Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 101, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1918 — SMALL THINGS CHECK SPEED [ARTICLE]

SMALL THINGS CHECK SPEED

Flight of Airplanes May Be Greatly fmpeded by Objects Seemingly J Hdirdly Worth Noticing. irf-OMOh e.>ml - M-». IHow the smallest of objects will check the speed of a dirigible balloon ocof an airplane may be judged when it to -remembered that the resistance of the air to a body moving through It is proportional to the square of-the speed against the surface that it presents In the direction towards which it Is moving. When the object, whether this be a gasoline tank, a bomb dropper or any other accesory, is made on stream lines the resistance it causes is three or four times less than when it la not. One builjder added two kilometers an hour to the speed of his plane simply by glyinß the stream line form to the rubber shock receivers of his landing apparatus.. Anrilf the. pilot lets such an object as a retroscope, an altimetre or a revo-lution-metre project from the car it will reduce his speed by at least six kilometers an hour. A machine gun Win have almost the same retarding effect.