CHAPTER III

THE FORM OR SHAPE OF FLYING MACHINES


EVERY investigator, experimenter, and scientist,
who has given the subject of flight study, proceeds
on the theory that in order to fly man must
copy nature, and make the machine similar to the
type so provided.

THE THEORY OF COPYING NATURE.--If such is the
case then it is pertinent to inquire which bird is
the proper example to use for mechanical flight.
We have shown that they differ so radically in
every essential, that what would be correct in one
thing would be entirely wrong in another.

The bi-plane is certainly not a true copy. The
only thing in the Wright machine which in any
way resembles the bird's wing, is the rounded end
of the planes, and judging from other machines,
which have square ends, this slight similarity does
not contribute to its stability or otherwise help
the structure.