Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Volume 27 Number 3, Publication 1948, 1911Langley, S. P. (Samuel Pierpont)
History
Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Volume 27 Number 3, Publication 1948, 1911
Langley, S. P. (Samuel Pierpont)
Aeronautics; Flight
During the years 1892 and 1893, it will be recalled, four aerodromes,
known as Nos. 0, 1, 2, and 3, had been built, which were of two
general types of construction. First, that represented by No. 0, in
which a radically weak hull was made to support rods at the front and
rear, to which the wings and tail were attached. This aerodrome was
abandoned on account of the inability to provide it with sufficient
power, as well as because of its constructional weakness. Second,
that type represented by Nos. 1, 2, and 3, in which a midrod was
carried through from front to rear, around which the hull supporting
the machinery was built. These models were much lighter than No. 0,
but were all abandoned because it was found impossible to propel even
the lightest of them. While all these machines were in the strictest
sense failures, inasmuch as none of them was ever equipped with
supporting surfaces, yet the experience gained in the construction
of them was of the very greatest value in determining the points at
which strength was needed, and in indicating the mode of construction
by which strength and rigidity could be obtained.[26]
1893
Another aerodrome, known as No. 4 (shown in Plate 11), was designed
in the latter part of 1892, and by the end of March, 1893, its
construction was well under way. It was of the second type, in that
the midrod was continuous, but it differed from the preceding forms
in having the machinery (boilers, burners, and tanks) attached
directly to the midrod, the hull now taking the form of a mere
protective sheathing. As in Nos. 2 and 3, two engines were used,
which were mounted on a cross-frame of light tubing attached to the
midrod at right angles. It had, as at first constructed, no provision
for the generation of steam, but only for carrying a reservoir of
carbonic acid to supply gas for the engines.
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