Struts, spars, etc., should never be left about the floor, as in such position they are likely to become scored. I have already explained the importance of protecting the outside fibres of the wood. Remember also that wood becomes distorted easily. This particularly applies to interplane struts. If there are no proper racks to stand them in, then the best plan is to lean them up against the wall in as near a vertical position as possible.
TIME.—Learn to know the time necessary to complete any of the various rigging jobs. This is really important. Ignorance of this will lead to bitter disappointments in civil life; and, where Service flying is concerned, it will, to say the least of it, earn unpopularity with senior officers, and fail to develop respect and good work where men are concerned.
THE AEROPLANE SHED.—This should be kept as clean and orderly as possible. A clean, smart shed produces briskness, energy, and pride of work. A dirty, disorderly shed nearly always produces slackness and poor quality of work, lost tools and mislaid material.
GLOSSARY
Aeronautics—The science of aerial navigation.
Aerofoil—A rigid structure, of large superficial area relative to its thickness, designed to obtain, when driven through the air at an angle inclined to the direction of motion, a reaction from the air approximately at right angles to its surface. Always cambered when intended to secure a reaction in one direction only. As the term “aerofoil” is hardly ever used in practical aeronautics, I have, throughout this book, used the term SURFACE, which, while academically incorrect, since it does not indicate thickness, is a term usually used to describe the cambered lifting surfaces, i.e., the “planes” or “wings,” and the stabilizers and the controlling aerofoils.
Aerodrome—The name usually applied to a ground used for the practice of aviation. It really means “flying machine,” but is never used in that sense nowadays.
Aeroplane—A power-driven aerofoil with stabilizing and controlling surfaces.
Acceleration—The rate of change of velocity.