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Langley Field wind tunnel apparatus

Description: From Summary: "The difficulties experienced in properly holding thin tipped or tapered airfoils while testing on an N.P.L. type aerodynamic balance even at low air speeds, and the impossibility of holding even solid metal models at the high speeds attainable at the National Advisory Committee's wind tunnel, necessitated the design of a balance which would hold model airfoils of any thickness and at speeds up to 150 m.p.h. In addition to mechanical strength and rigidity, it was highly desirable … more
Date: October 1921
Creator: Bacon, D. L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Preliminary experiments to determine scale and slip-stream effects on a 1/24th size model of a JN4H biplane

Description: This work was undertaken to obtain results on a small model of a complete airplane which might be used for comparison with corresponding tests made in full flight. Somewhat similar tests have been previously made at various other laboratories; but as certain discrepancies exist between corresponding tests in different tunnels, it has been deemed advisable to obtain a direct comparison for this particular installation. The present work covers tests on a one-twenty-fourth scale model at speeds va… more
Date: 1921
Creator: Bacon, D. L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Diagrams of Airplane Stability

Description: In this report a study is made of the effect on longitudinal and lateral oscillations of an airplane of simultaneous variations in two resistance derivatives while the remainder of the derivatives are constant. The results are represented by diagrams in which the two variable resistance derivatives are used as coordinates, and curves are plotted along which the modulus of decay of a long oscillation has a constant value. The same type of analysis is also carried out for the stability of the par… more
Date: 1921
Creator: Bateman, H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Influence of Span and Load Per Square Meter on the Air Forces of the Supporting Surface

Description: "It should be clear that in order to obtain a lift it is necessary that the air which flows past an aerofoil be given a downward acceleration; indeed the lift can be only the reaction produced by the downward acceleration of the flowing air. The motion of the air in the neighborhood of an aerofoil may be followed theoretically with great exactness. In the following, it will be undertaken to make understood, through the simplest possible considerations, the effect of span and loading on the air … more
Date: March 1921
Creator: Betz, A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Vortices and the Related Principles of Hydrodynamics

Description: Here, conceptions concerning vortices are illustrated by the simplest possible examples. Mathematical formulas and similar means of presentation, which, for the most part, do not help the understanding of persons not versed therein, have been avoided as much as possible. Instead, the author has endeavored to demonstrate the phenomena by means of simple geometrical and mechanical illustrations. For the sake of clarity, the author chiefly considers currents in one plane only, a situation that can… more
Date: November 1921
Creator: Betz, A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Coupling of Engines

Description: This report examines the idea of coupling numerous engines together to turn a single propeller, which the author feels would free aircraft design from the problems of multi-engine and propeller design.
Date: April 1921
Creator: Boccaccio, Paul
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Dependence of Propeller Efficiency on Angle of Attack of Propeller Blade

Description: In order to determine the maximum and the most favorable pitch for a propeller, it was found desirable to investigate the dependence of propeller efficiency on the angle of attack of the propeller blade. The results of a few experiments are given to show that propeller blades conduct themselves just like airplane wings with reference to the dependence of their efficiency on their angle of attack.
Date: December 1921
Creator: Borck, Hermann
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Wind Tunnel Studies in Aerodynamic Phenomena at High Speed

Description: A great amount of research and experimental work has been done and fair success obtained in an effort to place airplane and propeller design upon an empirical basis. However, one can not fail to be impressed by the apparent lack of data available toward establishing flow phenomena upon a rational basis, such that they may be interpreted in terms of the laws of physics. With this end in view it was the object of the authors to design a wind tunnel differing from the usual type especially in rega… more
Date: 1921
Creator: Caldwell, F. W. & Fales, E. N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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New Lateral Stabilizing Device for Airplanes

Description: "The proposed device tends to render the lateral stabilization of airplanes easier and more efficacious. The proposed solution is to mount the ailerons independently, in such a manner that they can turn freely, under the action of the relative wind, about an axis located in front of the extreme position of the center of the lift" (p. 1).
Date: January 1921
Creator: Constantin, Louis
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The determination of the effective resistance of a spindle supporting a model aerofoil

Description: An attempt was made to determine the effect of spindle interference on the lift of the airfoil by measuring moments about the axis parallel to the direction of air flow. The values obtained are of the same degree as the experimental error, and for the present this effect will be neglected. The results obtained using a U.S.A. 15 wing (plotted here) show that the correction is nearly constant from 0 degrees to 10 degrees incidence and that at greater angles its value becomes erratic. At such angl… more
Date: January 1921
Creator: Davidson, W. E. & Bacon, D. L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Causes of cracking of ignition cable

Description: From Summary: "The experiments described here show that the cracking at sharp bends, observed in the insulation of internal combustion engine high tension ignition wires after service, is due to a chemical attack upon the rubber by the ozone produced by the electric discharge that takes place at the surface of the cable. This cracking does not occur if the insulating material is not under tension, or if the cable is surrounded by some medium other than air. But it does occur even if the insulat… more
Date: February 1921
Creator: Dempsey, J. B. & Silsbee, F. B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A high-speed engine pressure indicator of the balanced diaphragm type

Description: This report describes a pressure-measuring device especially adapted for use in mapping indicator diagrams of high-speed internal combustion engines. The cards are obtained by a point-to-point method giving the average of a large number of engine cycles. The principle involved is the balancing of the engine cylinder pressure against a measured pressure on the opposite side of the metal a diaphragm of negligible stiffness.
Date: 1921
Creator: Dickinson, H. C. & Newell, F. B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The determination of downwash

Description: It is obvious that, in accordance with Newton's second law, the lift on an aerofoil must be equal to the vertical momentum communicated per second to the air mass affected. Consequently a lifting aerofoil in flight is trailed by a wash which has a definite inclination corresponding to the factors producing the lift. It is thought that sufficient data, theoretical and experimental, are now available for a complete determination of this wash with respect to the variation of its angle of inclinati… more
Date: January 1921
Creator: Diehl, Walter S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Moisture Resistant Finishes for Airplane Woods

Description: This report describes briefly a series of experiments made at the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, to determine the comparative moisture resistance of linseed oil, impregnation treatments, condensation varnishes, oil varnishes, enamels, cellulose varnishes, rubber, electroplated and sprayed metal coatings, and metal-leaf coatings when applied to wood. All coatings except rubber and electroplated metal coatings, which were not developed sufficiently to make them practical, admitte… more
Date: 1921
Creator: Dunlap, M. E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Experimental Research on Air Propellers, 4

Description: This report states the results of investigations made upon numerous propeller models at the request of the Subcommittee on Aerodynamics, and contains valuable data for those interested in the design of air propellers.
Date: 1921
Creator: Durand, W. F. & Lesley, E. P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Data on the Design of Plywood for Aircraft

Description: "This report makes available data which will aid the designer in determining the plywood that is best adapted to various aircraft parts. It gives the results of investigations made by the Forest Products Laboratory of the United States Forest Service at Madison, Wisconsin, for the Army and Navy Departments, and is one of a series of reports on the use of wood in aircraft prepared by the Forest Products Laboratory for publication by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The object of … more
Date: 1921
Creator: Elmendorf, Armin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Dynamometer Hub for the Testing Propellers and Engines During Flight

Description: The need for a device to measure flight resistance, engine and propeller power, and efficiency during flight grew in proportion to the demand for increased flying capacity in military types of aircraft. Here, a dynamometer hub was inserted between the engine and the propeller. Taken as a whole, the tests that were conducted show that though the dynamometer is a sensitive instrument liable to numerous derangements, it is undeniably useful even in its present form, when handled with care and skil… more
Date: July 1921
Creator: Enoch, O.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Dynamometer Hub and the Flywheel of the Engine

Description: Report presenting a description of the interaction between the dynamometer hub and the flywheel of the engine in aircraft. The negative rotary moments in propellers generally allow for the cessation of one cylinder without any lifting on the part of the propeller, and without depriving the engine of its flywheel.
Date: June 1921
Creator: Everling, E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Distant-Compass

Description: Report presenting a description of fluid compasses that are being used in aircraft, including why magnetic compasses are not usable. Details of the distant compass are provided, which is an improved form of the compass that has a practical application in seaplanes.
Date: June 1921
Creator: Friedensburg, Walter & Miner, D. M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Some Factors of Airplane Engine Performance

Description: This report is based upon an analysis of a large number of airplane-engine tests. It contains the results of a search for fundamental relations between many variables of engine operation. The data used came from over 100 groups of tests made upon several engines, primarily for military information. The types of engines were the Liberty 12 and three models of the Hispano-Suiza. The tests were made in the altitude chamber, where conditions simulated altitudes up to about 30,000 feet, with engine … more
Date: 1921
Creator: Gage, Victor R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Tin Soldering of Aluminum and Its Alloys

Description: A method is presented for soldering aluminum to other metals. The method adopted consists of a galvanic application to the surface of the light-metal parts to be soldered, of a layer of another metal, which, without reacting electrolytically on the aluminum, adheres strongly to the surface to which it is applied, and is, on the other hand, adapted to receive the soft solder. The metal found to meet the criteria best was iron.
Date: October 1921
Creator: Gallo, Gino
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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On the Definition of the Standard Atmosphere

Description: "On April 15, 1920, the under Secretary of State for Aeronautics and Aerial Transport decided to adopt as Standard Atmosphere for official airplane tests in France, the atmosphere defined by the following law, known as the Law of the S.T.You.(Technical Section of Aeronautics): From 0 to 11,000 m. - 0=15-0.0065 Z and above 11,000 m. - 0= -56.5 degrees being the temperature in centigrade degrees at altitude Z expressed in meters. For altitude 0 the pressure is 760 mm of mercury. In the magazine "… more
Date: April 1921
Creator: Grimault, P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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