The Aeroplane Speaks | Page 3

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THE AEROPLANE SPEAKS
BY H. BARBER (CAPTAIN, ROYAL FLYING CORPS)

DEDICATED TO THE SUBALTERN FLYING OFFICER

MOTIVE
The reasons impelling me to write this book, the maiden effort of my pen, are, firstly, a strong desire to help the ordinary man to understand the Aeroplane and the joys and troubles of its Pilot; and, secondly, to produce something of PRACTICAL assistance to the Pilot and his invaluable assistant the Rigger. Having had some eight years' experience in designing, building, and flying aeroplanes, I have hopes that the practical knowledge I have gained may offset the disadvantage of a hand more used to managing the ``joy- stick'' than the dreadful haltings, the many side-slips, the irregular speed, and, in short, the altogether disconcerting ways of a pen.
The matter contained in the Prologue appeared in the Field of May 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th, 1916, and is now reprinted by the kind permission of the editor, Sir Theodore Cook.
I have much pleasure in also acknowledging the kindness of Mr. C. G. Grey, editor of the Aeroplane, to whom I am indebted for the valuable illustrations reproduced at the end of this book.

CONTENTS
PROLOGUE




PART I. THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES AIR THEIR GRIEVANCES
II. THE PRINCIPLES, HAVING SETTLED THEIR DIFFERENCES, FINISH THE JOB III. THE GREAT TEST IV. CROSS COUNTRY




CHAPTER I.
FLIGHT II. STABILITY AND CONTROL III. RIGGING IV. PROPELLERS V. MAINTENANCE

TYPES OF AEROPLANES
GLOSSARY

THE AEROPLANE SPEAKS
PROLOGUE




PART I
THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES AIR THEIR GRIEVANCES
The Lecture Hall at the Royal Flying Corps School for Officers was deserted. The pupils had dispersed, and the Officer Instructor, more fagged than any pupil, was out on the aerodrome watching the test of a new machine.
Deserted, did I say? But not so. The lecture that day had been upon the Elementary Principles of Flight, and they lingered yet. Upon the Blackboard was the illustration you see in the frontispiece.
``I am the side view of a Surface,'' it said, mimicking the tones of the lecturer. ``Flight is secured by driving me through the air at an angle inclined to the direction of motion.''
``Quite right,'' said the Angle. ``That's me, and I'm the famous Angle of Incidence.''
``And,'' continued the Surface, ``my action is to deflect the air downwards, and also, by fleeing from the air behind, to create a semi-vacuum or rarefied area over most of the top of my surface.''
``This is where I come in,'' a thick, gruff voice was heard, and went on: ``I'm the Reaction. You can't have action without me. I'm a very considerable force, and my direction is at right-angles to you,'' and he looked heavily at the Surface. ``Like this,'' said he, picking up the chalk with his Lift, and drifting to the Blackboard.
``I act in the direction of the arrow R, that is, more or less, for the direction varies somewhat with the Angle of Incidence and the curvature of the Surface; and, strange but true, I'm stronger on the top of the Surface than at the bottom of it. The Wind Tunnel has proved that by exhaustive research--and don't forget how quickly I can grow! As the speed through the air increases my strength increases more rapidly than you might think--approximately, as the Square of the Speed; so you see that if the Speed of the Surface through the air is, for instance, doubled, then I am a good deal more than doubled. That's because I am the result of not only the mass of air displaced, but also the result of the Speed with which the Surface engages the Air. I am a product of those two factors, and at the speeds at which Aeroplanes fly to-day, and at the altitudes and consequent density of air they at present experience, I increase at about the Square of the Speed.
``Oh, I'm a most complex and interesting personality, I assure you--in fact, a dual personality, a sort of aeronautical Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There's Lift, my vertical part or COMPONENT, as those who prefer long words would say; he always acts vertically upwards, and hates Gravity like poison. He's the useful and admirable part of me. Then there's Drift, my