Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 198, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1917 — BRITAIN REVEALS ITS AIR SECRETS [ARTICLE]

BRITAIN REVEALS ITS AIR SECRETS

America Given Results of Experiments Carried on for Several Years. BIG FLEET PLAN OPPOSED Turning Out of 30,000 Craft Deemed Unwise, in View of Continual Changes Made Necessary by War Experience. London. —If the United States produces airplanes on a large scale and they prove successful in the fighting on the western front it will be due in no small measure to the great aid rendered America by the British government in aeronautics. Britain is today supplying American aero factories with concrete results developed by experiments carried on for several years, a few of which are outlined in a recent report by the advisory committee for aeronautics. The work of tile advisory committee has grown to such an extent in the last year that subcommittees have been appointed for special work along certain lines. One subcommittee is experimenting on internal combustion engines, while another is dealing exclusively with light alloys. As a result of experience gained in actual warfare changes are made in construction almost daily, ami it is this fact that makes the plans of the United States for the . immediate construction of 30,000 airplanes seem Tiuulvisable. ’ Perhaps the greatest advance in airplane construction has come through the work of the committee on aerodynamics, which has tested models of every type of aircraft now employed. Important tests have been made of various shapes to discover which offered the least resistance and which best distributed air pressure. Airship Stability.

Along this line a vast amount of experimental work has been carried out along the theory of airship stability. A complete series of tests have been completed relating to air propellers with a view to increasing the accuracy of prediction of performance, thus facilitating the design of propellers for special types of aircraft. Extreme care has been devoted to the study of design to secure adequate strength in* high-speed fighting machines. These machines which the United States already is at work upon require high power, while the weight must be kept.to the minimum, and the best compromise between these two opposed conditions does not admit of precise determination—Special attention has been paid to the manner in which strength varies wjth dimensions. Machines have beep? placed upon test tables which allow of accurate observations of the effects of vibration. Every wire, brace and stay has been put to Severe tests.' The use of light alloys has become of paramount Importance, and the Improvements made in the last year along this line are going to have tremendous effect on future development The national physical laboratory has

been conducting experiments in light alloys for many years, and during the last two or three months results of special interest - have”T)een achieved. To carry out the manufacture of the nearest type metal the subcommittee on light alloys hopes to co-ordinate the work being ddne in various centers and of placing the information gained by experimental work at the disposal of manufacturers. Fabrics and Varnishes. This information, in part, has been sent to the United States and will take its big share in the final achievement of tremendous output. with the military air department, the advisory committee for aeronautics has taken up several questions dealing with the use of fabrics and varnishes and protective coatings.' These materials have been tested for use in the tropics and for use in the cold high altitudes and in the winter months on the western front. Conclusions of Importance have been reached in this line and changes have been made in the materials and coatings for wings with regard for the changes worked by spnlight, rain and other atmospheric conditions. Aviation schools have aided: greatly in the work of perfecting bombs to be carried by airplanes and the same schools have also supplied valuable information regarfiing the use of aerial Instruments and the effect of altitude on them. Two new types of bombsights have been tested and a new form standardized. Lastly, the advisory committee reports that establishment of stations in the proper areas to report upon the development and cedure of thunderstorms. They ’ are traced across the map and reported to the affected districts.