Part 7 (1/2)

In the general design and beauty of workmanshi+p involved in the construction of aeroplanes, Britain is now quite the equal of her foreign rivals; even in engines we are ine Co by the result of nine years' experience, are able to turn out aeroplane engines as reliable, efficient, and as light in pounds weight per horse-power as any aero engine in existence

In the early days of aviation larger and better engines of British ent need

The story of the invention of the ”Green” engine is a record of triureat difficulties

Early in 1909--thethe enthusiasht; when records were being established at Rheireat prize of L10,000 for the London to Manchester flight--Mr Green conceived a nuine

One of Mr Green's requirements was that the cylinders should be made of cast-steel, and that they should come from a British foundry The company that took the work in hand, the Aster Company, had confidence in the inventor's ideas It is said that they had to waste 250 castings before six perfect cylinders were produced It is estiines can be purchased for less than L500

The closing ine firmly established

In October of that year Mr Moore Brabazon won the first all-British competition of L1000 offered by the Daily Mail for the first machine to fly a circular mile course His aeroplane was fitted with a 60-horse-power Green aero engine In the saht in all-British aviation; this prize was also won by Mr Brabazon, who ht of 17 miles

Some of Colonel Cody's achieveine In 1910 he succeeded in winning both the duration and cross-country Michelin coain accomplished similar feats In this year he also finished fourth in the all-round-Britain race This was a most meritorious perforhed nearly a ton and a half, and that the 60-horse-power Green was practically ”untouched”, to use an engineering expression, during the whole of the 1010- another Michelin prize for a cross-country coht of over 200 ine may be best described in the letter he wrote to the coine supplied from without with petrol and oil, ithin would carry you through”

But the pinnacle of Mr Green's fame as an inventor was reached in 1913, when Mr Harry Hawker h shi+nny, an account of which appears in a later chapter His machine was fitted with a 100-horse-power Green, and with it he flew 1043 h the complete course was not covered, neither Mr Sopwith--who built the ht--nor Mr Hawker attached any blaiven in 1914, Mr Sopasthe merits of the ”Green”, and after Harry Hawker had recovered froh shi+nny he reine: ”It is the best I have everlike the work”

At the sa held the French had a competition from Paris to Deauville, a distance of about 160 miles When compared with the time and distance covered by Mr Hawker, the results achieved by the French pilots, flying nificant; thus proving how the British industry had caught up, and even passed, its closest rivals

In 1913 Mr Grahame White, with one of the 100-horse-power ”Greens”

succeeded in winning the duration Michelin with a flight of over 300 allons of petrol, and 12 gallons of lubricating oil Coine was stopped In spite of these trying conditions, the engine ran, frohtest trouble

Sufficient has been said to prove conclusively that the thought and labour expended in the perfecting of the Green engine have not been fruitless

CHAPTER XXIV The Wright Biplane (Caine had arrived, the Wrights at once commenced the construction of an aeroplane which could be driven by mechanical power Hitherto, as we have seen, they had h these tests gave the the besttheir craft on an even keel while in the air, they could never hope to ht until they adopted h the air

We ines patented by Dai of a mechanical turn of mind themselves, they were able to build their own motor, hich they could ht

Before we study the gradual progress of these experiht biplane The illustration facing p 96 shows a typical biplane, and though there are certain modifications in most modern machines, the principles upon which it was built apply to all aeroplanes

The two htly across a light frahtly curved, or arched, from front to back This curve is technically known as the CAMBER, and upon the cath and speed of the machine

If you turn back to Chapter XVII you will see that the plane isof a bird It has been found that the lifting power of a plane gradually dwindles froe--or ENTERING EDGE, as it is called--backwards For this reason it is necessary to equip a , narrow plane, rather than with a comparatively broad but short plane

Perhaps a little example will make this clear Suppose we had twoand 1 foot wide, and the other with planes 12 feet square In the forreat as in the latter, and the lifting poould necessarily be h botha surface of 144 square feet, yet there is a great difference in the ”lift” of the two

But it is not to be concluded that the back portion of a plane is altogether wasted Nuht aeroplane constructors that if the plane were slightly curved from front to back the rear portion of the plane also exercised a ”lift”; thus, instead of the air being siainst the arched back of the plane, and helps to lift the ht