Show ALP OPLA I al A iv N an Q t T g F N R A X 40 J sr aw t 20 Z 0 4 a P bat E 40 1 e wm a arzan fimm E SPERRY ot of new york city has given aviation a new start inasmuch as he has provided a way to rob it of 0 some of its most insidious perils his apparatus is an automatic stabilizer which maintains the equilibrium of the flying machine no matter how fickle may be the condition of 0 the air aloft dont let this term stabilizer puzzle you a bit you can just as well substitute the more familiar word balancer if you happen to have access to a list of aeronautical accidents during the last two years especially ally where the heavier than air flying machine la Is concerned you will find that the majority of the catastrophes have been attributed to loss ot of control loss ot of control is merely another way ot of saying that the air pilot was caught napping or taken suddenly unawares and before he could apply the usual facilities to right his bis machine the air craft was dashing earthward and utterly beyond human arrest perhaps it was a sudden gust of wind the sweep of a cross current or even an air hole that started the up setting or tipping movement but the result was disaster the outcome Is not difficult to explain it if one halt half realizes the airmans problem the aviator when once afloat aloft has a task pretty much akin to that ot of the slack rope performer his machine can reel from side to side or UP tip lengthwise with the utmost case especially it if tho the aeroplane be ot of comparatively light weight and of the racing type from the moment the pilot takes take his seat it if the wind currents be variable he has to juggle continually with will his wing tips or ailerons to prevent too much lateral rolling and too to a lesser degree he be has to manipulate the tall tail planes to check any pitching or tossing on the part ot of the head ot of the aeroplane the lateral control he exercises by shoving his body sidewise against an enveloping yoke and the longitudinal correction he applies by means ot of a lever which lie he either pushes away from him or draws toward him as the case requires in time the skilled airman does this more or less involuntarily un unta tartly rily responding to the motions of his craft unhappily however his corrective efforts are relatively sluggish and they are applied only after the aeroplane has obtained a considerable angle ot of heel or it is perfectly plain the aviator at best when depending upon his own initiative but poorly imitates the efforts of 0 a soaring bird which can maintain its poise steadily even though the wind be fitful and the change of force extreme apparently the bird does this without rocking violently in n its endeavor to hold itself balanced but simply because the eye cannot trace the sweep of its wing tips we do not see tow how it keeps itself poised mr air sperry by his stabilizer has made this secret of natural flight clear to us the bird is sensitive to the first oil coming disturbing current and instinctively acts to offset it by catching the upsetting force in its very beginning only the slightest flexing of tha wing tips is necessary to meet the contingency tin gency in other words the bird never permits the wind to get the upper hand of it it meets acts the approaching menace so to speak promptly and neutralizes it at once it if the bird were as relatively insensitive as the aviator the changeful wind or gusty air currents would mean the same danger to it that they do to the pilot mr sperry has sub substantially ly changed all this by his gyroscopic stabilizing apparatus and how successfully he be has achieved ahls end was proved by his winning tha 1009 prize offered by the french aviation commission there were 57 competitors peti tors entered in that contest of aeroplane safety devices and the american victory Is one in which we should take a good deal of pride by that success aviation broadly acquires a new element of practicability and the flying machine will have far wider fields of dally daily usefulness open to it we are now within reach ot of that state of the art where flying will be as sate safe as batching yat ching the air pilot will have little more to do than simply to steer his machine to right or to left or up and down as he may desire the stabilizer will keep him from upsetting and will even check him should he deliberately trespass toward the hazardous in some wilful movement now a gyroscope will ordinarily react against the external disturbing force no matter in what direction that upsetting effort is applied how then does mr air sperry make use of the gyroscope in stabilizing the aeroplane and especially how does he produce harmony of action when he util bitzes four of these remarkable little spinning flywheels the tour four gyroscopes are combined in pairs one pair to regulate the flexing of the wing tipa and the other pair to prompt the shifting of the tall planes now each pair must be dead to tile the force which calls for action in the other and again there must be an even measure of conflict between the two gyroscopes constituting a pair that Is to say the gyroscopes tor for lateral stabilizing are opposed tc each other like two persons facing and alte alternately pushing and pulling each other to obtain the right of way su suddenly some one tries to clear the patch by shoving them from one side and instinctively to maintain their own balance they unite against the intruder it Is just in this fashion that mr sperry unites by seeming opposition each pair of gyroscopes so that they will be absorbed in their mutual struggle until aroused to service in the designed plane of mutual action each gyroscope is not any bigger including its casing than a fair sized fist and dont suppose that the persistent tendency to hold to their chosen planes is in itself capable of exerting the force that directly pulls the controlling wires that work the several stabilizing surfaces their mission Is to feel the need of action and to call into service mechanism of sufficient vigor to do what the pilot would otherwise accomplish by swinging his body or working a lever in the latest form of his stabilizer mr sperry has recourse to a power apparatus which he calls a servomotor this servomotor Is driven by electricity tri city and is a sturdy apparatus instantly responsive spon sive to the call of the gyroscopes to it are led the control wires and these are operated immediately upon the first arrival of a tilting or upping gust of wind without a stabilizer the aeroplane may be unbalanced a goodly number of degrees before the pilot is allye aliye to the situation and the movement acquires even a greater amplitude before he can check it with the sperry stabilizer on the other hand the flying machine is held to its equilibrium well inside of a zone of one degree have you ever lost your way in a fog well it if you have then you may arpie clate the variety of ways in which an aviator may go astray when aloft once above the tha clouds the horizon disappears and within some limits he may not know whether he Is going up or down or whither his machine is leading heading his poise when advancing van cing Is always an angular one and he may think himself going straight ahead while in fact he Is actually descending but the risks in climbing skyward without I 1 V J jmj WN 0 k mewl 7 4 K aw mcw 1 knowing the angle of that ascent may be equally perilous A small wind disk is associated with the mechanism of the stabilizer this little plate Is so swung that it always feels the full force oree of the arriving air current as the aeroplane sweeps on it is associated with a pressure measuring mechanism and this pressure sure corresponds to speed in miles per hour this velocity Is indicated by a little dial in front of the aviator so that he can know it if watchful how fast his craft is going and whether or not there is lifting force enough against the aeroplanes aero planes wings to keep the machine safely afloat when ascending the pilot turns the nose 0 of I 1 his machine upward he offers a broader surface of his wings to the oncoming air and what wha t he thus loses in movement forward he gains in ris rise e just like the motion of a a kite when you pull the string and square its face more nearly with the wind now the aeroplane must move onward at a prescribed minimum speed this velocity differs with different machines and below this speed the air current has not force enough to sustain the craft should an aeronaut seeking to climb too fast halt the speed forward in order to increase the rapidity of rise he is sure to start plunging backward it if that velocity drop ever so little below the prescribed minimum required for support here is where the little wind gauge plays its vital part automatically should the aviator be heedless or unaware of his peril when within a certain limit of the speed the wind gauge through associate mechanisms turns the tail planes so that that end rises while the head bead ot of the machine dips and instead of soaring starts upon an earthward in that earthward sweep the craft acquires increased speed gains renewed supporting pressure and Is once more under sate safe control this control however Is taken out of the hands of the pilot pro tern tem the required safety speed has been thus obtained this same provision provides against that much feared contingency tin gency the stepping of the propulsive motors during flight it was an accident of this sort that almost cost the lives of an aviator and his wife here a little over a week ago by desperate efforts that pilot managed to keep the zigzag vol of his craft within some bounds and by great good luck the machine landed in the water in sweeping around upon a circular flight especially ally it if the turn be at all short the ordinary aviator has a multiplicity of things to do he must regulate his wing tips or ailerons function the tail plane and at the same time manipulate the rudder the trouble is that tile the rudder and the tall plane become so somewhat interchangeable in their actions because of the heeling angle assumed by the cratt craft this la Is ticklish work and has caused many accidents and cost a number of lives with the sperry stabilizer this hazard is removed the pilot will have nothing to concern himself about except the path he wishes to follow the little gyroscopes will look out for the rest as has been amply proved during the exacting tests in france when the shifting shit ting of the pilot and his mechanic set up disturbing forces that would have meant certain destruction in an un stabilized aeroplane now you know just what mr air sperry has done tor for aviation he has mastered a very hard bard problem and he has made his mastery complete |