Chapter VIII: Part II: Building a Bleriot Monoplane (4)

And so it is with most inventors. They may have conceived something really good, but it is not complete, and an aeroplane is hardly worth its weight as junk unless it is. Hundreds of patents are taken out every year on devices to be used on heavier-than-air machines; inventors by scores make daily rounds trying to interest financiers in some seemingly wonderful mechanical scheme, and dozens of companies are organized each year to exploit some especially promising inventions. Numbers of aeroplanes are constructed and hailed as marvels, but, somehow, when a successful flight is made by an amateur it is always with some standard aeroplane, either of the Curtiss or Farman types, and mostly the former. In fact, the Curtiss has become a favorite with the amateur since the Federal court refused to sustain the granting of a preliminary injunction in favor of the Wright Company against Glenn H. Curtiss. It is accordingly being taken for granted in general that the outcome of the Wright vs. Curtiss litigation will be to declare the Curtiss machine non-infringing. Should it be the other way about, there will certainly be gloom and despair in the amateur camps throughout the country. However, neither the Wrights nor Curtiss impose any restriction upon the building of machines of their types for experimental purposes, so that the amateur who wishes to copy them may safely do so, provided no attempt be made to employ the machine for purposes of public exhibition or financial gain.

EXAMINATION PAPER

BUILDING AND FLYING AN

AEROPLANE

*PART II*

*Read Carefully*: Place your name and full address at the head of the paper. Any cheap, light paper like the sample previously sent you may be used. Do not crowd your work, but arrange it neatly and legibly. _Do not copy the answers from the Instruction Paper; use your own words so that we may be sure that you understand the subject_.

1. Contrast the Bleriot with the Curtiss in every essential
particular.
2. Give details of the Bleriot running gear.
3. How is the supporting plane of the Bleriot built and reinforced?
4. What sort of fabric is used to cover the plane and how is it
fastened on?
5. Describe by sketch the Bleriot control system.
6. How does the location of the motor in the Bleriot compare with its
location in the Curtiss?
7. What is “grass-cutting” and why is it practiced?
8. Describe some of the devices used in aviation schools.
9. How is the elevating plane manipulated to start the aeroplane from
the ground?
10. How is the static balance of a machine determined?
11. How does warping the wings affect the behavior of an aeroplane?
How should this be practiced?
12. Give the process of making a turn in an aeroplane.
13. What is “banking”? What must be done to prevent excessive banking
on a turn?
14. How can a turn be made in a wind?
15. Why should the start and the landing always be made in the teeth
of the wind?
16. What is the attitude of the masters of aviation toward fancy
flying?
17. Classify the most common sources of accidents.
18. What must an aviator do in case his motor stops in midair? Is this
considered a dangerous situation?
19. What are the relative merits of biplane and monoplane as regards
the avoidance of accidents?
20. What are some of the devices used to protect the aviator in case
his machine collapses?
21. Analyze rather carefully the additional stresses put upon an
aeroplane when an aviator suddenly swoops and then rights his
machine by a quick movement of the control.

*After completing the work, add and sign the following statement:*

I hereby certify that the above work is entirely my own.

(Signed)