The sun., 1916-11-22

Report No. . OF the National Advisory
! Committee on A~eronautics, dealing
with nomenclature for aeronautics.
which is Issued for the consideration Of
the a%eronautic authorities. should re-
ceive careful confederation not only
from those interested in ~aeronautics.
but also from editors Of newspapers and
magazines.
Some Of the new terms suggested In
this report will cause discussion. Air
plane which II submitted to take the
place Of "%aeroplane." had n hot recep-
ton from the technical contingent In
England when Lord Northcliffe's papers
proposed 1t. II "airplane'' should be
adopted. should "aeronautics.' aero
%dynamics'' and ''aerofoii' remain? And
what about 'hydroaeroplane.' ''aero-
states and aero squadron? Then
there Is "aerodrome.' which our be-
loved pioneer. Dr. Samuel =. Langley.
used for his aeroplane. but which has
been used for a%eronautic fields Of late
years. Who will dare to propose AIR
drome"? And would not "airmechanics'
make us think Of m%echaniclsns rather
than OF aeromechanics?
As 'aeroplane" has been In use ex-
clusively for years and the change
would AFFECT so many relative terms.
our newly adopted gospel of Standard
zation will forbid adopting %"airplane''
unless It IL found to be a distinct i'm.
provement over "aeroplane." We should
of course simplify and anglicize our
~aeronautic terms az much as possible.
Let us anglicise. by all means. but let
us not forget that our automobile
'cha isis and chauffeur have not
been anglicised.
on the other hand. usage has made
"air service . desirable term. Usage
cannot, however. perpetuate aviation
section in n case where. as at present
In Washington. the aviation section OF
the Signal Corps is taking care OF both
lighter and heavier than air aircraft.
1t will have to be air service" fol-
lowing the British precedent. or aero
nautic service with the aviation sec
ton and "~aeronautic section as
branches. The latter may be made
lighter than air. but can that be
made TO include those Zeppelin. which
are actually as heavy AZ the air?
There will he discussion az "a
whether "airman" II better than "avia-
tor" ~"airwoman' better than "avia-
%trice.' or "aviatrix': body better
than "fuselage"; gliding" better than
"~volplaning": she'd better than
hangar" We have used aviator for
the man who pilots an %aeroplane,
~"balloonist' for the man who pilots a
balloon. just az we have used awaiting
and "balloonins." "Aeroplaning' was
never to our liking nor was sky pilot
"Airman' We have often seen applied
10 both the pilot and the passenger
There has been no special term for the
ilot Of a dirigible In English. w
have had 50 little experience with
iirigibles.
There Ia one term that 7 used at the
time when Santos-D was expert
mentins with balloons and dirigibles IL
Paris In lS99-lg03. but always Stunned
thereafter. That was "aeronaut.' The
reason is hat people were all too prone
TO pronounce IL %"aeronut' And We
also plead guilty to having eliminated
the diaresis from the second vowel OF
aero This was o for convenience
Most OF US were always apt to forge
the two dots on the second vowel. and
so were the printers. "Hydroaero
plane was eliminated for the sake o
Standardization. "Aerohydroplane" wal
introduced by the defunct weekly Acre
aud Hydro. and died with II.
We have. II is true. little regard FOL
tradition in aeronautics. but we hav,
great regard FOR the economic value o
Standardization and considerable sent
ment. The works Of Langley. Einel
Chanute. "I.ilienthal and other pioneer,
are classical. What Langley. III,
Wrights. Curtiss. Einel and othe'
pioneers have done has been told IL
certain terms which have been general,
adopted. To make radical changes II
a|eronautic TECHNOLOGY purely to hav
something different would mean con
fusion and. although not intended. dis
respect to our pioneers.
photographers made several at
tempts at compiling a~eronautic diction
aries in 1902. but they did no
have the necessary knowledge OF aero
nautics and aeronautic tradition. an,
the result was far from practical.
The National Advisory Committee OF
A~eronautics is IN "A unique position 4
Wv W. WI Nhfs ~ NV
7 thorized by Congress and with ampl
funds at It's disposal. II can form
subcommittee Of authorities to conside
the dictionaries OF %ronauti term
prepared by British. French, German
and Italian authorities, which. Will
being far from complete. afford a goo,
foundation.
Report No 2 gives about rs terms
The dictionary OF the .Aeronautical So
ciety OF Great Britain. issued in 1910
, -. gave several hundred more. | hay
been working on an illustrated diction
! airy OF aeronautic terms and histori
dates and have figured on about ESQ
terms and historic dates. which woul
include all the important experiment
a made by the pioneers. | will gladly re
D l!nquish the privilege of doing II 1
favor Of the National Advisory Commit
q tee on Aeronautics. With n committe
OF experts the compilation Of such a die
r tIonary would not be hard and woul
Q take but "A short time. The proofs coul
then he submitted to editors OF the Ia
press and magazines for suggestion
and ideas on simplifying and standard
xation. The editors could be relic