Evening star., 1928-05-16
AIRCRAFT LEADERS
SEE PLANE TESTS.
Experts Inspect Modern
Equipment at Exhibition
on Langley Field.
sY FREDERICK r. NEELY,

One-hundfcd leaders of the aircraft
Industry and high officers of the Gov
ernment Identified with aviation re.
turned 10 Washington by boat this
morning from Langley Field, Hampton
Va, where they had put their heads
together yesterday Ia an effort 10 ar
rive at a safe. economical airplane for
all PURPOSES The occasion was the
Tsaira annual aircraft engineering re-
search conference, held under auspices
Of the National advisory committee
for aeronauticS at the institutions s
workshop--Langley Memorial Labora-
tory.
The technical advancement of Amer
lean areonauticS, which is equal TO. II
not superior to- that of any other nation
IN the world, was graphically Illustrated
at demonstrations in the various lab
oratorieS which contain aeronautlcal re-
search equipment surprising anything
of its kind in existence, Then the COM
mlttee. which is charged by Congress
to supervise and direct the scientific
problems of flight. turned to the air
craft industry and offered to solve Its
technical problems. On invitation OF
Or. Joseph S, Ames, provost OF johns
Hopkins University ana chairman OF
the committee, various aeronautical en-
seroaynamic and engineering tests on
aircraft problems which they are unable
to undertake owing to the lack OF re-
search facilities and technical staffs.
Ames Sets Precedent.
The offer of DR.. Ames marked new
departure In the committees procedure.
. In the past The organization has been
working out general problems and as
ssist;nc the military services. The action
Of the committee was lauded by the
s,srions manufacturers, who expressed
great appreciation for the Government
aid in their scientific problems.
At least dozen contributions to the
advancement of aeronauticS were out
! lined 10 the visitors by the committees S
/ laboratory staff. Chief among these
from the popular standpoint was the
ice formations on airplanes in flight.
IT was revealed that the committee is
undergoing experiments with artificial
sreproduction Of ice and it also was
made known that in actual tests the
pilot and plane do not have 10 go TO
Newfoundland 20 collect this danger
Gus load on the plane.
Thomas Carroll, chief test pilot OF the
committee and contributor to The
Star on various aeronautical questions.
which ice was obtained. He said that
1f a ulane enters a thick, saturated
cloud and the temperature Is close TO
the freezing point, ice will collect on the
wings, landing gear and other vital
parts. Should the pilot go higher and
reach q temperature several degrees
below freezing. the most he viii col
slccs Is a snowy substance which Is not
regarded dangerous For the present.
Carroll urged that all planes be equip
ned with Thermometers TO inform the
pilot OF the temperature when flying in
moist atmosphere. Thus, he said, ice
will be avoided.
Other Expert Reports.
Other contributions made by the
rrusraittees experts included. Tests OF
The pressure distribution on a Boetng
4starEs,it t,laue which was put IN a dive
ri1d when a speed of 1876 miles per
hour was reached. 1t was suddenly
yanked upward. This sudden change
exerfed a load Of 1000 pounds on the
ssiane. The same pilot. Luke Chris
sopaaeT. then took Curtiss pursuit
plane alnff and on reaching $50 miles an
hour pulled Ii out Of the dive suddenly
Stresses equal 70 IL times the weight
II the plane were brought 10 bear on
the little craft and on landing II was
sos1r6 that two wires in the cockpit
hav were strained The pilot, suffer-
ing from a henOrrhage Of the eye, was
confined to bed for 10 days.
DEVELOPMENT Of a wing with non
griuninz characteristics was promised
Is being not far distant. Already the
committee has evolved a wing section
that is virtually perfect in this respect
and this was shown the visitors.
Water pressure distribution tests on
Reaplane floats showed seven pounds 20
the square inch and as the design calls
fer IS. this experiment showed that IT
Is possible 10 save much weight by
trimming them down TO point near
the seven figure.
DEVELOPMENT of an air-cooied two
stroke cycle gasoline injection engine.
The experimental model of just one
cylinder develops 65 horsepower at LOO
revolutions per minute. Nine cylinders
wOnId give q horsepower of more than
900. Such an engine. light in weight,
wn9ld be adaptable 20 pursuit craft.
Development of an oil injection en-
gti5e NIth q maximum revolution OF
200 Rnd an idiing speed Of below 200.
The testing plant OF the committee
w'as demonstrated 70 the visitors. Fore
most among the various devices was the
n
gigantic affair in which full sized
aArplane can be mounted. Driven by
fE0 Diesel submarine engines with a
gross horsepower Of 1000. a large fan,
with eight blades and % feet in dam
eseT sucked the air through at 90 miles
per hour. while plane mounted In the
aifstreaa had its engine running at full
throttle. Through this device, the only
one Of its kind IN the world. the experts
obtain data from the plane under actual
flying conditions
Two other wind tunnels In which the
efficiency Of wings, through models, Is
studied and recorded, were demon
j aeFated. One Is the atmospheric tunnel,
which has wind speed of about 81
miles per hour, and the other is the
atmospheric tunnel. a gigantic steel
structure at which pressnres up to 800
/ pounds per square inch can be obtained.