Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War | Page 5

and correct reasoning than to furnish complete diagrams of the details
of a machine. The former teach the art, whereas the latter merely point
out the mechanical arrangements, independently of the reasons for
making the structures in that particular way.
Relating the history of an art, while it may be interesting reading, does
not even lay the foundations of a knowledge of the subject, hence that
field has been left to others.
The boy is naturally inquisitive, and he is interested in knowing WHY
certain things are necessary, and the reasons for making structures in
particular ways. That is the void into which these pages are placed.
The author knows from practical experience, while experimenting with
and building aeroplanes, how eagerly every boy inquires into details.
They want the reasons for things.
One such instance is related to evidence this spirit of inquiry. Some
boys were discussing the curved plane structure. One of them ventured
the opinion that birds' wings were concaved on the lower side. "But,"

retorted another, "why are birds' wings hollowed?"
This was going back to first principles at one leap. It was not satisfying
enough to know that man was copying nature. It was more important to
know why nature originated that type of formation, because, it is
obvious, that if such structures are universal in the kingdom of flying
creatures, there must be some underlying principle which accounted for
it.
It is not the aim of the book to teach the art of flying, but rather to show
how and why the present machines fly. The making and the using are
separate and independent functions, and of the two the more important
is the knowledge how to make a correct machine.
Hundreds of workmen may contribute to the building of a locomotive,
but one man, not a builder, knows better how to handle it. To
manipulate a flying machine is more difficult to navigate than such a
ponderous machine, because it requires peculiar talents, and the
building is still more important and complicated, and requires the
exercise of a kind of skill not necessary in the locomotive.
The art is still very young; so much is done which arises from
speculation and theories; too much dependence is placed on the aviator;
the desire in the present condition of the art is to exploit the man and
not the machine; dare-devil exhibitions seem to be more important than
perfecting the mechanism; and such useless attempts as flying upside
down, looping the loop, and characteristic displays of that kind, are of
no value to the art. THE AUTHOR.

AEROPLANES
CHAPTER I
THEORIES AND FACTS ABOUT FLYING
THE "SCIENCE" OF AVIATION.--It may be doubted whether there is

such a thing as a "science of aviation." Since Langley, on May 6, 1896,
flew a motor-propelled tandem monoplane for a minute and an half,
without a pilot, and the Wright Brothers in 1903 succeeded in flying a
bi-plane with a pilot aboard, the universal opinion has been, that flying
machines, to be successful, must follow the structural form of birds,
and that shape has everything to do with flying.
We may be able to learn something by carefully examining the
different views presented by those interested in the art, and then see
how they conform to the facts as brought out by the actual experiments.
MACHINE TYPES.--There is really but one type of plane machine.
While technically two forms are known, namely, the monoplane and
the bi-plane, they are both dependent on outstretched wings, longer
transversely than fore and aft, so far as the supporting surfaces are
concerned, and with the main weight high in the structure, thus, in
every particular, conforming to the form pointed out by nature as the
apparently correct type of a flying structure.
SHAPE OR FORM NOT ESSENTIAL.--It may be stated with perfect
confidence, that shape or form has nothing to do with the mere act of
flying. It is simply a question of power. This is a broad assertion, and
its meaning may be better understood by examining the question of
flight in a broad sense.
A STONE AS A FLYING MACHINE.--When a stone is propelled
through space, shape is of no importance. If it has rough and jagged
sides its speed or its distance may be limited, as compared with a
perfectly rounded form. It may be made in such a shape as will offer
less resistance to the air in flight, but its actual propulsion through
space does not depend on how it is made, but on the power which
propelled it, and such a missile is a true heavier-than-air machine.
A flying object of this kind may be so constructed that it will go a
greater distance, or require less power, or maintain itself in space at less
speed; but it is