Page:Aerial Flight - Volume 2 - Aerodonetics - Frederick Lanchester - 1908.djvu/52

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AERODONETICS

to the one design, and weighing approximately 1 lb. 7 oz. each. Subsequently a more fully developed model or aerodone (Fig. 24), elastic propelled with twin screws, was successfully flown. This model is fully described in Appendix III.

§ 14. The Author's Experiments. Records.—A considerable number of flights were made, probably some twenty or thirty in all; the records relate only to some half-dozen cases. The object at the time being merely to demonstrate the stability of a high velocity model, the records are not very complete, and the actual velocities and times of flight were not in every case fully noted. The forms of flight path given in the accompanying figures are drawn as they appeared to observers present, and

Fig. 27.

cannot be regarded as more than rough approximations to the actual curves; the positions of the points of greatest altitude are, however, fairly near the truth.

Referring to Fig. 28 (plan of site), we have Flight No. 1, date not recorded, weight of aerodone entered as 1¼ lbs.; very light wind; distance about 200 yards. This is the initial flight made with first model.

Flight No. 2, June 24th (?), weight 1 lb. 7 oz.; distance 280 or 290 yards; high wind with powerful gusts, probably about 80 m.h. direction W.S.W.; time of flight 27 seconds. A magnificent flight, remarkable "switch-back" flight path (Fig. 25), distance, relative to wind, probably over 600 yards.

Flight No. 3, June 24th (?), same aerodone as Flight No. 2; distance 200 yards ; time of flight 7½ seconds; very light wind. Velocity = 55 m.h. (Fig. 26).

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