Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1918-07-11
SCIENTISTS BUSY
IN WAR WORKSHOP
Airplane Mechanism Demands
Most Careful Study.
TASK OF BUILDING VESSELS
National Bureau Of Standards Carries
on Wide Range Of Scientific
Investigation and Testing.
By JAMES n. COLLINS.

| investigator and Testing.
BY JAMES II. COLLINS.
(From the Committee on Public 1nfor-
nation, Washington. d. Co.
! When men first began to build air
planes they covered the framework
with cotton sheeting and vanished
this with beeswax, just about as boy
takes almost any old newspaper that
is handy for making kite.
When men turned their attention
seriously to the selection of the best
cloth for airplanes they settled upon
linen. This was strong and gave a
good fabric without much trouble In
weaving. Moreover, airplanes were
developed abroad, where linen is much
more widely used than with us.
Then came war, with its need for
thousands Of airplanes, and certain
new demands upon airplane fabric,
such as the greatly increased strength
required in the acrobatic maneuvering
with fighting planes, and the factor
known as tear resistance" made nec-
essary by the contingency of bullet and
shell splinter holes.
Then we got into the war.
The finest linen is grown in Ireland.
but there is only about 100000 pounds
Of II yearly. The next best flax fibers
were grown in Belgium, where the in
dustry has been practically wiped out
by war. For airplane purposes Great
Britain alone requires double the linen
production of Ireland.
Query-With Uncle Sam proposing
to make airplanes by the thousands and
perhaps tens of thousands, where are
we to get airplane cloth?
Another airplane problem is that Of
wood for the framework, for which
spruce has thus far been found the
best material. But demands for
straight grain spruce are so great in
view of our airplane program, and so
| little of it passes the rigid require
mepts. that securing sufficient supply
is very difficult. Only about 200 feet of
wood are used in an average airplane !;
but to get this 200 feet you must start
by culling the spruce trees as they
the rough lumber after 1T has been
cut, and culling the kiln-dried product,
until finally after working over 5000
| feet of rough lumber you are lucky
to have sufficient for single airplane.
Query-How can this part of the
aircraft program be speeded up?
Again, war requires that we build
equip, and man hundreds of ships.
Ships are sailed by means of chronom-
eters, which are clocks with mechan-
| ism built to watch fineness, highly &C.
curate. ChrOnometers are not made In
this country. In limited way we
have imported the parts from France,
England and Belgium. and assembled
few bearing American names. But
most of our chrOnometers were bought
abroad. and war has made 1t practi-
cally impossible to get sufficient sup
ply.
Query-How are we going to sail
our new ships?
Some Of the Problems.
These are few Of the problems
connected with fighting tools Of which
the public has heard less than about
the major details of war. such as can
tonments, uniforms, rifles, machine
guns, and heavy artillery. Each Is a
vital essential. however. and in every
| case Uncle Sam has taken steps to see
| that his fighters have the best tools
which can be upplied-sOmething for
its particular purpose which, starting
with the best that the allies have de-
veloped In three years Of war, will
carry that art step further. giving
improvements characteristic Of Ameri-
can invention and research.
On the outskirts Of Washington
Uncle Sam maintains the national bu-
reau Of standards. which, in peace
| times, carries on wide range Of scien-
tific investigation and testing. The
national. bureau Of standards keeps
the international standard meter and
kilOgram. 1t has scales capable OF
weighing the ten-milliOnth part Of n
gram, and gram Is about the fifth
part Of nickel in weight. 1t also has
testing machines capable OF 100000
pounds pressure. SO that, In this insti-
tuition, Uncle Sam is equipped to meas
ure the accuracy of watches. detecting
variations of fraction of second In
the minute, or crush large steel
bridge truss and accurately report up
on Its strength.
| In peace times this institution
serves our Industries In countless ways.
| Today, however, most OF its work has
been centered on war problems. Not
! all Of these problems can be spoken Of.
For many of them relate to the deli
cate scientific work necessary to secure
results on the battle front. Fortunate
ly, enough of them can be discussed
/ to give people an idea of how thor
Oughly and skillfully Uncle Sam Is
! looking after war details In this special
direction.
The problem Of airplane cloth was
turned over to the bureau of stand
J ards and its textile experts went to
work. What makes good airplane
cloth? Most people would think Of
, strength first of all, but this Is not
| the chief factor-a fabric testing up to
80 pounds per square inch is quite
satisfactory. Tautness is much more
important-the fabric on nm airplane
must be stretched as tightly as the
head Of a drum. and stay that way.
This property Is secured partly by
weaving and partly by doping" Az
ter the fabric has been stretched on
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