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[Illustration: A model aeroplane rising from the water.]
THE SECOND BOYS’ BOOK
OF MODEL AEROPLANES
BY
FRANCIS A. COLLINS
AUTHOR OF "THE BOYS’ BOOK OF MODEL AEROPLANES"
ILLUSTRATED WITH MANY
PHOTOGRAPHS AND DIAGRAMS
BY THE AUTHOR
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1911
Copyright 1911, by
The Century Co.
Published October, 1911
THE SECOND BOYS’ BOOK OF MODEL AEROPLANES
FOREWORD
It is assumed that the reader is familiar with "The Boys’ Book of Model
Aeroplanes." Some knowledge of the history of aviation and the early
models, big and little, will be found helpful, but not essential, as a
preparation for the present volume.
Within the year so much has been learned of the science of model
aeroplane construction that an entirely new and more detailed treatment
of the subject seems to be justified. Since the length of model
aeroplane flights has been increased ten times, their improvement is
comparable to that of the large man-carrying machines. The science has
become more exact, and the chance of failure reduced, until to-day
successful flights are within the reach of all.
In the preparation of this volume thanks are due to the New York Model
Aero Club, to Mr. Edward Durrant, Percy Pierce, Cecil Peoli, W. S.
Howells, Jr., and to the young gentlemen whose models are illustrated
herewith, who, singly and collectively, are doing much for the
development of the science in America.
THE SECOND BOYS’ BOOK OF MODEL AEROPLANES .........................
FOREWORD ........................................................
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...........................................
CHAPTER I MODEL AEROPLANES OF 1911 ..............................
CHAPTER II MODEL AEROPLANE TOURNAMENTS ..........................
CHAPTER III PARLOR AVIATION .....................................
CHAPTER IV TOOLS AND MATERIALS ..................................
CHAPTER V THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PLANE CONSTRUCTION .............
CHAPTER VI SCIENTIFIC PROPELLER BUILDING ........................
CHAPTER VII ASSEMBLING THE MOTORS ...............................
CHAPTER VIII DIRECTIONAL CONTROL ................................
CHAPTER IX MODEL AEROPLANE DESIGNS ..............................
CHAPTER X DESIGNING THE SKIDS ...................................
CHAPTER XI GEARED MOTORS ........................................
CHAPTER XII LESSONS OF THE MAN-CARRYING AEROPLANES ..............
CHAPTER XIII SELECTED QUESTIONS FOR BEGINNERS ...................
CHAPTER XIV AMONG THE MODEL BUILDERS ............................
CHAPTER XV CURIOSITIES OF THE AIR ...............................
CHAPTER XVI RULES FOR CONDUCTING MODEL AEROPLANE CONTESTS .......
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF A MODEL AEROPLANE CLUB ..............
DICTIONARY OF AERONAUTICAL TERMS ................................
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A model aeroplane rising from the water. ..........................
A good specimen of plane building. ................................
"Finish one end of the blade before cutting away the opposite end."
Model aeroplane. Designed by Cecil Peoli. .........................
A variation on a familiar form. ...................................
An excellent model designed and built by H. Wakkins. ..............
An original design by Harry McAllister ............................
An interesting experiment in stability ............................
An early model built by E.G. Halpine ..............................
An interesting experiment in stability ............................
An early model built by Monroe Jacobs. Note the Ailerons. .........
A Simple Model Glider .............................................
An effective glider built by R.S. Barnaby .........................
An efficient sling-shot glider built by John Roche ................
Designs for Sling-Shot Gliders. ...................................
Paper Gliders. Antoinette Monoplane and Wright Biplane ............
An excellent glider with wooden planes ............................
A covered-frame sling-shot glider .................................
Percy Pierce launching a model ....................................
A French model built of aluminium .................................
Diagram for making the planes .....................................
Working drawing of the Flemming Williams model ....................
An imported Flemming Williams model. English record 2600 feet. ....
Storing energy for a long distance flight .........................
A geared model built by Leslie V. Robinson ........................
An ingenious biplane ..............................................
A well-proportioned model built by Reginald Overton ...............
A good model intended for long distance work built by A. C. Odom ..
A beautiful monoplane built by R. Mungokee ........................
Detail of a model built by R. Mungokee ............................
An ingenious application of the dihedral angle ....................
Diagram Showing How To Make A Propeller From A Wooden Blank .......
Design of Metal Propeller .........................................
A test of high aspect ratio planes ................................
A modified Bleriot built by Cecil Peoli ...........................
Langley Propeller Blade ...........................................
A combination of several interesting features .....................
A skilful adjustment of the front plane and skid built by Percy
Pierce ............................................................
Wright Propeller Blade ............................................
An efficient model, showing excellent construction, designed by John
Caresi ............................................................
One of the best minimum plane models of 1911 ......................
A Metal Motor Anchorage ...........................................
A Metal Motor Anchorage ...........................................
A notable model possessing unusual stability. Built by W.S. Howell,
Jr. ...............................................................
Front view of model built by W.S. Howell, Jr. .....................
A Metal Skid ......................................................
An ingenious adjustment of ailerons ...............................
Tuning up the model for a flight. .................................
Showing Construction And Mounting Of Propeller And Axle. ..........
An excellent monoplane capable of long flights. ...................
Long-distance model built by Percy Pierce. ........................
Showing An Excellent Way Of Fastening The Propellers To The
Framework. ........................................................
Model built by Rutledge Barry, winner of spectacular flight contest.
A model by Percy Pierce, winner of the indoor long-distance record.
A Motor Anchorage .................................................
A serviceable model showing excellent workmanship built by Cecil
Peoli .............................................................
A serviceable model showing excellent workmanship built by Cecil
Peoli .............................................................
Various Steering Devices. "a" and "b," simple aileron forms. "A"
novel fin on Vinet plane. "B" L-shaped aileron. "C" vertical rudder
(Bleriot type). "D" "Blinkers," an effective rudder. "E" stability
planes not unlike the runners of a sleigh. ........................
An excellent piece of workmanship. Model by R. Mungokee ...........
Model with minimum plane surface. Built by A. C. Odom .............
A — The Famous "one Ouncer." B — A Small Experimental Model. C — A
Modified Burgess Webb Model. ......................................
Model With Minimum Plane Surface. .................................
An American Fleming Williams built by C. McQueen ..................
One of the earlier models built by Cecil Peoli ....................
A Model With Adjustable Stabilizer. ...............................
An Efficient Three-ounce Model. ...................................
An All-metal Model Frame. .........................................
One of the best models of the year, built by John Caresi ..........
An excellent model, showing careful attention to details. Built by
L. V. Brooks ......................................................
A model with limited plane area built by R. Barry .................
An interesting experiment in metal frame building by R. Fisher ....
An aeroplane of simple construction that flies remarkably well,
built by R. S. Barnaby ............................................
Percy Pierce, winner of the distance record .......................
A well-proportioned model, capable of long flights ................
A well designed aeroplane built by James MacPherson ...............
A beautiful model built by Stewart Easter .........................
A successful model of 1910 built by E. G. Halpine. Note contrast in
plane area ........................................................
Percy Pierce launching a prize-winning model ......................
Launching the sling-shot gliders ..................................
A tractor with large plane forward built by F. W. Curtis ..........
Model built by William Robinson ...................................
Front view of the De Lion model ...................................
Two of the earlier Peoli models ...................................
CHAPTER I MODEL AEROPLANES OF 1911
For the average boy there is no more stirring music than the brisk,
whirring note of his model aeroplane. Let the propellers spin steadily
for ten glorious seconds, and the journey spans a couple hundred feet or
more. Double the time and the flight becomes a triumph. Out of the
ingenuity of thousands of boy aviators, the world over, has come a
surprising development of the model aeroplane. The experimental stage is
passed. Any bright boy may now build a model aeroplane which is certain
to give results. The distance qualities of your model may even rival
your endurance as a runner in keeping pace with it.
Working along different lines, the builders of model aeroplanes, widely
scattered, seem to be gradually developing much the same type of air
craft. The tendency is toward the construction of much lighter and more
logical models than last year. In place of the complicated models
supported by several broad planes, we find the most successful amateur
aviators expending all their ingenuity upon simple monoplane forms. The
biplane forms are being abandoned by model builders, as well as the
biplane form of elevating planes. In place of the models made from fifty
or more members, we now find excellent models, capable of much longer
flights, formed of but a dozen pieces. The builders of model aeroplanes
are keeping pace with the development of the man-carrying machines, if
they are not passing them, in developing the flying machine of the
future.
Improvement in the distance qualities of the model aeroplanes, in the
past few months, has been remarkable. At one of the first model
aeroplane tournaments, held in New York, less than two years since, the
longest flight was under sixty feet. In less than one year, flights of
more than 200 feet had become common. To-day the improved racing model
aeroplanes have flown more than 2,500 feet. As a result of the labors of
the boy aviators, it is much easier to build a successful model flying
machine to-day than it was a year ago.
What may be called the 1911 type of model aeroplane looks every inch a
racer. Every unnecessary stick and string has been cut away. When skids
are used they are of the lightest possible material and the simplest
construction. The miniature rubber-tired wheels, with ball bearings,
which made many of last year’s models so attractive, are rarely used.
The plane surface has been reduced fully one half. One great secret of
success is in the cutting down of weight. When your propeller has but
half the work to do, the length of the flight is, of course, greatly
increased.
Our amateur aviators are attacking one great problem of aviation which
the pilots of man-carrying crafts are perhaps neglecting. Model
aeroplanes are built to maintain their equilibrium in the air
automatically. They must not only rise from the ground, prepared for a
long flight, but must be contrived to resist all manner of baffling air
currents aloft. Watch the successful model as it gains its altitude,
settles down to a horizontal flight, is perhaps knocked off its course
by a cross current, and steadies itself with a graceful curve and
proceeds on its way.
All these problems must be anticipated. The young aviator must
ingeniously arrange his planes and ballast in advance. The regular sky
pilot, on the other hand, meets the problems of the air as he encounters
them, by flexing his wings against disturbing currents or by banking to
maintain an even keel at a turn. If the man-carrying airship had to be
prepared to meet all these problems before it left the ground, the
problem would be, of course, much more complicated.
In other words, if the motor of a large machine were started and the
aeroplane launched without a pilot, would its chances of flight be as
good, in proportion to its size, as those of our best model aeroplanes?
A model aeroplane which flies 300 feet performs as remarkable a feat as
would a large machine flying, unguided, a mile or more. The progress in
the construction of model aeroplanes, in brief, already deserves serious
scientific consideration.
The last twelve months have brought out a surprising number of new
aeroplanes, while notable progress has been made in the standard types.
To realize the immense strides or flights forward in the construction of
heavier-than-air machines, one need only set the 1911 models beside the
aeroplanes of a year or two years since. Even to the eye of the layman
in such matters, the older machines are beginning to appear obsolete. In
a previous volume, it was suggested that within a few years the
aeroplane of to-day would appear like cumbersome stage coaches to one
familiar with racing automobiles, and certainly the prophecy is being
quickly realized.
The general tendency is in the direction of greater simplicity in design
in passenger-carrying craft, as in model aeroplanes. Both the monoplane
and biplane types are being developed side by side, and each continues
to have its enthusiastic advocates. The increase in the
passenger-carrying qualities is realizing the most sanguine hopes.
Aeroplanes have carried fifteen passengers for several miles. The speed
qualities of machines have developed correspondingly.
If the development of model aeroplanes leads the way in perfecting
heavier-than-air machines, as many believe, the monoplane form seems
destined to replace all multiplane types. During the past year
practically all of the biplane forms have been abandoned by model
builders. As a result of wide experiments, it has been found that the
monoplane exerts more sustension per unit of surface than any two or
three-plane machines. In theory, it is, of course, possible to increase
the sustained force by setting one plane above another, but in practice
it has been found that the planes must be set so far apart that the
arrangement is impracticable. When planes are separated, they must, of
course, be stayed and trussed to keep them rigid, and all this adds to
the weight and complexity of the machine.
[Illustration: A good specimen of plane building.]
[Illustration: "Finish one end of the blade before cutting away the
opposite end."]
[Illustration: Model aeroplane. Designed by Cecil Peoli.]
The builder of model aeroplanes has a great advantage over the designer
of man-carrying crafts. The spread of the wings of his model is
comparatively small, and the problem of staying and trussing is greatly
simplified. The monoplane, especially in a model, requires practically
no staying at all. Then again the skin friction is greatly reduced in
the monoplane form. Simple as it is, there are great possibilities in
the arrangement of these surfaces. The effect of outline upon resistance
again may be more closely observed in the monoplane than in the
multiplane forms. In other words, if your model goes wrong, it is far
easier to locate the fault and rectify it than in the more complicated
arrangement of planes.
The flights of the English models this year are longer than those made
in America, but, on the other hand, we are solving many practical
problems of aviation, in our model building, which the English have not
attempted. Even in the case of our single-stick frames built in America,
the tendency is toward more stable construction than abroad. The best
English models would not qualify for an American model tournament, since
they could not rise from the ground.
The best American models, on the other hand, would be outdistanced in an
English meet, but their flights would show them to have far greater
automatic stability than their English rivals. It is extremely
interesting to speculate whether the American or English types of model
aeroplanes will survive, and which is contributing more to the solving
of the great mysteries of aviation, but, after all, it is a question
which only time can answer.
Compare typical flights of the American and English models, and the
contrast becomes obvious. The English model is usually held and thrown
forward. The starter thus gives it its altitude and direction. Being
extremely light, they gain a great deal from the wind. Their flights are
usually in straight lines, or in slightly undulating curves. Under
favorable conditions, their distance qualities are remarkable. Flights
of six or eight hundred feet are common, while the present record is
over 2,500 feet or nearly half a mile.
In an American model tournament, the models are set upon the ground and
left to themselves. As a rule, it is not even permitted to give them a
slight push. The motor must be powerful enough to carry them onward and
upward unassisted. In many cases they must be clear of the ground within
twenty feet or the flight is disqualified. It is, of course, obvious
that the motors must be far stronger than in the case of the English
models, and that their frames must therefore be correspondingly heavier
to support the weight. The plane surface, in turn, must be increased to
support this weight. The average English models, even with American
skids, would not leave the ground at all.
Once in the air, the behavior of the American model, again, is entirely
different from its English rival. Our aeroplanes are off with a rush.
The first part of the flight is at a more or less sharply drawn angle of
elevation. It usually rises to an altitude of from ten to twenty feet in
a straight line. To secure a good rise requires a much more scientific
adjustment of the planes and weighting than in the case of the English
models. As it reaches its altitude, it adjusts itself, and here the
problem of stability comes in. The marvelous little craft balances
itself with the least possible loss of time and power, comes to a
horizontal position, and is off on its flight. If its adjustment is not
all it should be, it will, of course, fail to right itself and fall
backward, or, as the phrase goes "sit on its tail." It is estimated that
one-third of the power of the motors is used up in leaving the ground
and rising to its maximum altitude.
Our American model builders believe that their flights are far more
scientific than in the case of a hand-launched model, and that they are
doing more for the actual development of the art of aviation than their
English cousins. Whether one prefers to watch an American or English
tournament is, of course, largely a matter of taste; certainly both are
fascinating.
Much has been learned about motors. It has been found that the rubber
motor is capable of great development. Since a flight of one-half a mile
may be made by twisted bands of rubber, the average model builder may be
content to let clock work and miniature gasoline engines take care of
themselves. By building and flying thousands of models, we have found
what form of rubber strand is best, just how heavy the strands should
be, and the most efficient point of winding. Instead of short heavy
bands, we now use much longer and more slender motors. The efficiency of
rubber motors has been greatly increased by arranging them in series and
connecting them up by gear wheels. It is even possible to buy miniature
gasoline motors suitable for model aeroplanes. Flights of more than one
mile have been made in this way.
All the best models this year are equipped with twin propellers. It is
very little more trouble to build two motors than one, and the model
thus equipped will not only travel much further, but will insure much
more stable flights. A common trouble in model building has been the
lack of stability. Your model has been likely to capsize, even under
favorable conditions, spoiling the flight, while a chance gust of wind
would knock it out of its course in spite of everything you could do. To
overcome this tendency, the surface of the planes might be increased,
but this added to the weight of the model, thus cutting down the length
of the flights. The twin propellers cut at the root of the problem. They
balance the thrust, thus making the flight even and stable. The planes
may also be made much smaller with a gain in weight which, in turn,
lengthens the flight.
[Illustration: A variation on a familiar form.]
[Illustration: An excellent model designed and built by H. Wakkins.]