Stevens Institute of Technology - Link Yearbook (Hoboken, NJ)

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FEATURES

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XA V1 ll! J I ., ,h x ,ss SLE-495 XS. SES F' 1 ' 1 -..Asset 1 illl.iF 1m?' --:-'..:? .,.,L-. .. ,-l .1111 V V 'W Aviation rTiIfIAT men have long sought to rule the air is evident from our oldest records. Reading them, we vision Icarus falling into the sea: Bacon dreaming of a mechanical age: Da Vinci drafting his ingenious mechanisms. When Cavendish discovers that hydrogen is lighter than air, we enter the era of aerostation. At length the spherical balloon is relegated to the sportsmen and scientists, to the explorers of the stratosphereg to Piccard and Settle. Turning from aerostatics to aviation, one sees the systematic experiments of Maxim, Langley, Lilienthal, and Chanute. The latter two made valuable gliding experiments. With Chanute's assistance the Wright brothers made their first glider. Their power machine flew successfully at Kitty Hawk in 19:13. Between ioogg and IQI3, the airplane developed steadily. On the eve of confiict, French monoplanes were the fastest in the world. The few British machines were biplanes, maneuverable, but with little speed or power. The Germans had strong and reliable machines. The United States had had little to do with its brain-child. During the war, the qualities of speed, power and maneuverability were paramount: economy was not con- sidered. Atter 11.318 the commercial plane evolved, combining econ- omy, endurance and safety. Duralumin and aluminum alloys brought with them the allrmetal plane. New types of plane. other than the autogyro, have not been developed, but many aerodynamic refinements have been made. Among these are the Venturi cowling, the rctractible landing gear and the slotted wing. The most important development of late is the increased confidence in the reliability of aerial navigation. Contributory to this confidence is a steady improvement in the technique of blind flying. The adaptation of Diesel and steam engines to aircraft is being actively considered.