第 18 节
作者:曾氏六合网      更新:2021-02-25 00:30      字数:9319
  death with the escaping gasoline after an accident;
  before help arrived。 There is no excuse for
  such dangers。 Most of such accidents were due
  to the old practice of making the tanks of exceedingly
  light or thin material; so that the least
  undue jar would tear a hole at the fastening
  points; and thus permit the gasoline to escape。
  A thick copper tank is by far the safest; as this
  metal will not readily rupture by the wrench which
  is likely in landing。
  WHERE TO LOCATE THE TANK。There has been
  considerable discussion as to the proper place to
  locate the tank。 Those who advocate its placement
  overhead argue that in case of an accident
  the aeroplane is likely to overturn; and the tank
  will; therefore; be below the pilot。 Those who
  believe it should be placed below; claim that in
  case of overturning it is safer to have the tank
  afire above than below。
  DANGER TO THE PILOT。The great danger to the
  pilot; in all cases of accidents; lies in the
  overturning of the machine。 Many have had accidents
  where the machine landed right side up; even
  where the fall was from a great height; and the
  only damage to the aviator was bruises。 Few; if
  any; pilots have escaped where the machine has
  overturned。
  It is far better; in case the tank is light; to have
  it detached from its position; when the ship strikes
  the earth; because in doing so; it will not be so
  likely to burn the imprisoned aviator。
  In all cases the tank should be kept as far away
  from the engine as possible。 There is no reason
  why it cannot be placed toward the tail end of
  the machine; a place of safety for two reasons:
  First; it is out of the reach of any possible
  danger from fire; and; second; the accidents in the
  past show that the tail frame is the least likely to
  be injured。
  In looking over the illustrations taken from the
  accidents; notice how few of the tails are even
  disarranged; and in many of them; while the entire
  fore body and planes were crushed to atoms;
  the tail still remained as a relic; to show its
  comparative freedom from the accident。
  In all monoplanes the tail really forms part of
  the supporting surface of the machine; and the
  adding of the weight of the gasoline would be
  placing but little additional duty on the tail; and
  it could be readily provided for by a larger tail
  surface; if required。
  THE CLOSED…IN BODY。The closed…in body is a
  vast improvement; which has had the effect of
  giving greater security to the pilot; but even this
  is useless in case of overturning。
  STARTING THE MACHINE。The direction in which
  improvements have been slow is in the starting
  of the machine。 The power is usually so mounted
  that the pilot has no control over the starting;
  as he is not in a position to crank it。
  The propeller being mounted directly on the
  shaft; without the intervention of a clutch; makes
  it necessary; while on the ground; for the propeller
  to be started by some one outside; while
  others hold the machine until it attains the proper
  speed。
  This could be readily remedied by using a
  clutch; but in the past this has been regarded as
  one of the weight luxuries that all have been trying
  to avoid。 Self starters are readily provided;
  and this with the provision that the propeller can
  be thrown in or out at will; would be a vast improvement
  in all machines。
  PROPELLERS WITH VARYING PITCH。It is growing
  more apparent each day; that a new type of
  propeller must be devised which will enable the
  pilot to change the pitch; as the speed increases;
  and to give a greater pitch; when alighting; so
  as to make the power output conform to the conditions。
  Such propellers; while they may be dangerous;
  and much heavier than the rigid type; will; no
  doubt; appear in time; and the real improvement
  would be in the direction of having the blades
  capable of automatic adjustment; dependent on
  the wind pressure; or the turning speed; and thus
  not impose this additional duty on the pilot。
  CHAPTER XI
  FLYING MACHINE ACCESSORIES
  THE ANEMOMETER。It requires an expert to
  judge the force or the speed of a wind; and even
  they will go astray in their calculations。 It is
  an easy matter to make a little apparatus which
  will accurately indicate the speed。 A device of
  this kind is called an Anemometer。
  Two other instruments have grown out of this;
  one to indicate the pressure; and the other the
  direction of the moving air current。
  THE ANEMOGRAPH。While these instruments indicate;
  they are also made so they will record the
  speed; the pressure and the direction; and the device
  for recording the speed and pressure is called
  a Anemograph。
  All these instruments may be attached to the
  same case; and thus make a handy little device;
  which will give all the information at a glance。
  THE ANEMOMETROGRAPH。This device for recording;
  as well as indicating the speed; pressure
  and direction; is called an Anemometrograph;
  The two important parts of the combined
  apparatus; for the speed and pressure; are illustrated;
  to show the principle involved。 While the speed
  will give the pressure; it is necessary to make a
  calculation to get the result while the machine does
  this for you。
  _Fig。 61。 Speed Indicator。_
  THE SPEED INDICATOR。Four hemispherical
  cups A are mounted on four radiating arms B;
  which are secured to a vertical stem C; and
  adapted to rotate in suitable bearings in a
  case; which; for convenience in explaining; is not
  shown。
  On the lower end of the stem C; is a small bevel
  pinion; which meshes with a smaller bevel pinion
  within the base。 This latter is on a shaft which
  carries a small gear on its other end; to mesh
  with a larger gear on a shaft which carries a
  pointer D that thus turns at a greatly reduced
  speed; so that it can be easily timed。
  _Fig。 62。 Air Pressure Indicator。_
  AIR PRESSURE INDICATOR。This little apparatus
  is readily made of a base A which is provided
  with two uprights B; C; through the upper ends of
  which are holes to receive a horizontally…disposed
  bar D。 One end of the bar is a flat plane
  surface E; which is disposed at right angles to the
  bar; and firmly fixed thereto。
  The other end of the bar has a lateral pin to
  serve as a pivot for the end of a link F; its other
  end being hinged to the upper end of a lever G;
  which is pivoted to the post C; a short distance
  below the hinged attachment of the link F; so
  that the long end of the pointer which is constituted
  by the lever G is below its pivot; and has;
  therefore; a long range of movement。
  A spring I between the upper end of the pointer
  G and the other post B; serves to hold the pointer
  at a zero position。 A graduated scale plate J;
  within range of the pointer will show at a glance
  the pressure in pounds of the moving wind; and
  for this purpose it would be convenient to make
  the plane E exactly one foot square。
  DETERMINING THE PRESSURE FROM THE SPEED。
  These two instruments can be made to check each
  other and thus pretty accurately enable you to
  determine the proper places to mark the pressure
  indicator; as well as to make the wheels in the
  anemometer the proper size to turn the pointer
  in seconds when the wind is blowing at a certain
  speed; say ten miles per hour。
  Suppose the air pressure indicator has the scale
  divided into quarter pound marks。 This will
  make it accurate enough for all purposes。
  CALCULATING PRESSURES FROM SPEED。The following
  table will give the pressures from 5 to 100
  miles per hour:
  Velocity of wind in Pressure   Velocity of wind in  Pressure
  miles per hour     per sq。 ft。  miles per hour     per sq ft
  5              。112             55             15。125
  10             。500             60             18。000
  15             1。125            65             21。125
  20             2。000            70             22。500
  25             3。125            75             28。125
  30             4。600            80             32。000
  35             6。126            86             36。126
  40             8。000            90             40。500
  45             10。125           95             45。125
  50             12。5             100            50。000
  HOW THE FIGURES ARE DETERMINED。The foregoing
  figures are determined in the following manner:
  As an example let us assume that the velocity
  of the wind is forty…five miles per hour。 If
  this is squared; or 45 multiplied by 45; the product
  is 2025。 In many calculations the mathematician
  employs what is called a constant; a figure that
  never varies; and which is used to multiply or
  divide certain factors。
  In this case the constant is 5/1000; or; as usually
  written; 。005。 This is the same as one two hundredths
  of the squared figure。 That would make
  the problem as follows: