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Large Aeroplanes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

H. Roxbee Cox
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Extract

I want this evening to present some reasons for believing- that we can build successful aeroplanes of enormous size, and, what is more important, that they will not be merely monuments to a desire for the gigantic.

In the past, bold computers have defined upper limits to the size of aeroplanes. Their prophecies have varied, and most of them have been belied by practical achievement. Their arguments were usually based on what has been called the “ Cube Law ” or the “ Square-Cube Rule.” This rule, though it has apparently proved misleading, is indeed correct when properly applied, and it forms a convenient point from which to begin an enquiry into the feasibility of the giant aeroplane.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 42 , Issue 331 , July 1938 , pp. 591 - 602
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1938

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References

page 591 note * It will be seen that bending moments are proportional to n3 for constant wing loading and design factors. Moduli of sections are proportional to n3 . So corresponding bending stresses are constant as n varies. Also, shear, tensile and compressive loads vary as n2 , while the resisting areas vary as n2 . So corresponding stresses of all kinds are constant as n varies. Had any other result been obtained, the asterisked assumptions would have been incompatible with structure weight varying as n3 .

page 598 note * With regard to this, it is difficult to estimate the effect on structure weight of the inevitable localisation of load. The minimisation of effects of this kind is one of the problems of airship design wherein experience has shown how great are the savings to be obtained by careful disposition of the masses. In the airship the solution of the problem was largely spoilt by the standard requirement that the ship had to be amply strong when any one gas bag was deflated. In the aeroplane this would be paralleled by an empty fuel tank in a region where others were full. It should not be difficult, however, to arrange for an even diminution of fuel load over the span, so that the problem in the aeroplane should be easier to! deal with.