Aeroplanes by James Slough Zerbe
page 67 of 239 (28%)
page 67 of 239 (28%)
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CHAPTER V
DIFFERENT MACHINE TYPES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS THERE are three distinct types of heavier-than- air machines, which are widely separated in all their characteristics, so that there is scarcely a single feature in common. Two of them, the aeroplane, and the orthopter, have prototypes in nature, and are distinguished by their respective similarities to the soaring birds, and those with flapping wings. The Helicopter, on the other hand, has no antecedent type, but is dependent for its raising powers on the pull of a propeller, or a plurality of them, constructed, as will be pointed out hereinafter. AEROPLANES.--The only form which has met with any success is the aeroplane, which, in practice, is made in two distinct forms, one with a single set of supporting planes, in imitation of birds, and called a monoplane; and the other having two wings, one above the other, and called the bi-plane, or two-planes. All machines now on the market which do not depend on wing oscillations come under those |
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