of .005 V² for the wind pressure at 90 degrees is probably too great
by at least 20 per cent; (3) that Lilienthal’s estimate that the
pressure on a curved surface having an angle of incidence of 3 degrees
equals .545 of the pressure at 90 degrees is too large, being nearly
50 per cent greater than very recent experiments of our own with a
pressure testing-machine indicate; (4) that the superposition of the
surfaces somewhat reduced the lift per square foot, as compared with a
single surface of equal area.
‘In gliding experiments, however, the amount of lift is of less
relative importance than the ratio of lift to drift, as this alone
decides the angle of gliding descent. In a plane the pressure is
always perpendicular to the surface, and the ratio of lift to drift
is therefore the same as that of the cosine to the sine of the angle
of incidence. But in curved surfaces a very remarkable situation
is found. The pressure, instead of being uniformly normal to the
chord of the arc, is usually inclined considerably in front of the
perpendicular. The result is that the lift is greater and the drift
less than if the pressure were normal. Lilienthal was the first to
discover this exceedingly important fact, which is fully set forth
in his book, _Bird Flight the Basis of the Flying Art_, but owing to
some errors in the methods he used in making measurements, question
was raised by other investigators not only as to the accuracy of his
figures, but even as to the existence of any tangential force at
all. Our experiments confirm the existence of this force, though our
measurements differ considerably from those of Lilienthal. While at
Kitty Hawk we spent much time in measuring the horizontal pressure on
our unloaded machine at various angles of incidence. We found that at
13 degrees the horizontal pressure was about 23 lbs. This included not
only the drift proper, or horizontal component of the pressure on the
side of the surface, but also the head resistance of the framing as
well. The weight of the machine at the time of this test was about 108
lbs. Now, if the pressure had been normal to the chord of the surface,
the drift proper would have been to the lift (108 lbs.) as the sine
of 13 degrees is to the cosine of 13 degrees, or (.22 × 108) / .97 =
24 + lbs.; but this slightly exceeds the total pull of 23 pounds on
our scales. Therefore it is evident that the average pressure on the
surface, instead of being normal to the chord, was so far inclined
toward the front that all the head resistance of framing and wires
used in the construction was more than overcome. In a wind of fourteen
miles per hour resistance is by no means a negligible factor, so that
tangential is evidently a force of considerable value. In a higher
wind, which sustained the machine at an angle of 10 degrees the pull
on the scales was 18 lbs. With the pressure normal to the chord the
drift proper would have been (17 × 98) / ·98. The travel of the centre
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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