AN ABNORMAL SHAPE.—Another illustration is shown in Fig. 30, which has a deep concave directly behind the forward margin, as at A, so that when the plane is at an angle of about 22 degrees, a horizontal line, as B, passing back from the nose, touches the incurved surface of the plane at a point about one-third of its measurement back across the plane.
Fig. 30. One of the Monstrosities
This form is an exact copy of the wing of an actual bird, but it belongs, not to the soaring, but to the class which depends on flapping wings, and as such it cannot be understood why it should be used for soaring machines, as all aeroplanes are.
The foregoing instances of construction are cited to show how wildly the imagination will roam when it follows wrong ideals.
THE TAIL AS A MONITOR.—The tendency of the center of pressure to change necessitates a correctional means, which is supplied in the tail of the machine, just as the tail of a kite serves to hold it at a correct angle with respect to the wind and the pull of the supporting string.
CHAPTER VII
ABNORMAL FLYING STUNTS AND SPEEDS
"PEQUOD, a Frenchman, yesterday repeatedly performed the remarkable feat of flying with the machine upside down. This exhibition shows that the age of perfection has arrived in flying machines, and that stability is an accomplished fact."—News item.
This is quoted to show how little the general public knows of the subject of aviation. It correctly represents the achievement of the aviator, and it probably voiced the sentiment of many scientific men, as well as of the great majority of aviators.
A few days afterwards, the same newspaper published the following: