The Aeroplane Speaks Part 11

In order that this nose-heavy tendency should not exist when the thrust is working and descent not required, the centre of thrust is placed a little below the centre of drift or resistance, and thus tends to pull up the nose of the aeroplane.

The distance the centre of thrust is placed below the centre of drift should be such as to produce a force equal and opposite to that due to the C.G. being forward of the C.L. (see ill.u.s.tration above).

LOOPING AND UPSIDE-DOWN FLYING.--If a loop is desired, it is best to throttle the engine down at point A. The C.G. being forward of the C.P., then causes the aeroplane to nose down, and a.s.sists the pilot in making a reasonably small loop along the course C and in securing a quick recovery. If the engine is not throttled down, then the aeroplane may be expected to follow the course D, which results in a longer nose dive than in the case of the course C.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Position A. Path B. Path C. Path D.]

A steady, gentle movement of the elevator is necessary. A jerky movement may change the direction of motion so suddenly as to produce dangerous air stresses upon the surfaces, in which case there is a possibility of collapse.

If an upside-down flight is desired, the engine may, or may not, be throttled down at point A. If not throttled down, then the elevator must be operated to secure a course approximately in the direction B. If it is throttled down, then the course must be one of a steeper angle than B, or there will be danger of stalling.

[Footnote 16: "In effect" because, although there may be actually the greatest proportion of keel-surface in front of the vertical axis, such surface may be much nearer to the axis than is the keel-surface towards the tail. The latter may then be actually less than the surface in front, but, being farther from the axis, it has a greater leverage, and consequently is greater in effect than the surface in front.]

[Footnote 17: The reason the C.P. of an inclined surface is forward of the centre of the surface is because the front of the surface does most of the work, as explained on p. 62.]

CHAPTER III

RIGGING

In order to rig an aeroplane intelligently, and to maintain it in an efficient and safe condition, it is necessary to possess a knowledge of the stresses it is called upon to endure, and the strains likely to appear.

STRESS is the load or burden a body is called upon to bear. It is usually expressed by the result found by dividing the load by the number of superficial square inches contained in the cross-sectional area of the body.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cross Sectional area]

Thus, if, for instance, the object ill.u.s.trated above contains 4 square inches of cross-sectional area, and the total load it is called upon to endure is 10 tons, the stress would be expressed as 2-1/2 tons.

STRAIN is the deformation produced by stress.

THE FACTOR OF SAFETY is usually expressed by the result found by dividing the stress at which it is known the body will collapse by the maximum stress it will be called upon to endure. For instance, if a control wire be called upon to endure a maximum stress of 2 cwts., and the known stress at which it will collapse is 10 cwts., the factor of safety is then 5.

COMPRESSION.--The simple stress of compression tends to produce a crushing strain. Example: the interplane and fuselage struts.

TENSION.--The simple stress of tension tends to produce the strain of elongation. Example: all the wires.

BENDING.--The compound stress of bending is a combination of compression and tension.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The above sketch ill.u.s.trates a straight piece of wood of which the top, centre, and bottom lines are of equal length. We will now imagine it bent to form a circle, thus:

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The centre line is still the same length as before being bent; but the top line, being farther from the centre of the circle, is now longer than the centre line. That can be due only to the strain of elongation produced by the stress of tension. The wood between the centre line and the top line is then in tension; and the farther from the centre, the greater the strain, and consequently the greater the tension.

The bottom line, being nearest to the centre of the circle, is now shorter than the centre line. That can be due only to the strain of crushing produced by the stress of compression. The wood between the centre and bottom lines is then in compression; and the nearer the centre of the circle, the greater the strain, and consequently the greater the compression.

It then follows that there is neither tension nor compression, _i.e._, no stress, at the centre line, and that the wood immediately surrounding it is under considerably less stress than the wood farther away. This being so, the wood in the centre may be hollowed out without unduly weakening struts and spars. In this way 25 to 33 per cent. is saved in the weight of wood in an aeroplane.

The strength of wood is in its fibres, which should, as far as possible, run without break from one end of a strut or spar to the other end. A point to remember is that the outside fibres, being farthest removed from the centre line, are doing by far the greatest work.

SHEAR STRESS is such that, when material collapses under it, one part slides over the other. Example: all the locking pins.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Some of the bolts are also in shear or "sideways" stress, owing to lugs under their heads and from which wires are taken. Such a wire, exerting a sideways pull upon a bolt, tries to break it in such a way as to make one piece of the bolt slide over the other piece.

TORSION.--This is a twisting stress compounded of compression, tension, and shear stresses. Example: the propeller shaft.

NATURE OF WOOD UNDER STRESS.--Wood, for its weight, takes the stress of compression far better than any other stress. For instance: a walking-stick of less than 1 lb. in weight will, if kept perfectly straight, probably stand up to a compression stress of a ton or more before crushing; whereas, if the same stick is put under a bending stress, it will probably collapse to a stress of not more than about 50 lb. That is a very great difference, and, since weight is of the greatest importance, the design of an aeroplane is always such as to, as far as possible, keep the various wooden parts of its construction in direct compression. Weight being of such vital importance, and designers all trying to outdo each other in saving weight, it follows that the factor of safety is rather low in an aeroplane. The parts in direct compression will, however, take the stresses safely provided the following conditions are carefully observed.

CONDITIONS TO BE OBSERVED:

1. _All the spars and struts must be perfectly straight._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The above sketch ill.u.s.trates a section through an interplane strut. If the strut is to be kept straight, _i.e._, prevented from bending, then the stress of compression must be equally disposed about the centre of strength. If it is not straight, then there will be more compression on one side of the centre of strength than on the other side. That is a step towards getting compression on one side and tension on the other side, in which case it may be forced to take a bending stress for which it is not designed. Even if it does not collapse it will, in effect, become shorter, and thus throw out of adjustment the gap and all the wires attached to the top and bottom of the strut, with the result that the flight efficiency of the aeroplane will be spoiled.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Strut straight. Wires and gap correctly adjusted. Strut bent throwing wires and gap out of adjustment.]

The only exception to the above condition is what is known as the Arch.

For instance, in the case of the Maurice Farman, the spars of the centre-section plane, which have to take the weight of the nacelle, are arched upwards. If this was not done, it is possible that rough landings might result in the weight causing the spars to become slightly distorted downwards. That would produce a dangerous bending stress, but, as long as the wood is arched, or, at any rate, kept from bending downwards, it will remain in direct compression and no danger can result.

2. _Struts and spars must be symmetrical._ By that I mean that the cross-sectional dimensions must be correct, as otherwise there will be bulging places on the outside, with the result that the stress will not be evenly disposed about the centre of strength, and a bending stress may be produced.

3. _Struts, spars, etc., must be undamaged._ Remember that, from what I have already explained about bending stresses, the outside fibres of the wood are doing by far the most work. If these get bruised or scored, then the strut or spar suffers in strength much more than one might think at first sight; and, if it ever gets a tendency to bend, it is likely to collapse at that point.

4. _The wood must have a good, clear grain with no cross-grain, knots, or shakes._ Such blemishes produce weak places and, if a tendency to bend appears, then it may collapse at such a point.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Strut bedded properly. Strut bedded badly.]

5. _The struts, spars, etc., must be properly bedded into their sockets or fittings._ To begin with, they must be of good pushing or gentle tapping fit. They must never be driven in with a heavy hammer. Then again, a strut must bed well down all over its cross-sectional area as ill.u.s.trated above; otherwise the stress of compression will not be evenly disposed about the centre of strength, and that may produce a bending stress. The bottom of the strut or spar should be covered with some sort of paint, bedded into the socket or fitting, and then withdrawn to see if the paint has stuck all over the bed.

6. The atmosphere is sometimes much damper than at other times, and this causes wood to expand and contract appreciably. This would not matter but for the fact that it does not expand and contract uniformly, but becomes unsymmetrical, _i.e._, distorted. I have already explained the danger of that in condition 2. This should be minimized by _well varnishing the wood_ to keep the moisture out of it.

FUNCTION OF INTERPLANE STRUTS.--These struts have to keep the lifting surfaces or "planes" apart, but this is only part of their work. They must keep the planes apart, so that the latter are in their correct att.i.tude. That is only so when the spars of the bottom plane are parallel with those of the top plane. Also, the chord of the top plane must be parallel with the chord of the bottom plane. If that is not so, then one plane will not have the same angle of incidence as the other one. At first sight one might think that all that is necessary is to cut all the struts to be the same length, but that is not the case.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Sometimes, as ill.u.s.trated above, the rear spar is not so thick as the main spar, and it is then necessary to make up for that difference by making the rear struts correspondingly longer. If that is not done, then the top and bottom chords will not be parallel, and the top and bottom planes will have different angles of incidence. Also, the sockets or fittings, or even the spars upon which they are placed, sometimes vary in thickness owing to faulty manufacture. This must be offset by altering the length of the struts. The best way to proceed is to measure the distance between the top and bottom spars by the side of each strut, and if that distance, or "gap" as it is called, is not as stated in the aeroplane's specifications, then make it correct by changing the length of the strut. This applies to both front and rear interplane struts.

When measuring the gap, always be careful to measure from the centre of the spar, as it may be set at an angle, and the rear of it may be considerably lower than its front.

BORING HOLES IN WOOD.--It should be a strict rule that no spar be used which has an unnecessary hole in it. Before boring a hole, its position should be confirmed by whoever is in charge of the workshop. A bolt-hole should be of a size to enable the bolt to be pushed in, or, at any rate, not more than gently tapped in. Bolts should not be hammered in, as that may split the spar. On the other hand, a bolt should not be slack in its hole, as, in such a case, it may work sideways and split the spar, not to speak of throwing out of adjustment the wires leading from the lug or socket under the bolt-head.