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Flying Machines: Construction and Operation: A Practical Book Which Shows, in Illustrations, Working Plans and Text, How to Build and Navigate the Modern Airship.

  
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PREFACE.
  
IN MEMORIAM.
  
CONTENTS

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EVOLUTION OF TWO-SURFACE FLYING MACHINE. By Octave Chanute.
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CHAPTER II. THEORY, DEVELOPMENT, AND USE.
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CHAPTER III. MECHANICAL BIRD ACTION.
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CHAPTER IV. VARIOUS FORMS OF FLYING MACHINES.
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CHAPTER V. CONSTRUCTING A GLIDING MACHINE.
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CHAPTER VI. LEARNING TO FLY.
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CHAPTER VII. PUTTING ON THE RUDDER.
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CHAPTER VIII. THE REAL FLYING MACHINE.
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CHAPTER IX. SELECTION OF THE MOTOR.
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CHAPTER X. PROPER DIMENSIONS OF MACHINES.
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CHAPTER XI. PLANE AND RUDDER CONTROL.
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CHAPTER XII. HOW TO USE THE MACHINE.
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CHAPTER XIII. PECULIARITIES OF AIRSHIP POWER.
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CHAPTER XIV. ABOUT WIND CURRENTS, ETC.
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CHAPTER XV. THE ELEMENT OF DANGER.
  
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Two Fields of Safety.
  
Lesson in Recent Accidents.
  
Aviation Not Extra Hazardous.
  
Safer Than Railroading.
  
Two Main Causes of Trouble.
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CHAPTER XVI. RADICAL CHANGES BEING MADE.
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CHAPTER XVII. SOME OF THE NEW DESIGNS.
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CHAPTER XVIII. DEMAND FOR FLYING MACHINES.
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CHAPTER XIX. LAW OF THE AIRSHIP.
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CHAPTER XX. SOARING FLIGHT. By Octave Chanute.
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CHAPTER XXI. FLYING MACHINES VS. BALLOONS.
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CHAPTER XXII. PROBLEMS OF AERIAL FLIGHT.
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CHAPTER XXIII. AMATEURS MAY USE WRIGHT PATENTS.
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CHAPTER XXIV. HINTS ON PROPELLER CONSTRUCTION.
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CHAPTER XXV. NEW MOTORS AND DEVICES.
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CHAPTER XXVI. MONOPLANES, TRIPLANES, MULTIPLANES.
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CHAPTER XXVII. 1911 AEROPLANE RECORDS.
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CHAPTER XXVIII. GLOSSARY OF AERONAUTICAL TERMS.

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Two Fields of Safety.

At least one prominent aviator has declared that there are two fields of safety—one close to the ground, and the other well up in the air. In the first-named the fall will be a slight one with little chance of the operator being seriously hurt. From the field of high altitude the the descent will be gradual, as a rule, the planes of the machine serving to break the force of the fall. With a cool-headed operator in control the aeroplane may be even guided at an angle (about 1 to 8) in its descent so

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as to touch the ground with a gliding motion and with a minimum of impact.

Such an experience, of course, is far from pleasant, but it is by no means so dangerous as might appear. There is more real danger in falling from an elevation of 75 or 100 feet than there is from 1,000 feet, as in the former case there is no chance for the machine to serve as a parachute—its contact with the ground comes too quickly.

previous sectionCHAPTER XV. THE ELEMENT OF DANGER. Flying Machines: Construction and Operation: A Practical Book Which Shows, in Illustrations, Working Plans and Text, How to Build and Navigate the Modern Airship.
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