Chapter X
Experimental Aerodonetics
§ 165. Introductory.—The present subject is one of quite recent growth, in fact, it would appear that no comprehensive attempt has previously been made to deal with the question of stability in flight either by theory or experiment. Although other investigators have worked in the field, notably Penaud, Hargraves, Lilienthal, and Pitcher (apart from the builders of flying machines proper, such as Farman and the brothers Wright), the author has no knowledge of any systematic experimental work having been done or published, and the present chapter consists principally of an account of his own work.
The author's experiments comprise observations on the flight of aerodones or aerodromes of various sizes and proportions. The more important of these experiments, so far as data and results are concerned, have already been given (Chap. VI.), so that the present account is in the main a description of method and of the detail construction of flight models.
The construction of the flight models or aerodones, though originally a matter of comparative simplicity, is a subject into which, bit by bit, a considerable amount of technicality has crept, until the building up of a large low-velocity mica model, such as that illustrated in Fig. 55, is a matter that requires a certain amount of detailed instruction. Beyond this there are, in the handling of mica, and in the designing and building of models generally, many points in respect of which the author's experience will doubtless prove of value to others who may contemplate entering this fascinating field of research.
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