wing ascends, and is slightly elevated in a curve when the wing
descends. The wing and body are consequently always playing
at cross purposes, the wing rising when the body is falling and
vice versa. The alternate rise and fall of the body and wing of
the bird are well seen when contemplating the flight of the gull
from the stern of a steamboat, as the bird is following in the wake
of the vessel. The complementary movements referred to are
indicated at fig. 29, where the continuous waved line represents
the trajectory made by the wing, and the dotted waved line that
made by the body. As will be seen from this figure, the wing
advances both when it rises and when it falls. It is a peculiarity
of natural wings, and of artificial wings constructed on the
principle of living wings, that when forcibly elevated or depressed,
even in a strictly vertical direction, they inevitably dart forward.
If, for instance, the wing is suddenly depressed in a vertical
direction, as at a b of fig. 29, it at once darts downwards and
forwards in a double curve (see continuous line of figure) to c,
thus converting the vertical down stroke into a down, oblique,
forward stroke. If, again, the wing be suddenly elevated in a
strictly vertical direction, as at c d, the wing as certainly darts
upwards and forwards in a double curve to e, thus converting
the vertical up strokes into an upward, oblique, forward stroke.
The same thing happens when the wing is depressed from e to f
and elevated from g to h, the wing describing a waved track as at
e g, g i.
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| Fig. 29 shows how in progressive flight the wing and the body describe waved tracks,—the crests of the waves made by the wing (a, c, e, g, i) being placed opposite the crests of the waves made by the body (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). |
There are good reasons why the wings should always be in advance of the body. A bird when flying is a body in motion; but a body in motion tends to fall not vertically downwards, but downwards and forwards. The wings consequently must be made to strike forwards and kept in advance of the body of the bird if they are to prevent the bird from falling downwards and forwards. If the wings were to strike backwards in aerial flight, the bird would turn a forward somersault.
That the wings invariably strike forwards during the down and up strokes in aerial flight is proved alike by observation and experiment. If any one watches a bird rising from the ground or the water, he cannot fail to perceive that the head and body are slightly tilted upwards, and that the wings are made to descend with great vigour in a downward and forward direction. The dead natural wing and a properly constructed artificial wing act in precisely the same way. If the wing of a gannet, just shot, be removed and made to flap in what the operator believes to be a strictly vertical downward direction, the tip of the wing, in spite of him, will dart forwards between 2 and 3 ft.—the amount of forward movement being regulated by the rapidity of the down stroke. This is a very striking experiment. The same thing happens with a properly constructed artificial wing. The down stroke with the artificial as with the natural wing is invariably converted into an oblique, downward and forward stroke. No one ever saw a bird in the air flapping its wings towards its tail. The old idea was that the wings during the down stroke pushed the body of the bird in an upward and forward direction; in reality the wings do not push but pull, and in order to pull they must always be in advance of the body to be flown. If the wings did not themselves fly forward, they could not possibly cause the body of the bird to fly forward. It is the wings which cause the bird to fly.
It only remains to be stated that the wing acts as a true kite, during both the down and the up strokes, its under concave or biting surface, in virtue of the forward travel communicated to it by the body of the flying creature, being closely applied to the air, during both its ascent and its descent. This explains how the wing furnishes a persistent buoyancy alike when it rises and when it falls (fig. 30).
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| Fig. 30 shows the kite-like action of the wing during the down and up strokes, how the angles made by the wing with the horizon (a, b) vary at every stage of these strokes, and how the wing evades the superimposed air during the up stroke, and seizes the nether air during the down stroke. In this figure the spaces between the double dotted lines (c g, i b) represent the down strokes, the single dotted line (h, i) representing the up stroke. The kite-like surfaces and angles made by the wing with the horizon (a, b) during the down strokes are indicated at c d e f g, j k l m,—those made during the up strokes being indicated at g h i. As the down and up strokes run into each other, and the convex surface of the wing is always directed upwards and the concave surface downwards, it follows that the upper surface of the wing evades in a great measure the upper air, while the under surface seizes the nether air. It is easy to understand from this figure how the wing always flying forwards furnishes a persistent buoyancy. |
The natural kite formed by the wing differs from the artificial kite only in this, that the former is capable of being moved in all its parts, and is more or less flexible and elastic, whereas the latter is comparatively rigid. The flexibility and elasticity of the kite formed by the natural wing are rendered necessary by the fact that the wing, as already stated, is practically hinged at its root and along its anterior margin, an arrangement which necessitates its several parts travelling at different degrees of speed, in proportion as they are removed from the axes of rotation. Thus the tip travels at a higher speed than the root, and the posterior margin than the anterior margin. This begets a twisting diagonal movement of the wing on its long axis, which, but for the elasticity referred to, would break the wing into fragments. The elasticity contributes also to the continuous play of the wing, and ensures that no two parts of it shall reverse at exactly the same instant. If the wing was inelastic, every part of it would reverse at precisely the same moment, and its vibration would be characterized by pauses or dead points at the end of the down and up strokes which would be fatal to it as a flying organ. The elastic properties of the wing are absolutely essential, when the mechanism and movements of the pinion are taken into account. A rigid wing can never be an effective flying instrument.
The kite-like surfaces referred to in natural flight are those upon which the constructors of flying machines very properly ground their hopes of ultimate success. These surfaces may be conferred on artificial wings, aeroplanes, aerial screws or similar structures; and these structures, if we may judge from what we find in nature, should be of moderate size and elastic. The power of the flying organs will be increased if they are driven at a comparatively high speed, and particularly if they are made to reverse and reciprocate, as in this case they will practically create the currents upon which they are destined to rise and advance. The angles made by the kite-like surfaces with the horizon should vary according to circumstances. They should be small when the speed is high, and vice versa. This, as stated, is true of natural wings. It should also be true of artificial wings and their analogues.
Artificial Flight.—We are now in a position to enter upon a consideration of artificial wings and wing movements, and of artificial flight and flying machines.
We begin with artificial wings. The first properly authenticated account of an artificial wing was given by G. A. Borelli in 1670. This author, distinguished alike as a physiologist, mathematician and mechanician, describes and figures a bird with artificial wings, each of which consists of a rigid rod in front and flexible feathers behind. The wings are represented as striking vertically downwards, as the annexed duplicate of Borelli’s figure shows (fig. 31).
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| Fig. 31. |
| Borelli’s bird with artificial wings. |
| r e, Anterior margin of the right wing, consisting of a rigid rod. o a, Posterior margin of the right wing, consisting of flexible feathers. b c, Anterior; and f, Posterior margins of the left wing same as the right. d, Tail of the bird. r g, d h, Vertical direction of the down stroke of the wing. |
Borelli was of opinion that flight resulted from the application of an inclined plane, which beats the air, and which has a wedge
