Building and Flying an Aeroplane A practical handbook covering the design, construction, and operation of aeroplanes and gliders — Themes and Context

Produced by James Simmons.

This file was produced from page images at the Internet Archive.

This book was transcribed from scans of the original found at the Internet Archive and at Google Books. I have rotated some images. Tables are treated as images. There are two versions of this book: the first contains both parts and the second is published as two volumes with Examination Papers at the end of each, which the student would return to the American School of Correspondence for credit. I have included these Examination Papers at the end of each part.

A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK COVERING THE DESIGN,

CONSTRUCTION, AND OPERATION OF

AEROPLANES AND GLIDERS

MEMBER, THE AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY; MEMBER, SOCIETY OF AUTOMOBILE

ENGINEERS; FORMERLY SECRETARY, SOCIETY OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERS;

FORMERLY ENGINEERING EDITOR, THE AUTOMOBILE

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CORRESPONDENCE

American School of Correspondence

Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London

BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE

The field of aviation has, from the inception of successful flight by the Wright Brothers, had a wonderful fascination for the amateur mechanic. At first the strong element of mystery in the movements of this monster man-ridden bird appalled him, but an examination of approved designs has removed the mystery and has assured him that he can, with his own hands and at a cost well within his reach, build his own machine in his own back yard.

But in this ease of accomplishment lies a danger, namely, the belittling of the value of accurate design and the misjudging of the true importance of small things. The inventive mind usually believes itself capable of making improvements in almost anything, and the aeroplane inventor is no exception to the rule. Filled with the confidence born of ignorance, and with only the knowledge he has gleaned from newspaper and magazine accounts of the popular types of machines, he works out a brand new design. The usual, in fact, the invariable result is failure, discouragement, and a loss of time and money. How much more sensible for the young inventor to build his first machine without varying in one particular from a tried and proved model, leaving his flights of inventive fancy to his later years of maturer knowledge and judgment.

The author of this little book has followed, in both biplane and monoplane models, the well-known types of Curtiss and Bleriot, choosing each as the simplest representative of its class in construction and design. It is hoped that the book may not only be of assistance to the amateur builder, but may also be the means of turning the too confident inventor into safer and more established paths.

BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE .................................. INTRODUCTION .................................................... PART 1 .......................................................... BUILDING AEROPLANE MODELS ..................................... BUILDING A GLIDER ............................................. BUILDING A CURTISS BIPLANE .................................... DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION ....................................... PART II ......................................................... BUILDING A BLERIOT MONOPLANE .................................. ART OF FLYING ................................................. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR LESSONS ................................... AMATEUR AVIATORS ..............................................

One of the commonest phases of interest in aviation is the desire to build a flying machine. In fact, this is very frequently the first thing the experimenter undertakes after having gone into the theory of flight to some extent. Only too often, no effort whatever is made to get beyond theory and the machine is an experiment in every sense of the word. An experience of this nature is costly—far more so than is agreeable for the student, and is likely to result in disgusting him with aviation generally. There are hundreds of schemes and principles in the art that have been tried again and again with the same dismal failure in the end. Refer to the story of the Wright Brothers and note how many things they mention having tried and rejected as worse than useless. About once in so often someone "rediscovers" some of these things and, having no facilities for properly investigating what patent attorneys term the "prior art" (everything that has gone before, from the beginning of invention, or at least patented invention) becomes possessed of the idea that he has hit upon something entirely novel and wholly original. There is no desire in the present work to discourage the seeker after new principles—undoubtedly there are many yet to be discovered. The art of flight is in its infancy and there is still a great deal to be learned about it, but there is no more discouraged inventor than he who-discovers a principle and, after having experimented with it at great expense, finds that it is only one of many things that numerous others have spent considerable money in proving fallacious, a great many years ago.