THE MASTERY OF THE AIR(操纵空气)

VIP免费

2024-12-25 0 0 489.99KB 152 页 5.9玖币

侵权投诉

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

THE MASTERY OF

THE AIR

by WILLIAM J. CLAXTON

PREFACE

This book makes no pretence of going minutely into the technical and

scientific sides of human flight: rather does it deal mainly with the real

achievements of pioneers who have helped to make aviation what it is to-

day.

My chief object has been to arouse among my readers an intelligent

interest in the art of flight, and, profiting by friendly criticism of several of

my former works, I imagine that this is best obtained by setting forth the

romance of triumph in the realms of an element which has defied man for

untold centuries, rather than to give a mass of scientific principles which

appeal to no one but the expert.

So rapid is the present development of aviation that it is difficult to

keep abreast with the times. What is new to-day becomes old to-morrow.

The Great War has given a tremendous impetus to the strife between the

warring nations for the mastery of the air, and one can but give a rough

and general impression of the achievements of naval and military airmen

on the various fronts.

Finally, I have tried to bring home the fact that the fascinating progress

of aviation should not be confined entirely to the airman and constructor

of air-craft; in short, this progress is not a retord of events in which the

mass of the nation have little personal concern, but of a movement in

which each one of us may take an active and intelligent part.

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

I have to thank various aviation firms, airmen, and others who have

kindly come to my assistance, either with the help of valuable information

or by the loan of photographs. In particular, my thanks are due to the

Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service for permission to

reproduce illustrations from their two publications on the work and

training of their respective corps; to the Aeronautical Society of Great

Britain; to Messrs. C. G. Spencer & Sons, Highbury; The Sopwith Aviation

Company, Ltd.; Messrs. A. V. Roe & Co., Ltd.; The Gnome Engine

Company; The Green Engine Company; Mr. A. G. Gross (Geographia,

Ltd.); and M. Bleriot; for an exposition of the internal-combustion engine

I have drawn on Mr. Horne's The Age of Machinery.

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

PART I-BALLOONS AND AIR-

SHIPS

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

CHAPTER I Man's Duel with Nature

Of all man's great achievements none is, perhaps, more full of human

interest than are those concerned with flight. We regard ourselves as

remarkable beings, and our wonderful discoveries in science and invention

induce us to believe we are far and away the cleverest of all the living

creatures in the great scheme of Creation. And yet in the matter of flight

the birds beat us; what has taken us years of education, and vast efforts of

intelligence, foresight, and daring to accomplish, is known by the tiny

fledglings almost as soon as they come into the world.

It is easy to see why the story of aviation is of such romantic interest.

Man has been exercising his ingenuity, and deliberately pursuing a certain

train of thought, in an attempt to harness the forces of Nature and compel

them to act in what seems to be the exact converse of Nature's own

arrangements.

One of the mysteries of Nature is known as the FORCE OF GRAVITY.

It is not our purpose in this book to go deeply into a study of gravitation;

we may content ourselves with the statement, first proved by Sir Isaac

Newton, that there is an invisible force which the Earth exerts on all

bodies, by which it attracts or draws them towards itself. This property

does not belong to the Earth alone, but to all matter--all matter attracts all

other matter. In discussing the problems of aviation we are concerned

mainly with the mutual attraction of The Earth and the bodies on or near

its surface; this is usually called TERRESTRIAL gravity.

It has been found that every body attracts very other body with a force

directly proportionate to its mass. Thus we see that, if every particle in a

mass exerts its attractive influence, the more particles a body contains the

greater will be the attraction. If a mass of iron be dropped to the ground

from the roof of a building at the same time as a cork of similar size, the

iron and the cork would, but for the retarding effect of the air, fall to the

ground together, but the iron would strike the ground with much greater

force than the cork. Briefly stated, a body which contains twice as much

matter as another is attracted or drawn towards the centre of the Earth with

twice the force of that other; if the mass be five times as great, then it will

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

be attracted with five times the force, and so on.

It is thus evident that the Earth must exert an overwhelming attractive

force on all bodies on or near its surface. Now, when man rises from the

ground in an aeroplane he is counter-acting this force by other forces.

A short time ago the writer saw a picture which illustrated in a very

striking manner man's struggle with Nature. Nature was represented as a

giant of immense stature and strength, standing on a globe with

outstretched arms, and in his hands were shackles of great size. Rising

gracefully from the earth, immediately in front of the giant, was an airman

seated in a modern flying-machine, and on his face was a happy-go-lucky

look as though he were delighting in the duel between him and the giant.

The artist had drawn the picture so skilfully that one could imagine the

huge, knotted fingers grasping the shackles were itching to bring the

airman within their clutch. The picture was entitled "MAN

TRIUMPHANT"

No doubt many of those who saw that picture were reminded of the

great sacrifices made by man in the past. In the wake of the aviator there

are many memorial stones of mournful significance.

It says much for the pluck and perseverance of aviators that they have

been willing to run the great risks which ever accompany their efforts.

Four years of the Great War have shown how splendidly airmen have risen

to the great demands made upon them. In dispatch after dispatch from the

front, tribute has been paid to the gallant and devoted work of the Royal

Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. In a long and bitter

struggle British airmen have gradually asserted their supremacy in the air.

In all parts of the globe, in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in Palestine, in Africa,

the airman has been an indispensable adjunct of the fighting forces. Truly

it may be said that mastery of the air is the indispensable factor of final

victory.

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

CHAPTER II The French Paper-maker who

Invented the Balloon

In the year 1782 two young Frenchmen might have been seen one

winter night sitting over their cottage fire, performing the curious

experiment of filling paper bags with smoke, and letting them rise up

towards the ceiling. These young men were brothers, named Stephen and

Joseph Montgolfier, and their experiments resulted in the invention of the

balloon.

The brothers, like all inventors, seem to have had enquiring minds.

They were for ever asking the why and the wherefore of things. "Why

does smoke rise?" they asked. "Is there not some strange power in the

atmosphere which makes the smoke from chimneys and elsewhere rise in

opposition to the force of gravity? If so, cannot we discover this power,

and apply it to the service of mankind?"

We may imagine that such questions were in the minds of those two

French paper-makers, just as similar questions were in the mind of James

Watt when he was discovering the power of steam. But one of the most

important attributes of an inventor is an infinite capacity for taking pains,

together with great patience.

And so we find the two brothers employing their leisure in what to us

would, be a childish pastime, the making of paper balloons. The story tells

us that their room was filled with smoke, which issued from the windows

as though the house were on fire. A neighbour, thinking such was the case,

rushed in, but, on being assured that nothing serious was wrong, stayed to

watch the tiny balloons rise a little way from the thin tray which contained

the fire that made the smoke with which the bags were filled. The

experiments were not altogether successful, however, for the bags rarely

rose more than a foot or so from the tray. The neighbour suggested that

they should fasten the thin tray on to the bottom of the bag, for it was

thought that the bags would not ascend higher because the smoke became

cool; and if the smoke were imprisoned within the bag much better results

would be obtained. This was done, and, to the great joy of the brothers and

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

their visitor, the bag at once rose quickly to the ceiling.

But though they could make the bags rise their great trouble was that

they did not know the cause of this ascent. They thought, however, that

they were on the eve of some great discovery, and, as events proved, they

were not far wrong. For a time they imagined that the fire they had used

generated some special gas, and if they could find out the nature of this

gas, and the means of making it in large quantities, they would be able to

add to their success.

Of course, in the light of modern knowledge, it seems strange that the

brothers did not know that the reason the bags rose, was not because of

any special gas being used, but owing to the expansion of air under the

influence of heat, whereby hot air tends to rise. Every schoolboy above the

age of twelve knows that hot air rises upwards in the atmosphere, and that

it continues to rise until its temperature has become the same as that of the

surrounding air.

The next experiment was to try their bags in the open air. Choosing a

calm, fine day, they made a fire similar to that used in their first

experiments, and succeeded in making the bag rise nearly 100 feet. Later

on, a much larger craft was built, which was equally successful.

And now we must leave the experiments of the Montgolfiers for a

moment, and turn to the discovery of hydrogen gas by Henry Cavendish, a

well-known London chemist. In 1766 Cavendish proved conclusively that

hydrogen gas was not more than one-seventh the weight of ordinary air. It

at once occurred to Dr. Black, of Glasgow, that if a thin bag could be filled

with this light gas it would rise in the air; but for various reasons his

experiments did not yield results of a practical nature for several years.

Some time afterwards, about a year before the Montgolfiers

commenced their experiments which we have already described, Tiberius

Cavallo, an Italian chemist, succeeded in making, with hydrogen gas,

soap-bubbles which rose in the air. Previous to this he had experimented

with bladders and paper bags; but the bladders he found too heavy, and the

paper too porous.

It must not be thought that the Montgolfiers experimented solely with

hot air in the inflation of their balloons. At one time they used steam, and,

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

later on, the newly-discovered hydrogen gas; but with both these agents

they were unsuccessful. It can easily be seen why steam was of no use,

when we consider that paper was employed; hydrogen, too, owed its lack

of success to the same cause for the porosity of the paper allowed the gas

to escape quickly.

It is said that the name "balloon" was given to these paper craft

because they resembled in shape a large spherical vessel used in chemistry,

which was known by that name. To the brothers Montgolfier belongs the

honour of having given the name to this type of aircraft, which, in the two

succeeding centuries, became so popular.

After numerous experiments the public were invited to witness the

inflation of a particularly huge balloon, over 30 feet in diameter. This was

accomplished over a fire made of wool and straw. The ascent was

successful, and the balloon, after rising to a height of some 7000 feet, fell

to earth about two miles away.

It may be imagined that this experiment aroused enormous interest in

Paris, whence the news rapidly spread over all France and to Britain. A

Parisian scientific society invited Stephen Montgolfier to Paris in order

that the citizens of the metropolis should have their imaginations excited

by seeing the hero of these remarkable experiments. Montgolfier was not a

rich man, and to enable him to continue his experiments the society

granted him a considerable sum of money. He was then enabled to

construct a very fine balloon, elaborately decorated and painted, which

ascended at Versailles in the presence of the Court.

To add to the value of this experiment three animals were sent up in a

basket attached to the balloon. These were a sheep, a cock, and a duck. All

sorts of guesses were made as to what would be the fate of the "poor

creatures". Some people imagined that there was little or no air in those

higher regions and that the animals would choke; others said they would

be frozen to death. But when the balloon descended the cock was seen to

be strutting about in his usual dignified way, the sheep was chewing the

cud, and the duck was quacking for water and worms.

At this point we will leave the work of the brothers Montgolfier. They

had succeeded in firing the imagination of nearly every Frenchman, from

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

King Louis down to his humblest subject. Strange, was it not, though

scores of millions of people had seen smoke rise, and clouds float, for

untold centuries, yet no one, until the close of the eighteenth century,

thought of making a balloon?

The learned Franciscan friar, Roger Bacon, who lived in the thirteenth

century, seems to have thought of the possibility of producing a

contrivance that would float in air. His idea was that the earth's

atmosphere was a "true fluid", and that it had an upper surface as the

ocean has. He quite believed that on this upper surface--subject, in his

belief, to waves similar to those of the sea--an air-ship might float if it

once succeeded in rising to the required height. But the difficulty was to

reach the surface of this aerial sea. To do this he proposed to make a large

hollow globe of metal, wrought as thin as the skill of man could make it,

so that it might be as light as possible, and this vast globe was to be filled

with "liquid fire". Just what "liquid fire" was, one cannot attempt to

explain, and it is doubtful if Bacon himself had any clear idea. But he

doubtless thought of some gaseous substance lighter than air, and so he

would seem to have, at least, hit upon the principle underlying the

construction of the modern balloon. Roger Bacon had ideas far in advance

of his time, and his experiments made such an impression of wonder on

the popular mind that they were believed to be wrought by black magic,

and the worthy monk was classed among those who were supposed to be

in league with Satan.

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

CHAPTER III The First Man to Ascend in a

Balloon

The safe descent of the three animals, which has already been related,

showed the way for man to venture up in a balloon. In our time we marvel

at the daring of modern airmen, who ascend to giddy heights, and, as it

were, engage in mortal combat with the demons of the air. But,

courageous though these deeds are, they are not more so than those of the

pioneers of ballooning.

In the eighteenth century nothing was known definitely of the

conditions of the upper regions of the air, where, indeed, no human being

had ever been; and though the frail Montgolfier balloons had ascended and

descended with no outward happenings, yet none could tell what might be

the risk to life in committing oneself to an ascent. There was, too, very

special danger in making an ascent in a hot-air balloon. Underneath the

huge envelope was suspended a brazier, so that the fabric of the balloon

was in great danger of catching fire.

It was at first suggested that two French criminals under sentence of

death should be sent up, and, if they made a safe descent, then the way

would be open for other aeronauts to venture aloft. But everyone

interested in aeronautics in those days saw that the man who first traversed

the unexplored regions of the air would be held in high honour, and it

seemed hardly right that this honour should fall to criminals. At any rate

this was the view of M. Pilatre de Rozier, a French gentleman, and he

determined himself to make the pioneer ascent.

De Rozier had no false notion of the risks he was prepared to run, and

he superintended with the greatest care the construction of his balloon. It

was of enormous size, with a cage slung underneath the brazier for heating

the air. Befors making his free ascent De Rozier made a trial ascent with

the balloon held captive by a long rope.

At length, in November, 1783, accompanied by the Marquis

d'Arlandes as a passenger, he determined to venture. The experiment

aroused immense excitement all over France, and a large concourse of

文档加载中……请稍候！
如果长时间未打开，您也可以点击刷新试试。

下载文档到电脑，查找使用更方便

5.9 玖币 0人已下载

立即下载 VIP免费下载

摘要：

THEMASTERYOFTHEAIR1THEMASTERYOFTHEAIRbyWILLIAMJ.CLAXTONPREFACEThisbookmakesnopretenceofgoingminutelyintothetechnicalandscientificsidesofhumanflight:ratherdoesitdealmainlywiththerealachievementsofpioneerswhohavehelpedtomakeaviationwhatitisto-day.Mychiefobjecthasbeentoarouseamongmyreadersanintelligent...

展开>> 收起<<

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR(操纵空气).pdf

共152页,预览31页

还剩页未读，继续阅读

声明：本站为文档C2C交易模式，即用户上传的文档直接被用户下载，本站只是中间服务平台，本站所有文档下载所得的收益归上传人(含作者)所有。玖贝云文库仅提供信息存储空间，仅对用户上传内容的表现方式做保护处理，对上载内容本身不做任何修改或编辑。若文档所含内容侵犯了您的版权或隐私，请立即通知玖贝云文库，我们立即给予删除！

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR(操纵空气)

相关推荐

开通VIP享超值会员特权

作者详情

相关内容

热门标签

举报选择: