Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-11-07
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moving horizontally or upward in opposition t'
the surface of the planes, should be falling tnen
the support of the flying machine is suddenly
diminished to that extent, and the aeroplahe
drops Again if the aviator is travelling against
a stratum of wind Of a definite speed ana Inen
purposely descends reaching an air belt OF lower
speed or altered direction, these changes may to
duce the force of the air striking the surfaces
of his planes, and this drop in pressure may
cause his machine to fall speedily eartn"aIu
This is another proof, of course, OF the imaginary
vacant places IN the air.
We must bear in mind that the problem Oh
the flying machine is quite distinct from that Vi
the balloon The balloon floats because II Is
either lighter than the air it displaces-When i
rises-or remains at fixed altitude because LheTe
is a perfect balance between it's weight and that
of the air which it thrusts aside. 1t remains
aIoft whether drifting with the wind or belng
driven by a motor The heayler-than-alf nylnS
machine on the other hand, is sustained IN night
only so long its movement forward arouses
sufficient opposition the part of the air to lift
or to sustain it. When the propellers cease to
revolve the aeroplane starts eaTthward, and dis
aster can be avoided only by volplaning or per-
forming sweeping spiral descent. maneuVer
Of this sort is nothing more less than
modified drop. The safety of the aeroplane
therefore, when in midair, depends upon the nice
balancing of the machine and the proper equaIlz-
ing of pressure upon the planes. Eddies IN the
air or any other disturbance which will bring
or zones will imperil the stability of the ma
chine and the life of the aviator unless he be
ever watchfuI and there are some Of these con-
ditions against which he cannot sufficiently
guard.
The flying machine in going ahead hits the
air a succession of rapid blows and by this
causes an area of compression which is equal in
the force of its reaction to the weight OF the
flying machine. The fact Of it is, this compress
sion actually affects a volume Of air equal in
weight to the air craft it sustains, and as cubic
foot of atmospheric air weighs only O8 of
pound at the freezing point, little figuring will
show how wide is the area upon which the avia-
tor must draw for his support.
What happens then when the flying machine
has moved onward and the atmosphere tries to
resume it's normal state? The reaction is like
the release of a spring. and the air acquires
Migratory motiOn-greatest in a vertical direction
akin to the prolonged holdings of a partly
watersoaked log after being hit blow. But this
is not all.
We are living at the bottom of an ocean of
air, and we living in that region of the at
mosphere where it is densest The natural ten
dency for the atmosphere is to fall when not
made lighter by heat and caused to rise. An
aeropIane shooting through this lower belt is
substantially knocking out the foundations from
beneath the atmospheric columns reaching many
thousands of feet heayenward, and have in
the air a virtual duplication of our bObbing log
many, many times repeated at every stage Of
the onward movement of the flying machine and
the successive reactions of the compressed air
which has momentariy sustained that mechan-
zeal flight. Isn't it clear, then that an aviator
when passing above below another aviator
is either stumbling into air holes thus created
or producing a similar condition to menace his
nearby fellow? The airman advancing at the
greater speed will produce the wider area of dis
turbance and, within any prescribed limit, the
more dangerous reaction.
The flying machine when aloft is in state Of
decidedly delicate equilibrium, otherwise the
mere fexing of wing tips would be incapable Of
correcting it's horizontal position. Any change
of pressure at the extremity of it's wings is equiva
lent to adding or reducing the weight at the
or the other tip, and upsetting movement is
started 1t is quite probable that even though
one aeroplane may be a full hundred feet above
or below another. still the greater speed of the
Overtaking machine may cause a sufficient down
ward movement on the part Of the air to
weight suddenly wing of the other machine,
This is certainly what happened in the case of
others.
The task set the investigators is that of find
ing how wide is the region of agitation created
by a fying machine in flight, and, with this
knowledge, to prescribe the proper distances
which aviators must observe. when approaching
one another.
Fortunately the flying machine is now studied
in the laboratory. and recent progress in expert
mental aerodynamics is doing much toward
clearing the way for safe advance. in the near
future but the public must be patent and it
must realize that flying is full of hazards at
best, and we are really scarcely much more than
upon the Threshold of this wonderful science.