MEN MAKE 100 M.P.H. GALES

Northern Advocate, 24 October 1936, Page 14 (Supplement)

MEN MAKE 100 M.P.H. GALES

AN-MADE gales, blowing it a hundred miles an hour through a tunnel have recently been used to decide whether the Flying Flea type of aeroplane is safe.

This is the way in which all the smaller a'eroplanes are tested today—all their weaknesses can be discovered even before they actually fly. The plane is suspended in the tunnel and a giant fan, worked by a 2000 h.p. motor, sends the wind shrieking through. Instruments attached to different parts of the plane show how it stands up tp the strain, and not only do the testers discover weaknesses but also how to improve the performance of the aircraft. ..

Oval Wires Best. .Coloured smoke is released, and as this blows- past the plane it may be noticed that certain projecting parts cause the smoke to A nbw design is adopted which streamlines that part, and cuts down wind resistance. Wind, tunnels proved that ovalshaped wires on aeroplanes, Instead of the usual round ones, gave a plane an extra ten miles an hour In speed—so did an Improved “dope” for the wing surfaces. The wind tunnel is not a new idea, although 4t is only just coming into general use. In 1903, the Wright Brothers, before building their first aeroplanes, niade models and tested them, in a wind tunnel-—their own idea. . ■

So we owe a great deal to those pioneers of flight. When planes are too big to be tested in, a tunnel a model is used.