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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.

  
[title page]
  
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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Another Simple Illustration.
  
Principle In General Use.
  
Getting Under Headway.
  
Puzzle in Bird Soaring.
  
Modeled Closely After Birds.
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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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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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previous sectionCHAPTER III. MECHANICAL BIRD ACTION. 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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Getting Under Headway.

A bird, on first rising from the ground, or beginning its flight from a tree, will flap its wings to get under headway. Here again we have another illustration of the manner in which a flying machine gets under headway—the motor imparts the force necessary to put the machine into the air, but right here the similarity ceases. If the machine is to be kept afloat the motor must be kept moving. A flying machine will not sustain itself; it will not remain suspended in the air unless it is under headway. This is because it is heavier than air, and gravity draws it to the ground.

illustration

How Machines Imitate Birds.
A—bird and machine both on straight line; B—bird and machine ascending by elevation of head; C—bird and machine descending by depression of head.

[Description: Black and white illustration: on left, a bird performing three maneuvers; on right, a flying machine performing same three maneuvers.]

previous sectionCHAPTER III. MECHANICAL BIRD ACTION. Flying Machines: Construction and Operation: A Practical Book Which Shows, in Illustrations, Working Plans and Text, How to Build and Navigate the Modern Airship.
next section