Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War | Page 7

are dangerous even in the hands of experts.
THE APPLICATION OF POWER.--The thing now to consider is not form, or shape, or the distribution of the supporting surfaces, but HOW to apply the power so that it will rapidly transfer a machine at rest to one in motion, and thereby get the proper support on the atmosphere to hold it in flight.
THE SUPPORTING SURFACES.--This brings us to the consideration of one of the first great problems in flying machines, namely, the supporting surfaces,--not its form, shape or arrangement, (which will be taken up in their proper places), but the area, the dimensions, and the angle necessary for flight.
AREA NOT THE ESSENTIAL THING.--The history of flying machines, short as it is, furnishes many examples of one striking fact: That area has but little to do with sustaining an aeroplane when once in flight. The first Wright flyer weighed 741 pounds, had about 400 square feet of plane surface, and was maintained in the air with a 12 horse power engine.
True, that machine was shot into the air by a catapult. Motion having once been imparted to it, the only thing necessary for the motor was to maintain the speed.
There are many instances to show that when once in flight, one horse power will sustain over 100 pounds, and each square foot of supporting surface will maintain 90 pounds in flight.
THE LAW OF GRAVITY.--As the effort to fly may be considered in the light of a struggle to avoid the laws of nature with respect to matter, it may be well to consider this great force as a fitting prelude to the study of our subject.
Proper understanding, and use of terms is very desirable, so that we must not confuse them. Thus, weight and mass are not the same. Weight varies with the latitude, and it is different at various altitudes; but mass is always the same.
If projected through space, a certain mass would move so as to produce momentum, which would be equal at all places on the earth's surface, or at any altitude.
Gravity has been called weight, and weight gravity. The real difference is plain if gravity is considered as the attraction of mass for mass. Gravity is generally known and considered as a force which seeks to draw things to the earth. This is too narrow.
Gravity acts in all directions. Two balls suspended from strings and hung in close proximity to each other will mutually attract each other. If one has double the mass it will have twice the attractive power. If one is doubled and the other tripled, the attraction would be increased six times. But if the distance should be doubled the attraction would be reduced to one-fourth; and if the distance should be tripled then the pull would be only one-ninth.
The foregoing is the substance of the law, namely, that all bodies attract all other bodies with a force directly in proportion to their mass, and inversely as the square of their distance from one another.
To explain this we cite the following illustration: Two bodies, each having a mass of 4 pounds, and one inch apart, are attracted toward each other, so they touch. If one has twice the mass of the other, the smaller will draw the larger only one-quarter of an inch, and the large one will draw the other three-quarters of an inch, thus confirming the law that two bodies will attract each other in proportion to their mass.
Suppose, now, that these balls are placed two inches apart,--that is, twice the distance. As each is, we shall say, four pounds in weight, the square of each would be 16. This does not mean that there would be sixteen times the attraction, but, as the law says, inversely as the square of the distance, so that at two inches there is only one-sixteenth the attraction as at one inch.
If the cord of one of the balls should be cut, it would fall to the earth, for the reason that the attractive force of the great mass of the earth is so much greater than the force of attraction in its companion ball.
INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF GRAVITATION.--Gravity cannot be produced or destroyed. It acts between all parts of bodies equally; the force being proportioned to their mass. It is not affected by any intervening substance; and is transmitted instantaneously, whatever the distance may be.
While, therefore, it is impossible to divest matter of this property, there are two conditions which neutralize its effect. The first of these is position. Let us take two balls, one solid and the other hollow, but of the same mass, or density. If the cavity of the one is large enough to receive the other, it is obvious that while gravity is still present the lines of attraction being equal at all points, and