Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909. Excerpt: ... SURFACE. The second fundamental condition of all forms of flight is that of the means wherewith it is done; that of the implement which, for lack of a better name, we must call surface; it would not do to designate it by any narrower term, such as sheet, plate, plane, card, strip or flatness. The surface is not of a gaseous or liquid nature, but a solid. Its proper structure and action must be searched for in order to accomplish our object. The two must be combined in order to attain any results. As to the structure of the surface or surfaces, we can readily see that several things must be properly done if we hope to accomplish the main object of our researches, that of flight. First is required an arrangement of surfaces for each purpose, or of one arrangement for the several purposes, sustentation, propulsion, safety, management and power, which we may call the position of surfaces for each aim. Secondly, there must be a particular foim and shape of each surface for each of the purposes, or that their construction is to be considered. A distinction must be made between the unavoidable but useless surface of the body and the useful and necessary surfaces of the apparatus. The extent of surface, that is, the the size proportional with the weight to be carried, is a third question to be answered. To sum up, then, this phase of the subject presents the following points for our consideration, to-wit: the construction, the placing, and the extent of the surfaces. Then each single surface, its proper construction for all the purposes and for each particular purpose, must also be known in order to comprehend this second condition of flight. The outline or the form must be found, then the best cross-section of shape, then the proportionate size. A surface in the...
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