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INSECTS . BIRDS. Flying See also:Surface Flying Surface referred to the Kilogramme Names. =2 lb 8 oz. 3 dwt. Names. referred to the 2 gr. avoird. Kilogramme. = 2 lb 3 oz. 4.428 dr. See also:troy. sq. sq. yds. ft. in. yds. ft. in. See also:Gnat . . . II 8 92 See also:Swallow I I 1041 See also:Dragon-See also:fly (small) 7 2 56 See also:Sparrow . o 5 1422 Coccinella (See also:Lady-See also:bird) . 5 13 87 Turtle-See also:dove o 4 1001 Dragon-fly (See also:common) 5 2 89 See also:Pigeon 0 2 113 Tipula, or Daddy-See also:long-legs 3 5 I I See also:Stork . 0 2 20 See also:Bee 1 2 741 See also:Vulture o 1 116 See also:Meat-fly I 3 541 See also:Crane of See also:Australia 0 0 13o See also:Drone (See also:blue) . . . 1 2 20 Cockchafer I 2 50 See also:Stag-See also:beetle j 1 i 39 Lucanus (See also:female) S o 8 33 cervus Stag-beetle (male) o ,. 6 1224 See also:Rhinoceros-beetle . . The way in which the natural wing rises and falls on the See also:air, and reciprocates with the See also:body of the flying creature, has a very obvious bearing upon artificial See also:flight. In natural flight the body of the flying creature falls slightly forward in a See also:curve when the 1 On the Flight of Birds, of Bats and of Insects, in reference to the subject of Aerial Locomotion, by L. de See also:Lucy (See also:Paris). wing ascends, and is slightly elevated in a curve when the wing descends. The wing and body are consequently always playing at See also:cross purposes, the wing rising when the body is falling and See also:vice versa. The alternate rise and fall of the body and wing of the bird are well seen when contemplating the flight of the See also:gull Ta e d f ~•," `~°` b from the stern of a steamboat, as the bird is following in the See also:wake of the See also:vessel. The complementary movements referred to are indicated at fig. 29, where the continuous waved See also:line represents the trajectory made by the wing, and the dotted waved line that made by the body. As will be seen from this figure, the wing advances both when it rises and when it falls. It is a peculiarity of natural wings, and of artificial wings constructed on the principle of living wings, that when forcibly elevated or depressed, even in a strictly See also:vertical direction, they inevitably dart forward. If, for instance, the wing is suddenly depressed in a vertical direction, as at a b of fig. 29, it at once darts downwards am' forwards in a See also:double curve (see continuous line of figure) to c, thus converting the vertical down stroke into a down, oblique, forward stroke. If, again, the wing be suddenly elevated in a strictly vertical direction, as at c d, the wing as certainly darts upwards and forwards in a double curve to e, thus converting the vertical up strokes into an upward, oblique, forward stroke. The same thing happens when the wing is depressed from e to f and elevated from g to h, the wing describing a waved track as at eg,gi. There are See also:good reasons why the wings should always be in advance of the body. A bird when flying is a body in See also:motion; but a body in motion tends to fall not vertically downwards, but downwards and forwards. The wings consequently must be made to strike forwards and kept in advance of the body of the bird if they are to prevent the bird from falling downwards and forwards. If the wings were to strike backwards in aerial flight, the bird would turn a forward somersault. That the wings invariably strike forwards during the down and up strokes in aerial flight is proved alike by observation and experiment. If any one watches a bird rising from the ground or the See also:water, he cannot fail to perceive that the See also:head and body are slightly tilted upwards, and that the wings are made to descend with See also:great vigour in a downward and forward direction. The dead natural wing and a properly constructed artificial wing See also:act in precisely the same way. If the wing of a See also:gannet, just shot, be removed and made to flap in what the operator believes to be a strictly vertical downward direction, the tip of the wing, in spite of him, will dart forwards between 2 and 3 ft. —the amount of forward See also:movement being regulated by the rapidity of the down stroke. This is a very striking experiment. The same thing happens with a properly constructed artificial wing. The down stroke with the artificial as with the natural wing is invariably converted into an oblique, downward and forward stroke. No one ever saw a bird in the air flapping its wings towards its. tail. The old See also:idea was that the wings during the down stroke pushed the body of the bird in an upward and forward direction; in reality the wings do not push but pull, and in See also:order to pull they must always be in advance of the body to be flown. If the wings did not themselves fly forward, they could not possibly cause the body of the bird to fly forward. It is the wings which cause the bird to fly. It only remains to be stated that the wing acts as a true See also:kite, during both the down and the up strokes, its under See also:concave or biting surface, in virtue of the forward travel communicated to it by the body of the flying creature, being closely applied to the air, during both its ascent and its descent. This explainshow the wing furnishes a persistent buoyancy alike when it rises and when it falls (fig. 30). The natural kite formed by the wing differs from the artificial kite only in this, that the former is capable of being moved in all its parts, and is more or less flexibleand elastic, whereas the latter is comparatively rigid. The flexibility and See also:elasticity of the kite formed by the natural wing are rendered necessary by the fact that the wing, as already stated, is practically hinged at its See also:root and along its anterior margin, an arrangement which necessitates its several parts travelling at different degrees of See also:speed, in proportion as they are removed from the axes of rotation. Thus the tip travels at a higher speed than the root, and the posterior margin than the anterior margin. This begets a twisting See also:diagonal movement of the wing on its long See also:axis, which, but for the elasticity referred to, would break the wing into fragments. The elasticity contributes also to the continuous See also:play of the wing, and ensures that no two parts of it shall See also:reverse at exactly the same instant. If the wing was inelastic, every See also:part of it would reverse at precisely the same moment, and its vibration would be characterized by pauses or dead points at the end of the down and up strokes which would be fatal to it as a flying See also:organ. The elastic properties of the wing are absolutely essential, when the mechanism and movements of the pinion are taken into See also:account. A rigid wing can never be an effective flying See also:instrument. The kite-like surfaces referred to in natural flight are those upon which the constructors of flying See also:machines very properly ground their hopes of ultimate success. These surfaces may be conferred on artificial wings, aeroplanes, aerial screws or similar structures; and these structures, if we may See also:judge from what we find in nature, should be of moderate See also:size and elastic. The See also:power of the flying See also:organs will be increased if they are driven at a comparatively high speed, and particularly if they are made to reverse and reciprocate, as in this See also:case they will practically create the currents upon which they are destined to rise and advance.. The angles made by the kite-like surfaces with the See also:horizon should vary according to circumstances. They should be small when the speed is high, and vice versa. This, as stated, is true of natural wings. It should also be true of artificial wings and their analogues. Artificial Flight.—We are now in a position to enter upon a See also:consideration of artificial wings and wing movements, and of artificial flight and flying machines. We begin with artificial wings. The first properly authenticated account of an artificial wing was given by G. A. See also:Borelli in 1670. This author, distinguished alike as a physiologist, mathematician and mechanician, describes and figures a bird with artificial wings, each of which consists of a rigid See also:rod in front and flexible feathers behind. The wings are represented as striking vertically downwards, as the annexed duplicate of Borelli's figure shows (fig. 31) . Borelli was of See also:opinion that flight resulted from the application of an inclined See also:plane, which beats the air, and which has a See also:wedge See also:action. He, in fact, endeavours to prove that a bird wedges itself forward upon the air by the perpendicular vibration of its wings, the wings during their action.forming a wedge, the See also:base of f C which (c b e) is directed to-wards the head of the bird, the See also:apex (a f) being directed towards the tail (d). In the 196th proposition of his See also:work (De motu animalium, See also:Leiden, 1685) he states that " If the See also:expanded wings of a bird suspended in the air shall strike the undisturbed air be- See also:neath it with a . motion perpen- dicular to the horizon, the bird will fly with a transverse motion Borelli's bird with artificial wings. in a plane parallel with the r e, Anterior margin of the right horizon." " If," he adds, " the wing,consistingofarigidrod. wings of the bird be expanded, o a, Posterior margin of the right and the under surfaces of the wing, consisting of flexible wings be struck by the air feathers. ascending perpendicularly to the b c, Anterior; and horizon with such a force as f, Posterior margins of the See also:left shall prevent the bird gliding wing same as the right. downwards (i.e. with a tend- d, Tail of the bird. ency to glide downwards) from r g, d h, Vertical direction of the falling, it will be urged in a down stroke of the wing. See also:horizontal direction." The same See also:argument is re- stated in different words as under:—" If the air under the wings be struck by the flexible portions of the wings (flabella, literally fly flaps or small fans) with a motion perpendicular to the horizon, the sails (vela) and flexible portions of the wings (flabella) will yield in an upward direction and See also:form a wedge, the point of which is directed towards the tail. Whether, therefore, the air strikes the wings from below, or the wings strike the air from above, the result is the same, the posterior or flexible margins of the wings yield in an upward direction, and in so doing urge the bird in a horizontal direction." There are three points in Borelli's argument to which it is necessary to draw See also:attention: (1) the direction of the down stroke: it is stated to be vertically downwards; (2) the construction of the anterior margin of the wing: it is stated to consist of a rigid rod; (3) the See also:function delegated to the posterior margin of the wing: it is said to yield in an upward direction during the down stroke. With regard to the first point. It is incorrect to say the wing strikes vertically downwards, for, as already explained, the body of a flying bird is a body in motion; but as a body in motion tends to fall downwards and forwards, the wing must strike downwards and forwards in order effectually to prevent its fall. Moreover, in point of fact, all natural wings, and all artificial wings constructed on the natural type, invariably strike down-wards and forwards. With regard to the second point, viz. the supposed rigidity of the anterior margin of the wing, it is only necessary to examine the anterior margins of natural wings to be convinced that they are in every case flexible and elastic. Similar remarks apply to properly constructed artificial wings. If the anterior margins of natural and artificial wings were rigid, it would be impossible to make them vibrate smoothly and continuously. This is a See also:matter of experiment. If a rigid rod, or a wing with a rigid anterior margin, be made to vibrate, the vibration is characterized by an unequal jerky motion, at the end of the down and up strokes, which contrasts strangely with the smooth, steady fanning movement See also:peculiar to natural wings. As to the third point, viz. the upward bending of the posterior margin of the wing during the down stroke, it is necessary to remark that the statement is true if it means a slight upward bending, but that it is untrue if it means an extensive upward bending. Borelli does not See also:state the amount of upward bending, but one of his followers, E. J. Marey, maintains that during the down stroke the wing yields until its under surface makes a backward See also:angle with the horizon of 45°. See also:Marcy further states that during the up stroke the wing yields to a corresponding extent in an opposite direction—tbe posterior margin of the wing, accordingto him, passing through an angle of 90°, plus or minus according to circumstances, every See also:time, the wing rises and falls. That the posterior margin of the wing yields to a slight extent during both the down and up strokes will readily be admitted, alike because of the very delicate and highly elastic properties of the posterior margins of the wing, and because of the See also:coma paratively great force employed in its propulsion; but that it does not yield to the extent stated by Marey is a matter of See also:absolute certainty. This admits of See also:direct See also:proof. If any one watches the horizontal or upward flight of a large bird he will observe that the posterior or flexible margin of the wing never rises during the down stroke to a perceptible extent, so that the under surface of the wing, as a whole, never looks backwards. On the contrary, he will perceive that the under surface of the wing (during the down stroke) invariably looks forwards and forms a true kite with the horizon, the angles made by the kite varying at every part of the down stroke, as shown more particularly at c d e f g, i j k l m of fig. 30. The authors who have adopted Borelli's See also:plan of artificial wing, and who have endorsed his See also:mechanical views of the wing's action most fully, are J. See also:Chabrier, H. E. G. See also:Strauss-Durckheim and Marey. Borelli's artificial wing, it will be remembered, consists of a rigid rod in front and a flexible See also:sail behind. It is also made to strike vertically downwards. According to Chabrier, the wing has only one See also:period of activity. He believes that if the wing be suddenly lowered by the depressor muscles, it is elevated solely by the reaction of the air. There is one unanswerable objection to this theory: the birds and bats, and some if not all the insects, have distinct elevator muscles, and can elevate their wings at See also:pleasure when not flying and when, consequently, the reaction of the air is not elicited. Strauss-Durckheim agrees with Borelli both as to the natural and the artificial wing. He is of opinion that the.See also:insect abstracts from the air by means of the inclined plane a component force (composant) which it employs to support and direct itself. In his See also:theology of nature he describes a schematic wing as consisting of a rigid ribbing in front, and a flexible sail behind. A membrane so constructed will, according to him, be See also:fit for flight. It will suffice if such a sail elevates and lowers itself successively. It will of its own See also:accord dispose itself as an inclined plane, and receiving obliquely the reaction of the air, it transfers into tractile force a part of the vertical impulsion it has received. These two parts of the wing, moreover, are equally indispensable to each other. Marey repeats Borelli and Durckheim with, very trifling modifications, so See also:late as 1869. He describes two artificial wings, the one composed of a rigid rod and sail—the rod representing the stiff anterior margin of the wing; the sail, which is made of See also:paper bordered with cardboard, the flexible posterior margin. The other wing consists of a rigid nervure in front and behind of thin See also:parchment which supports See also:fine rods of See also:steel. He states that if the wing only elevates and depresses itself, " the resistance of the air is sufficient to produce all the other movements. In effect (according to Marey) the wing of an insect has not the power of equal resistance in every part. On the anterior margin the extended nervures make it rigid, while behind it is fine and flexible. During the vigorous depression of the wing, the nervure has the power of remaining rigid, whereas the flexible portion, being pushed in an upward direction on account of the resistance it experiences from the air, assumes an oblique position which causes the upper surface of the wing to look forwards." The reverse of this, in Marey's opinion, takes See also:place during the See also:elevation of the wing—the resistance of the air from above causing the upper surface of the wing to look backwards. . . . " At first," he says, " the plane of the wing is parallel with the body of the See also:animal. It lowers itself—the front part of the wing strongly resists, the sail which follows it being flexible yields. Carried by the ribbing (the anterior margin of the wing) which lowers itself, the sail or posterior margin of the wing being raised meanwhile by the air, which sets it straight again, the sail will take an inter-mediate position and incline itself about 450 plus or minus according to circumstances. . . . The wing continues its movements of depression inclined to the horizon; but the impulse of the air, ,',See also:art b d -- iiiiiiii iii i iii which continues its effect, and naturally acts upon the surface which it strikes, has the power of resolving itself into two forces, a vertical and a horizontal force; the first suffices to raise the animal, the second to move it along."' Marey, it will be observed, reproduces Borelli's artificial wing, and even his See also:text, at a distance of nearly two centuries. The artificial wing recommended by Pettigrew is a more exact See also:imitation of nature than either of the foregoing. It is of a more or less triangular form, thick at the root and anterior margin, and thin at the tip and posterior margin. No part of it is rigid. It is, on the contrary, highly elastic and flexible throughout. It is furnished with springs at its root to contribute to its continued play, and is applied to the air by a direct See also:piston action in such a way that it descends in a downward and forward direction during the down stroke, and ascends in an upward and forward direction during the up stroke. It elevates and propels both when it rises and falls. It, moreover, twists and untwists during its action and describes figure-of-8 and waved tracks in space, precisely as the natural wing does. The twisting is most marked at the tip and'posterior margin, particularly that See also:half of the posterior margin next the tip. The wing when in action may be divided into two portions by a line See also:running diagonally between the tip of the wing anteriorly and the root of the wing posteriorly. The tip and posterior parts of the wing are more active than the root and anterior parts, from the fact that the tip and posterior parts (the wing is an See also:eccentric) always travel through greater spaces, in a given time, than the root and anterior parts. as a b, Anterior margin of wing, to assists in elevating the which the neurae or ribs wing. are affixed. n, Inferior elastic See also:band, which c d, Posterior margin of wing antagonizes m, The after- See also:crossing anterior one. See also:note stretching of the x, See also:Ball-and-socket See also:joint at root See also:superior and inferior elastic of wing, the wing being bands contributes to the attached to the See also:side of the continuous play of the wing, See also:cylinder by the socket. by preventing dead points t, Cylinder. at the end of the down and r r, Piston, with cross heads up strokes. The wing is (w, w) and piston head (s). See also:free to move in a vertical o o, Stuffing boxes. and horizontal direction e, f, See also:Driving chains. and at any degree of m., Superior elastic band, which obliquity. The wing is so constructed that the posterior margin yields freely in a downward direction during the up stroke, while it yields comparatively little in an upward direction during the down stroke; and this is a distinguishing feature, as the wing is thus made to See also:fold and elude the air more or less completely during the up stroke, whereas it is made to expand and seize the air with avidity during the down stroke. The oblique line referred to as running diagonally across the wing virtually divides the wing into an active and a passive part, the former elevating and propelling, the latter sustaining. It is not possible to determine with exactitude the precise function discharged by each part of the wing, but experiment tends to show that the tip of the wing elevates, the posterior margin propels, and the root sustains. The wing—and this is important--is driven by a direct piston 1E. T. Marcy, Revue See also:des See also:tours scientifiques do la See also:France et de l'etranger (1869).action with an irregular See also:hammer-like movement, the pinion having communicated to it a See also:smart click at the beginning of every down stroke—the up stroke'beingmore See also:uniform. The following is the arrangement (fig. 32). If the artificial wing here represented (fig. 32) be compared with the natural wing as depicted at fig. 33, it will be seen that there is. nothing in the one which` is not virtually reproduced in the other. In addition to the foregoing, Pettigrew recommended a double elastic wing to be applied to the air like a See also:steam-hammer, by being fixed to the wing forms a See also:mobile See also:helix or See also:screw. a b, Anterior margin of left wing. x, Root of right wing with See also:bell- e d, Posterior margin of See also:ditto. and-socket joint. d g, See also:Primary or See also:rowing feathers 1, See also:Elbow joint. of left wing. m, See also:Wrist joint. g a, Secondary feathers ditto. n, o, See also:Hand and See also:finger See also:joints. head of the piston. This wing, like the single wing described, twists and untwists as it rises and falls, and possesses all the characteristics of the natural wing (fig. 34). He also recommends an elastic aerial screw consisting of two See also:blades, which See also:taper and become thinner towards the tips and b'_ 4' posterior margins. When the screw is made to rotate, the blades, because of their elasticity, assume a great variety of angles, the angles being least where the speed of the blades is greatest and vice versa. The See also:pitch of the blades is thus regulated by the speed attained (fig. 35). The peculiarity of Pettigrew's wings and screws consists in their elasticity, their twisting action, and their great See also:comparative length and narrowness. They offer little resistance to the air when they are at See also:rest, and when in motion the speed with which they are driven is such as to ensure that the comparatively large spaces through which they travel shall practically be converted into solid bases of support. After Pettigrew enunciated his views (1867) as to the screw configuration and elastic properties of natural wings, and more especially after his introduction of See also:spiral, elastic artificial wings, and elastic screws, a great revolution took place in the construction of flying See also:models. Elastic aeroplanes were advocated by D. S. See also: Cayley gave a See also:practical See also:illustration of the efficacy of the screw as applied to the air by constructing a small machine, consisting of two screws made of See also:quill feathers, a See also:representation of which we annex (fig. 36). Sir George writes as under: " As it may be an amusement to some of your readers to see a machine rise in the air by mechanical means, I will conclude may See also:present communication by describing an instrument of this See also:kind, which any one can construct at the expense of ten minutes' labour. " The Aero-bi-plane, or First Steps to Flight," Ninth See also:Annual See also:Report of the Aeronautical Society of Great See also:Britain, 1874. 2" Resistance to Falling Planes on a Path of See also:Translation," Ninth Annual Report of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, 1874. ,' The Aeronaut for January 1872 and See also:February 1875. " a and b, fig. 36, are two corks, into each of which are inserted four wing feathers from any bird, so as to be slightly inclined like the sails of a See also:windmill, but in opposite directions in each set. A See also:round shaft is fixed in the See also:cork a, which ends in a See also:sharp point. At the upper part of the cork b is fixed a See also:whalebone See also:bow, having a small See also:pivot hole in its centre to receive the point of the shaft. The bow is then to be strung equally on each side to the upper portion of the shaft, and the little machine is completed. See also:Wind up the See also:string by turning the flyers different ways, so that the See also:spring of the bow may unwind them with their anterior edges ascending; then place the cork with the bow attached to it upon a table, and with a finger on the upper cork See also:press strong enough to prevent the string from unwinding, and, taking it away suddenly, the instrument will rise to the See also:ceiling." Cayley's screws were peculiar, inasmuch as they were super-imposed and rotated in opposite directions. He estimated that if the See also:area of the screws was increased to zoo sq. ft., and moved by a See also:man, they would elevate him. His interesting experiment is described at length, and the apparatus figured in See also:Nicolson's See also:Journal, 1800, p. 172. Other experimenters, such as J. Degen in 1816 and Ottoris See also:Sarti in 1823, followed Cayley at moderate intervals, constructing flying models on the vertical screw principle. In 1842 W. H. See also:Phillips succeeded, it is stated, in elevating a steam model by the aid of yetolving fans, which according to his account flew across two See also:fields after having attained a great See also:altitude; and in 1859 H. See also:Bright took out a patent for a machine to be sustained by vertical screws. In 1863 the subject of aviation by vertical screws received a fresh impulse from the experiments of Gustave de Ponton d'Amecourt, G. de la Landelle, and A. Nadar, who exhibited models driven by See also:clock-work springs, which ascended with graduated weights a distance of from 10 to 12 ft. These Models were so fragile that they usually See also:broke in coming in contact with the ground in their descent. Their flight, moreover, was unsatisfactory, from the fact that it only lasted a few seconds. Stimulated by the success of his spring models, Ponton d'Amecourt had a small steam model constructed. This model, which was shown at the See also:exhibition of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain at the Crystal See also:Palace in 1868, consisted of two superposed screws propelled by an See also:engine, the steam for which was generated (for lightness) in an See also:aluminium See also:boiler. This steam model proved a failure, inasmuch as it only lifted a third of its own See also:weight. Fig. 37 embodies de la Landelle's ideas. x, v, w, margins of blades of screw. d c, h g, Posterior or thin elastic margins of blades of screw. The arrows m, n, o, p, q, r indicate the direction of travel. the ground fora distance of from 120 to 130 ft. It flies this distance in from to to 11 seconds, its mean speed being something like 12 ft. per second. From experiments made with this model, Penaud calculates that one See also:horse-power would elevate and support 85 Th. D. S. Brown also wrote (1874) in support of elastic aerobiplanes. His experiments proved that two elastic aeroplane: See also:united by a central shaft or shafts, and separated by a wide 514 All the models referred to (Cayley's excepted') were provided with rigid screws. In 1872 Penaud discarded the rigid screws in favour of elastic ones, as Pettigrew had done some years before. Penaud also substituted See also:india-See also:rubber under torsion for the whalebone and clock springs of the smaller models, and the steam of the larger ones. His helicoptere or screw-model is remarkable for its lightness, simplicity and power, The accompanying See also:sketch will serve to illustrate its construction (fig. 38). It See also:con- sists of two superposed elastic screws (a a, b b), the upper of which (a a) is fixed in a vertical See also:frame (c), which is pivoted in the central part (d) of the under screw. From the centre of the under screw an See also:axle provided with a See also:hook (e), which performs the part of a See also:crank, projects in an upward direction. Between the hook or crank (e) and the centre of the upper screw (a a), the India-rubber in a state of torsion (f) extends. By fixing the See also:lower screw and turning the upper one a sufficient number of times the requisite degree of torsion and power is obtained. The apparatus when liberated flies into the air sometimes to a height of 50 ft., and gyrates in large circles for a period varying from 15 to 30 seconds. Penaud next directed his attention to the construction of a model, to be propelled by a screw and sustained by an elastic aeroplane extending horizontally. Sir George Cayley proposed such a machine in 18ro, and W. S. Henson constructed and patented a similar machine in 1842. Several inventors succeeded in making models fly by the aid of aeroplanes and screws, as, e.g. J. Stringfellow in 1847,2 and F. du See also:Temple in 1857. These models flew in a haphazard sort of a way, it being found exceedingly difficult to confer on them the necessary degree of stability fore and aft and laterally. Penaud succeeded in overcoming the difficulty in question by the invention of what he designated an automatic See also:rudder. This consisted of a small elastic aeroplane placed aft or behind the See also:principal aeroplane which is also elastic. The two elastic aeroplanes extended horizontally and made a slight upward angle with the horizon, the angle made by the smaller aeroplane (the rudder) being slightly in excess of that made by the larger. The See also:motive power was india-rubber in the See also:condition of torsion; the propeller, a screw. The reader will understand the arrangement by a reference to the accompanying See also:drawing (fig. 39). Models on the aeroplane screw type may be propelled by two screws, one fore and one aft, rotating in opposite directions; and in the event of only one screw being employed it may be placed in front of or behind the aeroplane. When such a model is See also:wound up and let go it descends about 2 ft., after which, having acquired initial velocity, it rises and flies in a forward direction at a height of from 8 to to ft. from 1 Cayley's screws, as explained, were made of feathers, and consequently elastic. As, however, no allusion is made in his writings to the superior advantages possessed by elastic over rigid screws, it is to be presumed that feathers were employed simply for convenience and lightness. Pettigrew, there is See also:reason to believe, was the first to See also:advocate the employment of elastic screws for aerial purposes. 2 Stringfellow constructed a second model, which is described and figured further on (fig. 44).See also:interval, always produce increased stability. The See also:production of flight by the vertical flapping of wings is in some respects the most difficult, but this also has been attempted and achieved. Penaud and A. H. de See also:Villeneuve each constructed winged models. Marey was not so fortunate. He endeavoured to construct an artificial insect on the plan advocated by Borelli, Strauss-Diirckheim and Chabrier, but signally failed, his insect never having been able to lift more than a third of its own weight. De Villeneuve and Penaud constructed their winged models on different types, the former selecting the See also:bat, the latter the bird. b' a b c d, a' b' c' d', Elastic wings, which twist and untwist when made to vibrate. a b, a' b', Anterior margins of wings. c d, c' d', Posterior margins of wings. c, c', Inner portions of wings attached to central shaft of model by elastic bands at e. f, India-rubber in a state of De Villeneuve made the wings of his artificial bat conical in shape and comparatively rigid. He controlled the movements of the wings, and made them strike downwards and forwards in imitation of natural wings. His model possessed great power of rising. It elevated itself from the ground with ease, and flew in a horizontal direction for a distance of 24 ft., and at a velocity of 20 M. an See also:hour. Penaud's model differed from de Villeneuve's in being provided with elastic wings, the posterior margins of which in addition to being elastic were free to move round the Fro. 39.-Aeroplane Model with Automatic Rudder. torsion, attached to hook or crank at f. By holding the aeroplane (a a) and turning the screw (c c) the necessary power is obtained by torsion. (Penaud.), a a, Elastic aeroplane. b b, Automatic rudder. c c, Aerial screw centred at f. d, Frame supporting aeroplane, rudder and screw. e, India-rubber, in a state of h 4o.-Penaud's Artificial Flying Bird. torsion, which provides the motive power, by causing the crank situated between the vertical wing supports (g) to rotate; as the crank revolves the wings are made to vibrate by means of two rods which extend between the crank and the roots of the wings. It, Tail of artificial bird. anterior margins as round axes (see fig. 24). India-rubl3er springs were made to extend between the inner posterior parts of the wings and the frame, corresponding to the backbone of the bird. A vertical movement having been communicated by means of india-rubber in a state of torsion to the roots of the wings, the wings themselves, in virtue of their elasticity, and because of the resistance experienced from the air, See also:twisted and untwisted and formed reciprocating screws, precisely analogous to those originally described and figured by Pettigrew in 1867. Penaud's arrangement is shown in fig. 40. If the left wing of Penaud's model (a b, c d of fig. 40) be compared with the wing of the bat (fig. 18), or with Pettigrew's artificial wing (fig. 32), the identity of principle and application is at once apparent. In Penaud's artificial bird the See also:equilibrium is secured by the addition of a tail. The model cannot raise itself from the ground, but on being liberated from the hand it descends 2 ft. or so, when, having acquired initial velocity, it flies horizontally for a distance of 50 or more feet, and rises as it flies from 7 to q ft. The following are the measurements of the model in question:—length of wing from tip to tip, 32 in.; weight of wing, tail, frame, india-rubber, &c., 73 grammes (about 21 ounces;. (J. B. P.) Flying Machines.—Henson's flying machine, designed in 1843, was the earliest See also:attempt at aviation on a great See also:scale. Henson was one of the first to combine aerial screws with extensive supporting structures occupying a nearly horizontal position. The accompanying illustration explains the See also:combination (fig. 41). " The See also:chief feature of the invention was the very great expanse of its sustaining planes, which were larger in proportion to the weight it had to carry than those of many birds. The machine advanced with its front edge a little raised, the effect of which was to present its under surface to the air over which it passed, the resistance of which, acting upon it like a strong wind on the sails of a windmill, prevented the descent of the machine and its See also:burden. The sustaining of the whole, therefore, depended upon the speed at which it travelled through the air, and the angle at which its under surface impinged on the air in its front. . . . The machine, fully prepared for flight, was started from the See also:top of an inclined plane, in descending which it attained a velocity necessary to sustain it in its further progress. That velocity would be gradually destroyed by the resistance of the air to the forward flight; it was, therefore, the See also:office of the steam-engine and the vanes it actuated simply to repair the loss of velocity; it was made, therefore, only of the power and weight necessary for that small effect." The editor of See also:Newton's Journal of Arts ,and Sciences speaks of it thus:—" The apparatus consists of a See also:car containing the goods, passengers, engines, See also:fuel, &c., to which a rectangular frame, made of See also:wood or See also:bamboo See also:cane, and covered with See also:canvas or oiled See also:silk, is attached. This frame extends on either side of the car in a similar manner to the outstretched wings of a bird; but with this difference, that the frame is immovable. Behind the wings are two vertical See also:fan wheels, furnished with oblique vanes, which are intended to propel the apparatus through the air. The See also:rainbow-like circular wheels are the propellers, answering to the wheels of a steam-See also:boat, and acting upon the air after the manner of a windmill. These wheels receive motions from bands and pulleys from a steam or other engine contained in the car. To an axis at the stern of the car a triangular frame is attached, resembling the tail of a bird, which is also covered with canvas or oiled silk. This may be expanded or contracted at pleasure, and is moved up and down for the purpose of causing the machine to ascend or descend. Beneath the tail is a rudder for directing the course of the machine to the right or to the left; and to facilitate the steering a sail is stretched between two masts which rise from the car. The amount of canvas or oiled silk necessary for buoying up the machine is stated to be equal to one square See also:foot for each half See also:pound of weight." F. H. Wenham, thinking to improve upon Henson, invented in 1866 what he designated his aeroplanes.' These were thin, See also:light, long, narrow structures, arranged above each other in tiers like so many shelves. They were tied together at a slight upward angle, and combined strength and lightness. The idea was to obtain great sustaining area in comparatively small space with comparative ease of See also:control. It was hoped that when the aeroplanes were wedged forward in the air by vertical screws, or by the body to be flown, each aeroplane would rest or See also:float upon a stratum of undisturbed air, and that practically the aeroplanes would give the same support as if spread out horizon-See also:tally. The accompanying figures illustrate Wenham's views (See also:figs. 42 and 43). Stringfellow, who was originally associated with Henson, and built a successful flying model in 1847, made a second model
F1c. 42.—Wenham's See also:system of Aeroplanes designed to carry aman,
a, a, Thin planks, tapering at each these are stretched five
end, and attached to a bands of See also: 44), See also:drawn from a photograph, gives a very good idea of the arrangement—a, b, c representing the superimposed aeroplanes, d the tail, e, f the screw propellers. The superimposed aeroplanes (a, b, c) in this machine contained a sustaining area of 28 sq. ft., in addition to the tail (d). Its engine represented a third of a horse power, and the weight of the whole (engine, boiler, water, fuel, superimposed aeroplanes and 1" On Aerial Locomotion," Aeronautical Society's Report for 1867. d d a, a, b, b, e, e, c, c', Wing propellers driven by the feet. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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