Aeroplanes

From the opening

The "Science" of Aviation. Machine Types. Shape or Form not Essential. A Stone as a Flying Machine. Power the Great Element. Gravity as Power. Mass and Element in Flying. Momentum a Factor. Resistance. How Resistance Affects Shape. Mass and Resistance. The Early Tendency to Eliminate Momentum. Light Machines Unstable. The Application of Power. The Supporting Surfaces. Area not the Essential Thing. The Law of Gravity. Gravity. Indestructibility of Gravitation. Distance Reduces Gravitational Pull. How Motion Antagonizes Gravity. A Tangent. Tangential Motion Represents Centrifugal Pull. Equalizing the Two Motions. Lift and Drift. Normal Pressure. Head Resistance. Measuring Lift and Drift. Pressure at Different Angles. Difference Between Lift and Drift in Motion. Tables of Lift and Drift. Why Tables of Lift and Drift are Wrong. Langley's Law. Moving Planes vs. Winds. Momentum not Considered. The Flight of Birds. The Downward Beat. The Concaved Wing. Feather Structure Considered. Webbed Wings. The Angle of Movement. An Initial Movement or Impulse Necessary. A Wedging Motion. No Mystery in the Wave Motion. How Birds Poise with Flapping Wings. Narrow- winged Birds. Initial Movement of Soaring Birds. Soaring Birds Move Swiftly. Muscular Energy Exerted by Soaring Birds. Wings not Motionless.

CHAPTER II. PRINCIPLES OF AEROPLANE FLIGHT Speed as one of the Elements. Shape and Speed. What "Square of the Speed" Means. Action of a "Skipper." Angle of Incidence. Speed and Surface. Control of the Direction of Flight. Vertical Planes.

CHAPTER III. THE FORM OR SHAPE OF FLYING MACHINES The Theory of Copying Nature. Hulls of Vessels. Man Does not Copy Nature. Principles Essential, not Forms. Nature not the Guide as to Forms. The Propeller Type. Why Specially-designed Forms Improve Natural Structures. Mechanism Devoid of Intelligence. A Machine Must Have a Substitute for Intelligence. Study of Bird Flight Useless. Shape of Supporting Surface. The Trouble Arising From Outstretched Wings. Density of the Atmosphere. Elasticity of the Air. "Air Holes." Responsibility for Accidents. The Turning Movement. Centrifugal Action: The Warping Planes.

A short sample. Read the whole book

More to read

• A Critical Examination of the Position of Mr. Darwin's Work, "On the Origin of Species," in Relation to the Complete Theory of the Causes of the Phenomena of Organic Nature Lecture VI. (of VI.), "Lectures to Working Men", at the Museum of Practical Geology, 1863, on Darwin's Work: "Origin of SpeciesThomas Henry HuxleyScience25 pages
• A Preliminary Revision of the North American Species of Cactus, Anhalonium, and LophophoraJohn Merle CoulterScience65 pages
• ABC's of ScienceCharles A. OliverScience10 pages
• An Introduction to Chemical ScienceRufus P. WilliamsScience208 pages
• Bramble-Bees and OthersJean-Henri FabreScience325 pages