Artificial and Natural FlightMaxim, Hiram S. (Hiram Stevens)
Science
Artificial and Natural Flight
Maxim, Hiram S. (Hiram Stevens)
Aeronautics; Airplanes; Flight
From the foregoing it will be seen that at a speed of 40 miles an hour,
the weight per H.P. is not very great. If we wish to make a machine more
efficient, we must resort to a multitude of very narrow superposed
planes, or sustainers, as Mr. Philipps calls them, or we must increase
the speed. If an aeroplane will lift 2·5 lbs. per square foot placed at
an angle of 1 in 10, and driven at a velocity of 40 miles an hour, the
same aeroplane will lift 1·25 lbs. if placed at an angle of 1 in 20, and
as the lifting effect varies as the square of the velocity, the same
plane will lift as much more at 60 miles per hour, as 60² is greater
than 40²--that is, 2·81 lbs. per square foot instead of 1·25 lbs. At
this high speed, providing that the width of the plane is not more than
3 feet, it need be only slightly curved and have a mean angle of 1 in
20.
An aeroplane 100 feet long and 3 feet wide would have 300 square feet of
lifting surface, each of which would lift 2·81 lbs., making the total
lifting effect 843 lbs. 843 ÷ 20 = 42·15, which is the screw thrust that
would be necessary to propel such a plane through the air at a velocity
of 60 miles per hour. 60 miles per hour is 5,280 feet in a minute,
therefore the H.P. required is 42·15 × 5,280 ÷ 33,000 = 6·7 H.P.
Dividing the total lifting effect 843 by 6·7, we have 843 ÷ 6·7 = 125·8,
the lift per H.P. If we allow one-half for loss in friction, screw slip,
etc., we shall be carrying a load of 843 lbs. with 13·4 H.P. It will,
therefore, be seen that a velocity of 60 miles an hour is much more
economical in power than the comparatively low velocity of 40 miles an
hour; moreover, it permits of a considerable reduction in the size and
weight of the machine, and this diminishes the atmospheric resistance.
[Illustration: Fig. 58.--In a recently published mathematical treatise
on Aerodynamics, an illustration is shown, representing the path that
the air takes on encountering a rapidly moving curved aeroplane. It will
be observed that the air appears to be attracted upwards before the
aeroplane reaches it, exactly as iron filings would be attracted by a
magnet, and that the air over the top of the aeroplane is thrown off at
a tangent, producing a strong eddying effect at the top and rear. Just
why the air rises up before the aeroplane reaches it is not plain, and
as nothing could be further from the facts, mathematical formulas
founded on such a mistaken hypothesis can be of but little value to the
serious experimenter on flying machines.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account