CONTENTS
INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER I. THEORIES AND FACTS ABOUT FLYING
The "Science" of Aviation. Machine Types. Shape
or Form not Essential. A Stone as a Flying Machine.
Power the Great Element. Gravity as Power. Mass
and Element in Flying. Momentum a Factor. Resistance.
How Resistance Affects Shape. Mass and Resistance.
The Early Tendency to Eliminate Momentum.
Light Machines Unstable. The Application of
Power. The Supporting Surfaces. Area not the Essential
Thing. The Law of Gravity. Gravity. Indestructibility
of Gravitation. Distance Reduces Gravitational
Pull. How Motion Antagonizes Gravity. A
Tangent. Tangential Motion Represents Centrifugal
Pull. Equalizing the Two Motions. Lift and Drift.
Normal Pressure. Head Resistance. Measuring Lift
and Drift. Pressure at Different Angles. Difference
Between Lift and Drift in Motion. Tables of Lift and
Drift. Why Tables of Lift and Drift are Wrong.
Langley's Law. Moving Planes vs. Winds. Momentum
not Considered. The Flight of Birds. The
Downward Beat. The Concaved Wing. Feather Structure
Considered. Webbed Wings. The Angle of Movement.
An Initial Movement or Impulse Necessary. A
Wedging Motion. No Mystery in the Wave Motion.
How Birds Poise with Flapping Wings. Narrow-
winged Birds. Initial Movement of Soaring Birds.
Soaring Birds Move Swiftly. Muscular Energy
Exerted by Soaring Birds. Wings not Motionless.
CHAPTER II. PRINCIPLES OF AEROPLANE FLIGHT Speed as one of the Elements. Shape and Speed. What "Square of the Speed" Means. Action of a "Skipper." Angle of Incidence. Speed and Surface. Control of the Direction of Flight. Vertical Planes.
CHAPTER III. THE FORM OR SHAPE OF FLYING MACHINES The Theory of Copying Nature. Hulls of Vessels. Man Does not Copy Nature. Principles Essential, not Forms. Nature not the Guide as to Forms. The Propeller Type. Why Specially-designed Forms Improve Natural Structures. Mechanism Devoid of Intelligence. A Machine Must Have a Substitute for Intelligence. Study of Bird Flight Useless. Shape of Supporting Surface. The Trouble Arising From Outstretched Wings. Density of the Atmosphere. Elasticity of the Air. "Air Holes." Responsibility for Accidents. The Turning Movement. Centrifugal Action: The Warping Planes.
CHAPTER IV. FORE AND AFT CONTROL The Bird Type of Fore and Aft Control. Angle and Direction of Flight. Why Should the Angle of the Body Change. Changing Angle of Body not Safe. A Non-changing Body. Descending Positions by Power Control. Cutting off the Power. The Starting Movement. The Suggested Type. The Low Center of Gravity. Fore and Aft Oscillations. Application of the New Principle. Low Weight not Necessary with Synchronously- moving wings.
CHAPTEB V. DIFFERENT MACHINE TYPES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS The Helicopter. Aeroplanes. The Monoplane. Its Advantages. Its Disadvantages. The Bi-plane. Stability in Bi-planes. The Orthopter. Nature's Type not Uniform. Theories About Flight of Birds. Instinct. The Mode of Motion. The Wing Structure. The Wing Movement. The Helicopter Motion.
CHAPTER VI. THE LIFTING SURFACES OF AEROPLANES Relative Speed and Angle. Narrow Planes Most Effective. Stream Lines Along a Plane. The Center of Pressure. Air Lines on the Upper Side of a Plane. Rarefied Area. Rarefaction Produced by Motion. The Concaved Plane. The Center of Pressure. Utilizing the Rarefied Area. Changing Center of Pressure. Plane Monstrosities. The Bird Wing Structure. Torsion. The Bat's Wing. An Abnormal Shape. The Tail as a Monitor.