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Speeds of Commercial Aeroplanes*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

Extract

It is a great honour for me to address the members of the oldest learned society devoted to aeronautics, the Royal Aeronautical Society, which was founded in 1866—six years before the Société Francaise de Navigation Aérienne of France was founded for the same purpose.

The choice of a subject nowadays is a difficult matter; great progress has been made in aeronautical science—numerous research workers all over the world are endeavouring to solve the outstanding problems—and the reason I decided to take for my lecture the subject of the maximum speeds of commercial aeroplanes was that it appears to me to be a matter of the utmost importance for the future of commercial aeronautics and for linking up the different peoples of the globe.

Type
Proceedings
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1935

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Footnotes

*

Translated from the French text.

References

Note on page 195 * We call D/L ratio the relative drag Cx/Cz = tgϕ, the angle ϕ being formed by the aerodynamic resultant and the perpendicular to the path of flight. η=airscrew efficiency.

Note on page 196 * It may be taken for granted that a modern high-speed moderated supercharged aeroplane will weigh approximately 9 lbs. (4 kg.) per h.p., or 13 lbs. (6 kg.) for normal service h.p. This figure increases to 16.5 lbs. (7.5 k:g.) for highly supercharged engines and aeroplanes with light cabins.

Note on page 197 * French h.p. (C.V.) is referred to throughout.

Note on page 198 * These figures apply to aeroplanes built to I.C.A.N, safety factors.

Note on page 200 * This formula will be found in its most recent form in a communication presented by the author in 1932 to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the French text of which has been published in No. 1 of “Science Aérienne,” July-August, 1932 (Ballière, Paris).

Note on page 202 * The diagrams have been calculated with a smaller weight of the power plant: 2 lbs. (0.91 kg.) per rated h.p. (2.9 lbs., 1.3 kg. per service h.p.).

Note on page 203 * In a large number of cases this part actually represents 25 to 40 per cent, of the total expenses.