The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1919-09-16

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American has had in the past a speak
ing vocabulary of only $50 of the more
than 100000 words in the English lam
guage, the increase brought about by
the airplane and airship is regarded as
remarkable.
For the benefit of those as yet unac-
quainted with the true meaning of
such words as "fuselage," "nacelle,"
drift" or parasite resistance" the
Manufacturers Aircraft association
has prepared q "fying dictionary
with the aid of a report compiled by
the national advisory committee for
aeronautics at Washington.
"Never before has so much aero
nautical news been printed" says the
Manufacturers Aircraft association
article yet one of the handicaps is the
proper description of equipment so as
to give the public-generally unin-
structed-an accurate idea of the mag
nitude of current happenings. This
dlnlculty has also been encountered in
government aircraft activities and ap-
pears more than ever now that com
mercial aviation, with proper encour-
agement, promises to develop soon.
Is Strange Language.
1.-THE 200 or more a~eronauticaI
words or phrases in common use on
the flying fields or in the aircraft
plants are strangers to the average
reader. For instance, everyone prob
ably has heard of the ~aileron, yet
III many nav NOT Iynnyr fhoA Tho a;Io,o-r
of a biplane are arranged in the trail
ing edges in a unique manner, causing
1T TO respond at the slightest touch Of
the controls and enabling the pilot to
ignore the lateral altitude of the ma
'chine entirely.
IAN aileron, to be more specific, is a
bit of a wing tip fixed ON hinges back
on the rear edge at the ends of the
wings. 1t is controlled by wires. When
moved from the pilots seat the allie
rons on one side raise and those on the
other side decline proportionately,
thereby allowing the wind pressure
against them to tip the plane to either
side as desired.
"A biplane is a two-winged machine
one wing placed above the other. A
majority of the American and British
machines are biplanes.
THE trailing edge is the rear edge.
of the wings. Speaking of gliding, it
means not only gliding but the angle
of the path the airplane takes when it
descendS under the influence of gravity
alone. A plane usually glides by keep
ing its nose fixed toward the horizon,
when it will glide straightaway eight
miles for every mile it is above the
earth, or eight in one.
What Is an AirpIane7
AN airplane is a machine that de-
ponds for support in the air on planes
or wings and the propelling power of
its motors to keep 1t there, overcoming
gravity and at the same time propel-
ling it forward. An airship is not ar
airpiane but a balloon, elongated,
somewhat cigar-shaped and provided
with a propelling system, car for pas
sengers, rudders and stabiiizing sur
faces.
There are three kinds of airships,
the n%on-rigid, whose form or shape is
maintained by pressure of gas inside,
aided by pressure of the cables and
ropes which hold the passenger car
underneath. Then there is the rigid
airship, or n having a stiff wood or
metal framework inside the big gas
bag to hold its shape for 1t. The semi
rigid airship has a rigid metal or wood
en- keel or spine along its under side,
which holds it partly in shape. Bal
looms and airships have appendices,
too. The appendix is a hose leading
from the bottom side of the gas bag to
the car and used for initiating it, or, in
the ase of the old-fashioned spherical
balloon, like a big rubber ball, it serves
to equalize the gas pressure inside.
"An aviator is ar operator or pilot of
an airplane, or any heavier-than-air
craft. A balloon is a lighter-than-air
craft. The term aviator applies to
either a man or a who drives
a%irplanes. The term 'fuselage' is com
mon, yet not wholly understood. 1t is
the body of the airplane, or the fabric
covered framework which holds the en-
CINE in front, the pilots seat and pas
senger area in the center between the
wings and then runs back to the tail.
"Dope" Used on Aircraft.
"The trail group is general, and 1t
contains, besides the rudder or rud-
ders, depending on the type of machine,
elevators in a horizontal position, one
on either side of the rudder, and fins
which are vertical to the elevatorsSand
are fixed, forming one plane with the
rudder when it is In a natural position.
The controls are the wheel or stick
for use Of the pilot in guiding his craft,
the same as the wheel of an automobile
or the rudder bar of a boat. A control
has three uses, where in other vehicles;
such as the motorcar or boat, only two
uses can be found for 1t. The reason
Is that aviators have to contend with
three dimensions. An auto or boat car
travel only backward or forward, "
sidewise. A plane can do these things
and besides can go either up or down
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