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Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Volume 27 Number 3, Publication 1948, 1911Langley, S. P. (Samuel Pierpont)

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Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Volume 27 Number 3, Publication 1948, 1911

Name: Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Volume 27 Number 3, Publication 1948, 1911
Author: Langley, S. P. (Samuel Pierpont)

Langley, S. P. (Samuel Pierpont)

Aeronautics; Flight

------------------------+----------------------+----------------------
                        |       No. 30.        |         No. 31.
                        |    Single wings.     |    Superposed wings.
------------------------+----------------------+----------------------
‹CP›_m                  1516.5 cm.
‹CG›_1                  1515 cm.              1517 cm.
‹CF›_w                  1528 cm.
Length (without fender)   120 cm. = 3.94 ft.    120 cm. = 3.94 ft.
Width over wing tips      120 cm. = 3.94 ft.    120 cm. = 3.94 ft.
Weight of rubber (72
  grammes in each tube)   144 gr. = 0.32 lbs.   144 gr. = 0.32 lbs.
Total flying weight
  (including tail)        432 gr. = 0.95 lbs.   506 gr. = 1.11 lbs.
Turns of rubber            30                    30
   Diameter of propellers     37 cm. = 1.21 ft.     37 cm. = 1.21 ft.
Width of propellers         7 cm. = 0.23 ft.      7 cm. = 0.23 ft.
Pitch of propellers        50 cm. = 1.64 ft.     50 cm. = 1.64 ft.

                                               Each pair 1984 sq. cm.
Area of wings (each      1984 sq. cm.            = 2.13 sq. ft.
  992 sq. cm.)               = 2.13 sq. ft.    Total 3968 sq. cm.
                                                 = 4.26 sq. ft.

Area of tail              373 sq. cm.           373 sq. cm.
                             = 0.40 sq. ft.        = 0.40 sq. ft.
------------------------+----------------------+----------------------
 Area of wings and tail in No. 30, 2357 sq. cm. = 2.53 sq. ft.
   2.53 sq. ft. ÷ .95 = 2.7. Therefore, there are 2.7 or nearly
   3 square feet of sustaining area to the pound.

-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------
Flight.|Aerodrome.|                    Results.
-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------
   1      No. 30    With 30 turns of the rubber, flew low through
                      10 metres.

   2      No. 30    Flew heavily through 12 metres.

   3      No. 31    Flew high and turned to left; distance not noted.

   4      No. 31    The right wing having been weighted (to depress it
                      and correct the tendency to turn to the left),
                      model flew high, but the rubber ran down when it
                      had obtained a flight of 10 metres.

   5      No. 31    The wings were moved backward until the ‹CP›
                      stood at 1493. The model still turned to the left;
                      flight lasted three and a-half seconds; distance
                      not noted.

   6      No. 31    Vertical tail was adjusted so as to further increase
                      the tendency to go to the right. In spite of all
                      this, the model turned sharply to the left, flying
                      with a nearly horizontal motion; time of flight
                      not noted; distance not noted.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Volume 27 Number 3, Publication 1948, 1911

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