The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-03-28
THE MAKING OF AN
AIRPLANE.
by LiFnt--t ell. Hiram Bingham.
signal Corps. L. g. A.


LEI ma try D.. a,.
picture Mana ~ rough
pose. for tr.,a,,,. - Na','ue' sup
d-iv.-g 90 - ~. were set to
t-ud.ubtn,Iv. - @"u "'S' screws.
task tctai ~ 80 oe quite
tons Wen ~, sue opera-
"a ,~s-i, 80" 3ou h"a reached the
'7.d that you had done lass ' tsan ~, %
thirds - the wort - 80 In
CURED for a single 49,. 'o ~, re-
figures IRE for = trpf,'-~, &c &c
French battIepIane "a noe srra,,,. ~.
said t. be needed s,r,.,. -. a g
looks so a.mpla ana 49,. P'aiIe
, fully through the air M, W. . ".e
Thought ~ the skin ttAf oo.os go -
raaktnv "''"' goes INTO It's
one Of America. a.. .,...,
Just recently we - -aas''iL p"s,
nRures Of the natsrtai w. s0.a'
CURED for one Of rha Ktr,rTs~
planes For instance as1 49,, 1870. is
iuRs must he cut our -qe 80
and SO turn. hucLtaa all 90
machine 20
Think ,b.r -. -
tbotaap4. ~ - """Ni tus OF
tha fsatsa. r[0H pi7ees needed for
rar ,,r,s.-s.. -. lanes IN me Ameri-
lss~ an ~Jtaa.,e 90 NJ" utter1y nope
parts were not a,ansardizad ,,,-s of,.
ot machine, in tens 40 ,not,sard
disable in scores NJ df~aror,F F....1.-a
on! arr kind 81 r,tarn Tha .aS,'~.. NC
81 aircraft nauufactura ~ ~ -,
plest. standardized rf,artt,,,
:'on basis has bean ons ~ .,s.g,aa9.
great trf,.rnpbz in +ba .{~ -.
a Movement which 80 .aou ~,
makfuz itself felt
tstt v~o., -
nlana -. 49, oe 4SSo IN an air
top.tb,r t,, 80. p@s'"'" ~ - Al
faS, -, r',,,r,. eSp*G,' ny when a
~, 80 ha,.'as. 'sHe All lhs margin
A. - victory ana defeat
-, 80 ~. oYy nor sep""sr ia IN u
"saFy 10 rise into the
Taust ,ttat,, ~ % th7 machine
80 'S'S "o'he OF HEht-
: ,ry.t ,.o-.. ,.u.......
.~.r.r,,-l.,', .ts ., r',e"H. no"~Fer entalh
t,,.,r,n, I'll ana perfect ad-
a.. .tas INK % the STRAIN winch
80 "a on every wire ana nut every
81 ~. az" eFefy p'I OF wooo
- - - nv SSpo"S mechanism
-, - '"sh Nos Ar az i"o miles an
a,f 1,l'n 40 not 30 So fas+
80 "a" 'sSi- picture what hap
~ ~ >" s.r'ohly punt mouse when
49, g. 80 II al 'hAt speed
"@""@ ''~SS"re@ Must he with
$1,000
but the strain IS great simply
n~causT oF high speed, what must 1t
DC "hen ptHre suddenly carsenS
ward, taxing tremendous pres
sure on one part and hurting ~ upon
anotAtr ~ - that htnd OF sharp. sud
Den uneYeniy distributed shock which
aIio%s the slit htest tap OF knife
70 crack an eeE or The explosion OF a
7erth homh 70 crush N he unrre pared
side Of a submarine obviously plane
must be huilt 80 sk')iful'v and az such
perfect material AZ to withstand mt
only the pressure OF the cycloue speed.
nut also the added shocks Of its sud
den sYolutions.
The one material which gives this
double characteristic Of strength with
lightness il spruce. not the ordinary
spruce, but super-selected spruce
from the giant treea Of the Pacific
coast Few would believe that thFs
would present much ot + problem with
Americas vast resources. hut when one
considers that only small fraction OF
the very best spruce is usable at all,
and that the var has vastly increased
the demand for that. the difficulty VIII
begin to appear. Let me explain this
in detail.
The IDEAL trees for airplane snruoe
arc the fine old patriaFchs. scarca
soout / rect ana run up Ieo feet with
oht a hranch. Now when this splendid
NopG IF cut o. per cent IS thrown ont