Aeroplane construction

Transcriber’s Note
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A Handbook on the various Methods and Details of Construction employed in the Building of Aeroplanes
BY SYDNEY CAMM ASSOCIATE FELLOW ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY
LONDON CROSBY LOCKWOOD AND SON 7, STATIONERS’ HALL COURT, LUDGATE HILL
1919
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
The articles embodied with other matter in this book, were intended as a broad survey of the principles and details of modern aeroplane construction, concerning which there is a noticeable deficit amongst existing aeronautical literature.
They were written at a time when specific references to modern British aircraft were forbidden, and although from a comparative point of view this is to be regretted, the details and methods dealt with are, in the author’s opinion, representative of those most generally used in machines of present-day design. It is hoped that the book will appeal not only to those engaged on the manufacture, but also to those concerned with the uses of aircraft.
S. C.
The purpose of this book is to give some indication of the principles and methods of construction of modern aeroplanes, as distinct from those considerations pertaining purely to design, although occasional references to various elementary principles of aerodynamics have been found necessary to illustrate the why and wherefore of certain constructional details.
To many the aeroplane is a structure of appalling flimsiness, yet the principle which it exemplifies, that of obtaining the maximum strength for a minimum of weight, constitutes a problem of which the solving is not only an unceasing labour, but one demanding the observance of the best engineering procedure. The whole future of aviation, commercially or otherwise, may be said to be indissolubly bound up with the development of efficiency; and whether this is to be attained in improvements in aerodynamical qualities, by the discovery of a material giving a greatly enhanced strength to weight ratio, or by progress in the arrangement of the various members of the complete structure of the aeroplane, is a matter upon which some diversity of opinion exists. However, it is certain that the very great developments of the last few years are due more to refinements in design rather than construction; and it is questionable whether the constructional work of the modern aeroplane has developed equally with design, so that, even taking for granted the oft-repeated, but very doubtful, statement that we are approaching the limitations of design, there is certainly plenty of scope for experiment and improvement in the constructional principles of the modern aeroplane.