Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-06-04
TESTING AIRPLANEs


For the testing OF airplane devices the
bureau has a remarkably perfect equip
ment 1t has an altitude laboratory,
where il can reproduce exactly the atmos-
pherlc conditions up To an elevation OF
forty Thousand feet. In It's wind tun-
mel, it can subject airplanes or Instru-
nents To exactly the air friction they would
encounter at any gwen speed IL not
only tests engines and engine parts, but also
all Of the instruments which an aviator
must carry These include tachOmeters,
which show the speed Of the engine.
speedometers 10 show how fast the
plane Il travelling. barometers 10 show
how high 1t is, inclination Indicators 10
show the angie Of the planes. statoscopes
To show whether the machine Is rising or
falling, compasses and watches
Many Of The most important devices
upon which the bureau Is working are too
technical Tor the grasp OF the layman,
and must he kept secret for military rea-
sons 1t Is known, however, that especial
II valuable work has been done IN the
perfecting of instruments by which the
exact direction of the FIRE Of an enemy
battery NAV be determined. These
instruments have practically been in
vented in the bureau. In the case of one
instrument used in submarines, the bureau
has had 70 function as g factory, and has
turned out in it's shops the number needed
By the government, because no manu-
fscturer could be found who was able to
do the work
Less mysterious and confidential is
the work which the bureau is doing In
testing substitutes for leather and wool.
Both of these animal products are be
coming so scarce that substitutes must be
found. Accordingly the bureau Is
putting a variety of shoes with compost
ton soles TO the test by the simple
method of having soldiers wear them.
In some of the camps recruits are TO be
seen with a leather shoe on one foot and
shoe of composition material or rubber on
the other The soldier Is required TO
wear these under all conditions OF weather
and over all sorts Of ground. The results
are watched by inspectors from the ou-
reau. and the wearer opinion as 70 the
comfort and serviceabIllty OF the sub
stitIte shoes is taken into account. 1t ls
known that some kinds OF shoes contain
ing little OF no leather have proved very
satisfactory.
Ho. FOR THE wOOLLEss BLANKET,
Woolless blankets are also being tested,
fabrics have been found, containing only
q small percentage of wool, which are both
light and warm
spark plugs for airplanes are the sub
ect Of a special study How apparently
small matters may influence great events
j. shown by the fact that an sirplane
spark plug better than any now IN use
might change the course OF the war. The
plug in the flying machine is subjected 70
terrific hear from within and intense cold
from without, and is exposed to the
combustion Of enormous amounts Of fuel
The result is that it cracks and fouls.
Often its life is no more than an hour,
and an ordinary automobile plug in an
airplane engine would not last FIVE min
utes That is why scientists of high at
tainment are putting all of their time on
the spark plug question
Airplane fuel is also being studied by
the bureau. Having to develop hundreds
Of horsepower, an airplane burns a great
deal Of fuel and yet it can carry but
little Only the purest, Iightest gasoline
can be used To make a practicable air
plane fuel that will develop more power
in proportion TO its weight than the fuel
used by the enemy would 90 a long way