first to manufacture aero motors on a practical scale. 400 MOTORS Hall-Scott Motors. These motors are made by one of the pioneer aeronautical motor builders, and have met with great favor. They are of the vertical water-cooled type, and with the exception of minor details and weight are very similar in external appearance to the automobile motor. Four and 6-cylinder types are built. Roberts Two-Stroke Cycle Aeronautical Motor, of the Vertical 6-Cylinder Type. Two Carbureters Are Used, One for Each Group of Three Cylinders. Sturtevant Motors. These are of the "V" water-cooled type, and are provided with or without a reducing gear. At least one model is provided with lined aluminum cyl- inders. Dusenberg Motor. This is a four-cylinder, water- cooled, vertical motor with a very peculiar valve motion. The valves are operated by long levers extending from the camshaft. Two inlet, and two exhaust valves, are used MOTORS 401 per cylinder. The motor is generally furnished with a reducing gear. Roberts Motor. This is a solitary example of the two- stroke cycle type, and has been used for many years. It is simple and compact, and is noteworthy for the simplicity of its oiling system. The oil is mixed with the gasoline, and is fed through the carbureter. This is one of the many advantages of a two-stroke cycle motor. Table of Aeronautical Motors. The following table will give an idea as to the general dimensions of American aeronautical motors : i| 1^ ^^ £ £ sS &£ Is £l §s I& ^S SiS ZU m W3 CSJCrS pHtt5 PS P5^ JO ^O' Aeromarine 85 6 4.3" 5.6" 1400 1150 449 440 58" 30" Aeromarine (D-12)...160 12* 1400 750 67" 24" Curtiss OX-2 85 8*4.0" 5.0" 1400 1400 375 50" 30" Curtiss OXX-2 100 8*4.3" 5.0" 1400 1400 568 423 50" 30" Curtiss VX 160 8*5.0" 7.0" 1400 1400 1100 645 68" 35" Curtiss VX-3 200 8* 5.0" 7.0" 1100 667 Curtiss V-4 250 12*5.0" 7.0" 1650 1125 85" 35" Dusenberg 140 4 5.0" 7.0" 2100 496 455 44" 16" Gnome 100 9 4.3" 5.9" 1200 1200 920 272 Gvro (K) 90 7 4.5" 6.0" 1250 1250 242 Gvro (L) 100 9 4.5" 6.0" 1200 1200 859 285 Hall-Scott (A-7) 80-90 4 5.0" 7.0" 1370 1370 550 410 40" 19" Hall-Scott (A-5) 125 6 5.0" 7.0" 1300 1300 825 592 64" 19" Hall-Scott (A-5-a) 162 6 1325 1325 562 Hispano-Suiza 154 8*4.6" 5.0" 1500 672 455 53" 33" Knox 300 12*4.7" 7.0" 1800 1555 1425 Sturtevant (5) 140 8*4.0" 5.5" 2000 522 600 60" 23"" Sturtevant (5-a) 140 8*4.0" 5.5" 2000 522 514 60" ... Motors marked (*) are of the "V" type. ,«ao JT«» >*i«' i*a 2.i^f The Liberty Motor. The necessity of speed and quan- tity in the production of aeronautical motors after the declaration of war caused the Government to seriously consider the design of a highly standardized motor. This idea was further developed in a conference with repre- sentatives of the French and British missions on May 28, 1917, and was then submitted in the form of sketches at a joint meeting of our allies, the Aircraft Production Board, and the Joint Army and Navy Technical Board. The speed with which the work was pushed is remarka- ble, for on July 3rd, the first model of the eight cylinder 402 MOTORS type was delivered to the Bureau of Standards. Work was then concentrated on the 12 cyHnder model, and one of the experimental engines passed the 50 hour test August 25, 1917. It is of the "V" type with the cylinder blocks at an angle of 45 degrees instead of 60 degrees as in the ma- jority of 12 cylinder "V" motors. This makes the motor much narrower and more suitable for installation in the fuselage, and in this respect is similar to the arrangement of the old Packard aviation motor. It has the additional advantages of strengthening the crank case. The bore and stroke is 5''x7" as in the Hall-Scott models A-5 and A-7. The cylinders combine the leading features of the German Mercedes, the English Rolls-Royce, Lorraine- Dietrich, and Isotta-Fraschini. Steel cylinder walls are used with pressed steel water jackets, the latter being applied by means of a method developed by the Packard Company. The valve cages are drop forgings, welded to the cylinder heads. The camshaft and valve gear are above the cylinder head as in the Mercedes, but the lubrication of the parts was improved upon by the Packard Company. The crankshaft follows standard 12 cylinder practice except as to the oiling system, the latter following Ger- man practice rather closely. The first system used one pump to keep the crankcase empty delivering the oil to an outside reservoir. A second pump took the oil from the reservoir and delivered it to the main crankshaft bearings under pressure. The overflow from the main bearings traveled out over the face of the crank throw cheeks to a "Scupper," which collected the excess for crank pin lubrication. In the present system, a similar general method is followed except that the pressure oil is not only fed to the main crankshaft bearings, but also through holes in the crank cheeks to the crank pins instead of by the former scupper feed. MOTORS 403 A special Zenith carburetor is used, that is particularly adapted to the Liberty motor. A Delco iguitiou system of special form is installed to meet the peculiar cylinder block angle of 45 degrees. This ignition is of the electric gen- erator type and magnetos are not used. Several American records have been broken by the new motor, and it is reported to have given very satisfactory service, but full details of the performance are difficult to obtain owing to the strict censorship maintained in regard to things aeronautic. The motor is particularly well adapted to heavy bombing and reconnaissance type ma- chines, or for heavy duty. It is reported that the use of the motor has been discontinued on speed scouts, although further developments along this line may not have been reported. The following gives the principal characteristics of the Liberty motor, issued by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Gasoline Year Horse- Weight Weight H.P. (Model) power Pounds Per H. P. Hour 1917 400 801 2.00 0.50 1918 432 808 1.90 0.48 1918 450 825 1.80 0.46 The motors listed are all 12 cjdinder models, and the out- put and unit weights are based on a crank-shaft speed of 1800 R. P. :\L The 5"x7" bore and stroke give an output of 37.5 horsepower per cylinder in the latest model. In 1917, the Liberty motor was 65 per cent more powerful, and 28 per cent lighter, than the average stock motor in service during that year. CHAPTER XXI. GLOSSARY OF AERONAUTICAL WORDS. In the following list are the most common of the aeronautical words and phrases. Many of these words are of French origin, and in such cases are marked "Fr." In cases of English words, the French equivalents follow in parentheses. When a French word or term is given it is in italics, unless it is in common use in this country. Words marked (*) are the revisions adopted by the Na- tional Advisory Board of Aeronautics at Washington, D. C, and include the term "Airplane," which was intended to supplant the more common "Aeroplane." These revisions have not met with universal adoption, for the older words are too well established to admit of change. A ABSOLUTE UNITS. Units given in terms of mass. For expres- sion in terms of pounds (Gravitational units) they must be multi- plied by some factor involving the value of gravitation. Thus, to convert units of mass into pounds, the mass must be multiplied by the value of gravitation, 32.16 being the average figure taken for this quantity. To convert the absolute lift factors given by the N. P. L. into pounds per square foot per mile per hour, mul- tiply the absolute value by 0.0051V". ABSOLUTE ZERO. The temperature at which heat ceases to exist. This is 461 degrees below the Fahrenheit zero, or 273 de- grees below the Centigrade zero. ACCELERATE. To increase in speed. ACIER (Fr.) Steel. AERODONETICS. A word originated by Lanchester to denote the science of stability. AEROCURVE. See AEROFOIL. AEROFOIL.* A thin wing-like structure designed to obtain lift by the reaction of moving air upon its surfaces. AERODYNAMICS. A science investigating the forces produced by a stream of air acting upon a surface. AERODYNAMIC RESISTANCE. The resistance caused by tur- bulence or eddies. GLOSSARY AERODROME. A flying field. This word was also used by Lang- ley to describe an aeroplane. AEROSTAT. A lighter than air machine. AEROSTATICS. The science of lighter than air machines, or devices sustained by flotation. AEROPLANE. (Fr. L'Avion.) A heavier than air craft sustained by fixed wing surfaces driven through the air at the same velocity as the body of the machine. Auxiliary surfaces are provided for stabilizing, steering, and for producing changes in the altitude. The landing gear may be suitable for either land or water, although in the latter case it is generally known as a "Seaplane." The Committee equivalent is "Airplane." AILERON.* A movable auxiliary surface used in maintaining lateral balance. AILE (Fr.) Wing. AIRBOAT. An aeroplane provided with a light boat hull in which the pilot and passenger are enclosed. AIRCRAFT.* Any form of craft designed for the navigation of the air. This includes aeroplanes, balloons, dirigibles, helicopters, ornithopters. etc. AIRPLANE.* See aeroplane. AIRSHIP. A lighter than air craft provided with means of pro- pulsion. AIR-SCREW. See PROPELLER. ALTIMETER.* An instrument used for determining the height of aircraft above the earth. ALTITUDE. Height of aircraft above sea level— generally given in feet. AMPHIBIAN. An aeroplane equipped with landing gear for both land and water. ANEMOMETER.* An instrument for measuring the velocity of the wind. ANGLE OF INCIDENCE. The angle made by a surface or body with an air stream. In the case of curved wings, the angle is measured from the chord of the curve. ANGLE OF ATTACK.* See Angle of Incidence. ANGLE OF ENTRY. The angle made with the chord of a wing section by a line drawn tangent to the upper curved face, and at the front edge. ANGLE OF TRAIL. The angle made by a line drawn tangent to the upper surface at the trailing edge. ANEMOGRAPH. An instrument used for graphically recording the velocity of air currents. GLOSSARY APTEROID ASPECT. A wing is in apteroid aspect when the narrow edge is toward the wind. ARETIER ARRIERE (Fr.) See Trailing Edge. ARETIER AVANT (Fr.) See Leading Edge. ARBRE (Fr.) Shaft. ASPECT RATIO.* The ratio of the wing span to the chord (length divided by width). ATTERRISSAGE (Fr.) Landing Gear. ATTACHES (Fr.) Fastenings. AUXILIARY SURFACE. A surface used for stability or for the control of the aeroplane. AVIAPHONE. An electric system of communication between the passenger and pilot. AVION (Fr.) See Aeroplane. AXIS OF PITCH. The axis taken parallel to the length of the wings, and through the center of gravity. This is sometimes called the "Y" axis. AXIS OF ROLL. An axis passing fore and aft parallel to the center line of the propeller. This axis is sometimes called the "X" axis. AXIS OF YAW. A vertical axis, passing through the center of gravity, around which the machine swings when being steered in a horizontal direction under the action of the rudder. This is the "Z" axis. B BALSA WOOD. A very light wood obtained from South America. It is lighter than cork. BALLOON.* A form of aircraft of the lighter than air type com- prising a gas bag and car. It is not provided with a power plant, and depends upon the bouyancy of the gas for its sustentation. A balloon restrained from free flight by means of a cable is known as a "Captive balloon." A kite balloon is an elongated form of captive balloon, fitted with a tail to keep it headed into the wind, and is inclined at an angle so that the wind aids in increasing the lift of the gas. BALLONET.* A small air balloon within the main gas bag of a balloon or dirigible used for controlling the ascent or descent, and for keeping the fabric of the outer envelope taut when the pres- sure of the gas is reduced. The ballonet is kept inflated with air at the required pressure, the air being controlled by a valve or by regulating the speed of the blower. BANK.* To incline the wings laterally when making a turn so that a portion of the lift force will be opposed to the centrifugal force. GLOSSARY BAROGRAPH.* (Fr. Barographe.) An instrument used for re- cording pressure variations in the atmosphere. The paper charts on which the records are made are used for determining the alti- tude of aircraft. BAROMETER. An instrument used for measuring variations in the atmospheric pressure, but is not provided with a recording mechanism as in the case of the barograph. BEAUME. A scale of density or a hydrometer unit used in meas- uring the density of fluids. On the Beaume scale water is lo.oo, while on the "Specific gravity" scale water is i.oo. The Beaume scale is generally used for gasoline and oils. BENDIXG-MOMENT. The moment or "Leverage" that tends to bend a beam. BEQUILLE (Fr.) Tail Skid. BERCEAU de MOTEUR (Fr.) Engine Bed. BIAS LAID FABRIC. Fabric laid on the wing structure with the seams at an angle with the ribs. BIPLACE (Fr.) Two Seater. BIPLANE.* (Fr. Biplan.) An aeroplane with two superposed lifting surfaces. BODY. See FUSELAGE. BODY RAILS. See LONGERONS. BO IS (Fr.) Wood. BOIS CREUS (Fr.) Hollow wood construction. BOMBER. An aeroplane used for bombing operations. BOOM. The fore and aft beams running from the wings to the tail in a pusher type biplane. BORD de ATT AC QUE (Fr.) Entering or leading edge. BORD de SORTIE (Fr.) Trailing edge. BLADE, PROPELLER. (Fr. Pale-Helice.) BOULON (Fr.) Bolt. BOUSSOLE (Fr.) Compass. BRAS de AILE (Fr.) Wing Spar. BREVET (Fr.) Flying permit or license. BRAKES, AIR. Small adjustable flaps used in increasing the head resistance during a landing, thus decreasing the speed. BURBLE POINT. The angle at which the lift of a wing section reaches a maximum. BUOYANCY. The static force due to a difference in density. The difference in density between the gas in a balloon envelope and the outside air determines the sustaining or buoyant force of a balloon. BUS. A slow fairly stable aeroplane used in training schools. GLOSSARY CABLE. (Fr. Cable.) A wire rope built up of a number of small strands. CAERE' * (Fr.) A %ing attitude in which the angle of incidence is larger than normal with the tail well down. CAMBER.* The convexity, or rise of a lifting surface, measured from the chord of the curve. It is usually, given as the ratio of the maximum height of the curve to the length of the chord. Top camber refers to the upper surface, and bottom camber to the lower surface. CABANE (Fr.) The center struts rising from the top of the body to the upper wing, or the short struts used for the bracing of the overhanging portions of a biplane wing. Usually cabane denotes the center cell struts. CANARD (Fr.) A machine in which the elevator and stabilizer are in front. The canard type flies "Tail first." CAPOT (Fr.) Cowl or motor hood. CAPTIVE BALLOON.* See Balloon. CAPACITY.* The lifting capacity is the maximum flying load of an aicraft. The carrying capacity (live load) is the excess of the lifting capacity over the dead weight of the aeroplane, the latter including the structure, power plant and essential accessories. CARLINGUE (Fr.) Cock-pit. CATA-HEDRAL. A negative dihedral, or wing arrangement, where the wing tips are lower than the center portion. CATAPULT. A device for launching an aeroplane from the deck of a ship or other limited space. The first Wright machines were launched with a catapult. CELL. (Fr. Cellule.) The space included between adjacent struts of a biplane. The space between the center struts is the "Center Cell." CEILING. The maximum altitude to which an aeroplane can ascend. CEINTURE de SURETE (Fr.) Safety Belt. CENTER OF PRESSURE (C. P.)* The point of application of the resultant of all aerodynamic forces on an aeroplane wing. If the wing is supported at the center of pressure it will be in equi- librium. CENTER OF GRAVITY. The point at which an aeroplane will balance when freely suspended. CENTER OF BUOYANCY.* The point at which the resultant of all the buoyant forces act. GLOSSARY CHARXIERE (Fr.) Hinge. CHASSIS. The landing wheels and their frame. This is also called the "Landing gear" in English, or the "Train de Atferrissage" in French. The chassis carries the load when resting on the ground or when running over the surface. CHORD.* This has two meanings. The chord is the width of a wing or its shortest dimension. The chord is also the straight line drawn across the leading and trailing edges of a wing section. CHASER. (Fr. Avion de Chasse.) A small, fast machine used in scouting or fighting. This type is also known as a "Speed scout." CHARA-A-BANC (Fr.) A two seater aeroplane in which the pilot and passenger are seated side by side. CLOCHE (Fr.) A type of control column used on the old Type XI Bleriot. COCK-PIT. The part of the body occupied by the pilot or passen- ger. The openings in the body cut for entrance and exit are the "Cock-pit Openings." COMMAXDES A POXT (Fr.) Control bridge or Deperdussin yoke. COMPTE TOURS (Fr.) Tachometer or speed indicator. COMPOXEXTS. The individual forces that make up a total re- sultant force. COXTROLS.* (Fr. Commandes.) The complete system used for steering, elevating, balancing, and speed regulation. When con- trols are operated by hand they are known as "Manual Controls." COXTROL BRIDGE. (Fr. Commandes A Pont.) The "U" shaped lever used with the Deperdussin control system. Sometimes known as the "Yoke." COXTROL STICK. (Fr. Manche A Balqi.) A simple control lever capable of being moved in four directions for elevation, depression and lateral balance. COXTROL SURFACES. The adjustable surfaces used for direct- ing and balancing aircraft. On an aeroplane these are represented by the rudder, elevator, and ailerons. COXTREPLAQVE (Fr.) Three-ply wood. CORDE (Fr.) Cord or wire. CORD A PIAXO (Fr.) Piano or solid hard wire. CORD WIXDIXG (Fr. Transfil.) A winding wrapped around wooden struts to prevent splintering or complete fracture. COSSE (Fr.) Thimble for cable connections. COUSSIX (Fr.) Cushion. COVERIXG, WIXG. (Fr. Entoilage.) The fabric used in cover- ing the wing structure. GLOSSARY CRITICAL ANGLE.* The angle of attack or incidence at which the lift is a maximum. COWL. (Fr. Capot.) The metal cover surrounding a rotary cyl- inder motor. CROISILLONS (xV.) Bracing wires. DAMPING. The reduction of oscillation or vibration by the resist- ance of the stabilizing surfaces. DEAD LOAD. The weight of the structure, power plant, and essen- tial accessories. DEAD WATER. The wake directly in the rear of a moving body or surface. Dc CHASSE (Fr.) See CHASER. DECALAGE.* The difference in the angle of incidence between the upper and lower wings of a biplane. DEMOISELLE TYPE. A small monoplane type developed by Santos Dumont. DENSITY. The specific weight, or the weight per cubic foot. DIEDRE (Fr.) Dihedral angle. DERIVE (Fr.) Fin. DIHEDRAL ANGLE. (Fr. Diedre.) When the tips of the wing are higher than at the center, the two wing halves form an angle. The included angle between the two halves, taken above the sur- face, is known as the "Dihedral angle." DIPPING FRONT EDGE. A wing section in which the leading edge is well bent down below the rest of the lower surface. DIRIGIBLE.* A lighter than air craft in which sustentation is provided by a gas bag. It differs from a balloon in having a power plant, and is thus capable of flying in any desired direction regard- less of the wind. DISC AREA OF PROPELLER.* The total area of the disc swept out by the propeller tips. DISCONTINUITY. Interruption in direction, or breaks in stream line flow. A body causing eddies or turbulence causes "Discontinu- ous flow." The surface separating the eddies and the continuous stream is called a "Surface of Discontinuity." DISPLACEMENT. The volume or space occupied by a floating body. DOUBLE CAMBER. A wing section in which both the top and bottom surfaces are given a convex camber or curvature. DOPE. (Fr. Enduit.) A solution used for protecting and stretch- ing the wing fabric. GLOSSARY DRAG. The resistance offered to the forward motion of a surface or body moving through the air. As defined by the Advisory Committee this is the total resistance offered by the craft and includes both the resistance of the wings and body. This concep- tion is confusing, hence the author has considered drag as being the forward resistance of the wings alone. The resistance of the structure is simply called the "Head resistance," and the sum of the resistances is the "Total resistance." This nomenclature was in existence before the Advisory Board proposed their definition. DRIFT. As defined by the Advisory Board, the drift is the hori- zontal resistance offered by the wings alone. This is confusing since previous works defined "Drift" as the amount by which an aircraft was driven out of its normal path by wind gusts. Accord- ing to usage, "Drift" is the sidewise deviation from the normal flight path. DRAG WIRES. The bracing wires used for resisting the drag stresses set up in the wing. DRIFT INDICATOR. An instrument for indicating the amount by which an aircraft is blown out of its path by side winds. DUAL CONTROL. A double system of control that can be operated both by the pilot and passenger. DUTCH ROLL. A combined side roll and fore and aft pitch. The machine rolls from side to side in combination with an up and down motion of the nose. DYNAMIC PRESSURE. The pressure due to the impact of an air stream. ECCENTRIC LOAD. A load acting to one side of the center line of a beam or strut. ECOLE (Fr.) School. ECROU (Fr.) Nut. EDDY. An irregularly moving mass of air caused by the breaking up of a continuous air stream, or by "Discontinuity." EFFICIENCY. The efficiency of a lifting surface is generally expressed by the ratio of the lift to the drag, or the "Lift-drag ratio." The efficiency of a propeller is the ratio of the work usefully applied to the air stream in regard to the power supplied to the propeller. ELEVATOR.* The hinged horizontal tail surface used for main- taining longitudinal equilibrium and for ascent or descent. EMPENNAGE (Fr.) The group of tail surfaces, including the elevator and stabilizer. GLOSSARY ENDUIT (Fr.) Dope. ENGINE ROTATION. According to the Advisory Board, an engine is turning in right-hand rotation when the output shaft stub fs turning anti-clockwise. ENGINE BEARERS (BED). (Fr. Berceau du Moteur). The timbers or fuselage members upon which the engine is fastened. ENGINE SPIDER or BRACKET. (Fr. Arraignee Support dc Moteur.') A perforated metal support for a rotary cylinder motor. ENTERING EDGE. (Fr. Bord D'Attaque or Arctier Avant.) The front edge, or air engaging edge, of an aerofoil or lifting surface. It is also called the "Leading Edge." ENTOILAGE (Fr.) Wing fabric or covering. ENVELOPE. The gas bag of a balloon or dirigible. ESSIEU (Fr.) Axle. ENVERGURE (Fr.) Wing span. EXPANDING PITCH. A system in which the pitch increases or "expands" towards the tips of the propeller. FABRIC, WING. (Fr. Entoilage.) The cloth used for covering the wing and control surface structures. FAIRING. (Fr. Fusele.) Wood coverings used to streamline steel struts or other structural members. FERRULES. Sheet steel caps used for the ends of the interplane struts. FIN. (Fr. Derive.) A fixed vertical stabilizing surface used for damping out horizontal vibration and oscillations. FINENESS RATIO. The ratio of the maximum length to the width of a streamline body. FITTINGS. (Fr. Ferriires, Godets.) The metal parts used for making connections between the structural parts of an aeroplane. FIXED TAIL. (See STABILIZER.) FLACCID BLADE PROPELLER. A propeller having a cloth covered frame work on which the fabric is free to adjust itself to the air pressure. FLAPS, ELEVATOR. (Fr. Volets de Profondeur.) See ELE- VATOR. FLEXIBLE SHAFT. (Fr. Transmission flexible.) Used for tachometer drive. FLOORING. (Fr. Plancher.) FLASQUE D'HELICE (Fr.) Propeller flange. FOOT LEVER. (Fr. Palomiier.) The foot lever generally used to operate the rudder. GLOSSARY FORMERS. Supports used in giving a certain outline to the fusel- age. The formers are attached to the fuselage frame and in turn support small stringers on which the fabric is fastened. FRICTIOXAL WAKE. The following current of air in the rear of a moving body or surface. Because of the friction, a portion of the air is drawn in the direction of the motion. FUSELAGE. A structure, usually enclosed, which contains and streamlines the power plant, passengers, fuel, etc. Sometimes called the "Body." FUSELAGE BIPLANE. See TRACTOR BIPLANE. FUSIFORM. Of streamline form. G GAP. The vertical distance between leading edges of the super- posed planes of the biplane or triplane. GLIDING. (Fr. Vol Plan.) With an aeroplane the weight of the machine can be made to provide a forward component that will allow the machine to descend slowly (without power) along an inclined line. This line is known as the "Gliding Path." GLIDING ANGLE. The angle made by the gliding path with the horizontal is known as the gliding angle. This may be expressed in degrees or in the units of horizontal distance traveled per foot of fall. GLIDER. A small form of aeroplane without a power plant, which is capable of gliding down from an elevation in the manner of an aeroplane. With a proper direction and velocity of wind it can be made to hold a constant altitude and can be made to hover over one spot continuously. GOUVERXAIL (Fr.) Rudder. GUY WIRE. A bracing wire. H HARD WIRE. A solid tempered wire of high tensile strength used for aeroplane bracing systems. H. T. WIRE. Another expression for hard or high tensile strength wire. HEAD RESISTANCE. The resistance of the structural parts of an aircraft. In an aeroplane, the head resistance is the sum of the resistances of the body, stays, struts, chassis, tail, rudder, elevators, etc. ; in fact, this includes everything with the exception of the wing drag. HELICOPTER. A type of direct lift machine in which sustenta- tion is performed by vertical air screws or propellers. GLOSSARY GLOSSARY HELIX. A geometrical curve formed by the combined advance and revolution of a point. HELICE (Fr.) Propeller or screw. HELICE TRACTIVE (Fr.) Tractor propeller. HYDROAEROPLANE. See SEAPLANE. HOLLOW WOOD CONSTRUCTION. (Fr. Bois Creus.) HOOD OF ENGINE. (Fr. Capot.) HYDROMETER. An instrument for measuring the density of liquids. I ICTHYOID. Fish or stream lined shape. INCLINED PLANE. A plane inclined to the wind stream so that the energy of the air stream is broken up into the two components of lift and drag. INCLINOMETER. An instrument used for determining the angle of the flight path. INCIDENCE. See ANGLE OF INCIDENCE. INCIDENCE, NEGATIVE. The angle formed with the air stream when front edge of the lifting surface dips below the apparent flight path. INHERENT STABILITY. Stability due to some f\xed arrange- ment of the main or auxiliary surfaces. A machine that requires mechanism or moving parts for its stability is automatically but not inherently stable. INTERFERENCE. The crowding of the airstream in the gap of a biplane or triplane causes the surfaces to "Interfere," and results in a loss of lift. J JOY STICK. See CONTROL STICK. JA}[B de FORCE (Fr.) Bracing strut. J ANTE (Fr.) Rim of wheel. KITE BALLOON. See BALLOON. KILOMETER. French metric unit of distance. One kilometer equals 0.621 statute mile or 0.5396 nautical mile. KILOGRAM. Metric unit of weight. One kilogram equals 2.205 Avoir, pounds. KNOCKOUT HUB. An aeroplane chassis wheel hub provided with removable bronze bushings. KEEL PLANE AREA.* The total effective side area of an aero- plane which tends to prevent skidding or side slipping. GLOSSARY LATERAL STABILITY. Stability about the fore and aft axis. L' AVI ON (Fr.) Aeroplane. LAMINATED. Built up in a series of layers. LEEWAY.* The angular deviation from a given course due to cross currents of wind. LEADING EDGE. See ENTERING EDGE. LIFT. The vertical component of the forces produced on an aero- foil by an air current. LIFT COEFFICIENT. The lift per unit of area at a unit velocity (Ky). The American lift coefficient is the lift in pounds per square foot at one mile per hour. LIFT CAPACITY. See CAPACITY. LIVE LOAD. The live load generally includes the passengers, pilot, fuel, oil, instruments, and portable baggage, although in some cases the instruments are included in the dead load. The live load is the difference between the total lift and the dead load. LOADING (UNIT). The unit loading is the load carried per square foot of wing surface, or is equal to the total weight divided by the area. LONGERONS. The principal fore and aft structural members of the fuselage. LONGITUDINALS. See LONGERONS. LONGITUDINAL STABILITY. Stability in a fore and aft direc- tion about the "Y" axis. M MASS. The quantity of matter. Is equal to the weight in pounds divided by the gravitation, or generally to the weight divided by 32.16. MANDRIN de BOIS (Fr.) Wood spar. MAROUFLAGE (Fr.) Strut taping with fabric bands. MAN CHE A BALAI (Fr.) Control stick. MANETTE (Fr.) Throttle. MAR, MONTANT (Fr.) Interplane struts. METACENTER.* The point of intersection of a straight vertical line passing through the center of gravity of the displaced fluid or gas, and the line that formerly was a vertical through the center of gravity before the body was tipped from its position of equilibrium. There is a different metacenter for each position of a floating body. MONOPLANE. (Fr. Monoplan.) A type of aeroplane with a single wing surface. GLOSSARY MONOCOQUE BODY (Fr.) A body built up in tubular form out of three-ply wood, thus virtually forming a single piece body. MONOPLACE (Fr.) Single seater. MOXOSOUPAPE (Fr.) Single valve Gnome motor. MONTGOLFIER (Fr.) Hot air balloon. MULTIPLANE. An aeroplane having the main lifting surface divided into a number of parts. N NACELLE. The body or fuselage of an aeroplane or dirigible. It generally signifies a dirigible body. The short fuselage of a pusher type is often called the nacelle. NATURAL STABILITY. See INHERENT STABILITY. NEGATIVE AILERONS. Ailerons making a negative angle with the wind when in normal flight. The negative incidence of the ailerons is decreased on the low side and increased on the high side so that the high side is pushed down. This decreases the drag on the lower, inner wing in making a turn, and therefore does not tend to stall the machine. NERVURES (Fr.) Wing ribs. NORMAL PLANE. A flat plane placed with its surface at right angles to the air stream. NORMAL PRESSURE. The pressure at right angles to the sur- face of a plane. NON-LIFTING TAIL. A stabilizing surface arranged so that it carries no load in normal flight. NOSING. The member used for the entering edge of the wing. NOSE. The front end of the aeroplane. NUT. (Fr. Ecru.) O OBLITEUR RINGS (Fr.) The special piston rings used on the Gnome motor. ORTHOPTER. Any type of wing flapping machine. ORNITHOPTER. A wing flapping machine that imitates bird flight. ORTHOGONAL BIPLANE. A biplane with the upper and lower leading edges in line. OSMOSIS. The transfer of hydrogen or other gas through a bal- loon envelope by a molecular process. This must not be confused with leakage due to holes. OUTRIGGER. See Boom. GLOSSARY O. W. L, TYPE. A type of machine adapted for use over "Water and Land." PANCAKE. A straight vertical drop due to stalling. PATH OF FLIGHT. The path of the center of gravity of an air- craft in reference to the air. PALONNIER (Fr.) Foot bar or lever. PANELS. The wing sections included between adjacent struts. PATIN, PATINNAGE (Fr.) Skids. PARASOL TYPE. A monoplane in which the wing is located above the body. PENGUIN. A training machine which cannot leave the ground. PERSONNEL. Pilot and passengers. PETROL. An English term for gasoline. PHILLIP'S ENTRY. See DIPPING FRONT EDGE. PILOT. The operator of aircraft. PILOT BALLOONS. Small balloons sent up to determine the direction of the wind. PITCH. The forward distance traveled through by one revolution of the propeller. PITCHING. A fore and aft oscillation, first heading up and then diving. PISCIFORM. Fish form. PIQUE, VOL (Fr.) Dive. PLAFOND (Fr.) "Ceiling" or maximum altitude obtainable. PLAN CENTRAL (Fr.) Center panel. PLANCHER (Fr.) Flooring. PLAN FIXE de QUEUE (Fr.) Stabilizer surface. PLAN de DERIVE (Fr.) Stabilizing fin. PITOT TUBE. An instrument for measuring the velocity of an air current. PONTOON. Seaplane floats. POIGNEE (Fr.) Handle. POMPE (Fr.) Pump. POMPE A PRESS I ON (Fr.) Pressure pump. POULIE (Fr.) Pulley. PROPELLER. (Fr. Hclice.) A device used in converting the energy of a motor into the energy required for the propulsion of an aircraft. It consists of two or more rotating blades which are inclined in regard to the relative wind, and hence they act as rotary aeroplanes in creating a tractive force. GLOSSARY PROPELLER ROTATION. The direction of rotation is deter- mined when standing in the slip stream. PNEU (Fr.) Pneumatic tire. PTERYGOID ASPECT. A wing flying with the long edge to the wind is said to be in "Pterygoid Aspect." PUSHER TYPE. An aeroplane with the propeller in the rear of the wings. PYLON. A marking post on an aeroplane course. RACE OF A PROPELLER. The air stream thrown by the propeller. RADIAL MOTOR. A motor with the cylinders arranged in radial lines around the crankcase. RAKED TIPS. The tips are arranged at an angle with the wing so that the span of the trailing edge is greater than that of the leading edge. RAYONS (Fr.) Spokes. REFLEX CURVE. An aerofoil in which the trailing edge is given an upward turn. REMOUS (Fr.) A downward current of air. RESERVOIR (Fr.) Tank. RESERVOIR SOUS PRESSION (Ft.) Pressure tank. RESULTANT. The total force resulting from the application of a number of forces. RETREAT. Back swept wings with the tips to the rear of the wing center. RIBS. The fabric forming member of the wing structure. RUDDER, VERTICAL. A control surface used for steering in a horizontal plane. ROLL. Oscillation about the fore and aft axis. SCREW. (Fr. Helice.) See PROPELLER. SEAPLANE.* An aeroplane equipped with floats or pontoons for landing on water. SCOUT TYPE. See CHASER. SERVICE TANK. The fuel tank feeding directly into the carbu.- retors. SET BACK WINGS. A type of wing in which the leading edge is inclined backward as in the Mann biplane. The trailing edge is straight. GLOSSARY SHOCK ABSORBERS. An elastic device on the chassis or landing gear that absorbs vibration by allowing a limited axle movement. SIDE SLIP.* Sliding down sideways, and toward the center of a turn. This is due to an excessive angle of bank SIEGE (Fr.) Seat. SIMILITUDE, LAWS OF. The drag or resistance of a small aerodynamic body does not increase in direct proportion with the area and speed. The laws governing the relation between a model and a full size machine are known as the laws of "Similitude." SKIDS.* (Fr. Patin, Pattinage.) Long wood or metal runners at- tached to the chassis to prevent the "nosing over" of a machine when landing, or to prevent it from dropping into holes or ditches on rough ground. It also acts when the wheels collapse. SKID CURTAINS. Vertical side curtains or surfaces provided to reduce the skidding action on turns or to prevent side slip. SKIDDING.* Sliding sideways away from the center of the turn. It is due to insufficient banking on a turn. SKIN FRICTION. The resistance caused by the friction of the air along a surface. SLIP.* Applied to propeller action, the slip is the difference between the actual advance of an aircraft and the theoretical advance cal- culated from the product of the mean pitch and the revolutions per minute. When the propeller is held stationary, the slip is said to be 100 percent. SLIP STREAM. The wind stream thrown by a propeller. SOARING FLIGHT.* The sustentation of a wing surface due to wind currents and without the expenditure of other power. Soar- ing flight is performed by gulls, buzzards and vultures, but no practical machine has yet been built that will fly continuously with- out the aid of power. SPAN. (Fr. Envergure.) The length or longest dimension of a wing, generally taken at right angles to the wind stream. SPAR. (Fr. Bras D'Aile.) The main wing beams that transmit the lift to the body. SPOKES. (Fr. Rayon.) SPREAD.* See SPAN. STABILITY.* The property of an aircraft that causes it to return to a condition of equilibrium after meeting with a disturbance in flight. STAGGER.* The advance of the leading edge of the upper wing over that of the lower wing. GLOSSARY STABILIZER.* (Fr. Stabilisateur.) A horizontal tail surface (fixed) used for damping out oscillations and for promoting longi- tudinal stability. STALLING.* The condition of an aeroplane that has lost the speed necessary for steerage way or control. STALLING ANGLE. See CRITICAL ANGLE. STEERING WHEEL. (Fr. Volant.) STATOSCOPE.* An instrument for detecting a small rate of as- cent or descent. Used principally with balloons. STAY WIRE. (Fr. Tendeiir.) A wire or cable used as a tie to hold members together, or to give stiffness to a structure. STEP.* A break in the form of a float or flying boat bottom. STREAMLINE. A form of body that sets up no turbulence or eddies in passing through air or liquid. STRUT.* (Fr. Mar, Montant.) A compression member used in separating the upper and lower wings of a biplane, or the longerons of the fuselage. SWEEP BACK. See RETREAT. TACHOMETER. (Fr. Comptc Tours.) An instrument for di- rectly indicating the revolutions per minute. TAIL.* (Fr. Queue.) The rear part of an aircraft to which usu- ally are attached the rudder, stabilizer, and elevator. TAIL SKID. (Fr. Bequille.) A flexibly attached rod which holds the tail surfaces off the ground, and breaks the landing shocks on the tail structure. TAIL BOOAI. See BOOM. TAIL DIVE. A very dangerous backward dive. TAIL SPIN. A condition in which the tail revolves about a vertical line passing through the center of gravity. TANDEM PLANES. A form of aeroplane in which the wings are placed one after another. TAUBE. An old type of German or Austrian aeroplane with back swept wing tips. TAXI. To run along the ground. THIMBLE. (Fr. Cosse.) An oval grooved metal fitting used for the protection of a cable loop at the point of attachment. THREE-PLY. (Fr. Contre plaque.) A wood sheet composed of three layers of wood glued together, the line of grain crossing at each joint. THRUST. The propulsive force exerted by a propeller. GLOSSARY THRUST DEDUCTION.* The reduction of thrust due to a reduc- tion of pressure under the stern of the aircraft. TIRANT (Fr.) Bracing tubes. TORQUE. The turning force or moment exerted by the motor. TOILE (Fr.) Linen. TORQUE WARP. The amount of warp, or permanent set in the ailerons necessary to overcome the torque or twisting effect of the motor. In some machines the torque is overcome by changing the angle of incidence at the wing tips. TRACTOR BIPLANE. A type of aeroplane in which the propeller is placed in front of the wings so that it pulls the machine along. TRAILING EDGE. The edge of a wing at which the air stream leaves the surface. TRAIN D'ATTERRISSAGE (Fr.) Landing gear. TRANSFIL (Fr.) Cord winding on the struts. TRIPLANE. (Fr. Triplan.) An aeroplane with three superposed wings. TURBULENCE. The eddies or discontinuity caused by a body or surface passing through the air. U USEFUL WEIGHT. The difference between the total lift and the dead load. This comprises the pilot and passenger, the weight of the fuel, baggage and instruments. UNIT LOADING. The weight per square foot of main wing surface. V VOL PLANE (Fr.) See GLIDE. VOL PIQUE (Fr.) See DIVE. VOLANT (Fr.) Steering wheel. VERNIS (Fr.) Varnish. VRIL (Fr.) Spinning nose dive. VOLETS de PROFONDEUR (Fr.) Elevator flaps. W WARP CONTROL* Lateral control obtained by twisting the wing tips. WASHOUT. Decreased camber or incidence toward the wing tips. WEATHER-COCK STABILITY. Stability in the line of travel, or with the relative wind, so that the machine always tends to head into the wind. WHALE TYPE. A speed type biplane in which the body entirely fills the gap between the upper and lower wings. GLOSSARY WHIRLING TABLE. A testing device in which a model wing or body is placed at the end of a revolving arm. WINGS.* (Fr. Ailc.) The main supporting surfaces of an aero- plane. WORKING FACE. The face of a propeller blade lying next to the slip stream. WAKE GAIN.* Due to skin friction and eddies, a moving aircraft drags a certain amount of the surrounding air with it. This re- duces the effective resistance of the hull and increases the effective pitch of a pusher propeller since the latter acts on a forward moving mass of air. This is "Wake gain." Launching with Catapult from Deck of Battleship. GLOSSARY GLOSSARY »Q4(Q\^ff .'itfr/tm. IP 8 Wire .Lfngffx.af eyf .. ict wira .OeOwirc Pi/t/Crtess of Thimt/c Standard U. S. A. Wire and Cable Connections. Top Shows Stranded H. T. Cable with Thimble in Loop and Soft Wire Serving Bands. Center Is Solid Hard Wire Loop. Bottom Is Detail of Thimble. GLOSSARY Progressive Steps in Applying Sewing to Stranded Cable (No Thimble). After Sewing Is Applied the Connection Is Soldered All Over As Shown by (d). Same Applies When Thimble Is Used. (a) and (b) Show Hard Wire Connections Made with Copper Sleeve, (c) and (d) Show "Turk's Head" Connection of Stranded Cable, in Which End of Cable Is Flayed Out and Soldered into Connection Socket. h . 3-2-^ University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. ^ r >^- '^ A 000 343 387 7 /f/