Given here are the rules officially adopted by the Aeronautical Commission of the Aero Club of France for a flight competition to be held in France in 1920 at the Villacoublay Aerodrome. The prize will be awarded to the pilot who succeeds in obtaining the highest maximum and lowest minimum speeds, and in landing within the shortest distance.

Although the strong aluminum alloys have proved themselves to be very efficient in aircraft construction there is a growing competition from the high-strength steels for certain parts, especially for tubular members. This tendency is being reflected in research work carried on at the Bureau of Standards. This study will be based largely on data given in Technical Note No. 307 of the NACA.

It was a conclusion of this detailed study of the practicality of using airships for carrying passengers that, although slow, airships are capable of carrying useful loads over long distances. However, it is noted that there is a certain limit to the advantages of large cubature. Beyond a certain point, the maximum altitude of the airship goes on decreasing, in spite of the fact that the range of action in the horizontal plane and the useful load go on increasing. The possibility of rapid climb is an essential factor of security in aerial navigation in the case of storms, as is velocity.

"Rules and methods for insuring safe structural strength of racing airplanes used in the major air meets in this country have recently been considered. Acceleration records made in racing airplanes during actual air races were therefore considered desirable, and the NACA undertook the measurement of acceleration of loads on airplanes during all conditions of flight. Accelerations were measured on four airplanes at the Miami All-American Races in January 1934 and January 1935" (p. 1).

From Introduction: "The data included in this report for Nimonic 80A alloy, for instance, represent experiments carried out to help clarify a production problem of grain-size control in an alloy which has been extensively used. The general procedure of the investigation was to carry out controlled laboratory experiments on samples of bar stock to find conditions of heating and hot-working which resulted in abnormal grain growth."

The characteristics of the airplanes built for the Gordon Bennett Airplane Cup race that took place on September 28, 1920 are described. The airplanes are discussed from a aerodynamical point of view, with a number of new details concerning the French machines. Also discussed is the regulation of future races. The author argues that there should be no limitations on the power of the aircraft engines. He reasons that in the present state of things, liberty with regard to engine power does not lead to a search for the most powerful engine, but for one which is reliable and light, thus leading to progress.

Report presenting suggestions for the standardization of the study of aerodynamics in laboratories in the United States and Europe. A report by each of the different scientists, all of whom are working in a variety of different labs and countries, is provided, and each discusses the progress made in their respective labs and their suggestions for standardization and progress in the field.

"Tests were made on a model wing with three different sized split trailing-edged flaps, in the NACA 7 by 10 foot wind tunnel. The flaps were formed of the lower rear portion of the wing and were rotated downward about axes at their front edges. The lift, drag, and center of pressure were measured with the axis in its original position and also with it moved back in even steps to the trailing edge of the main wing, giving in effect an increase in area. The split flaps when deflected about their original axis locations gave slightly higher maximum lift coefficients than conventional trailing-edge flaps, and the lift coefficients were increased still further by moving the axes toward the rear" (p. 1).

From Summary: "The author, who was a captain of the Reserves in the Technical Department of the Aviation Division (Board of Airplane Experts) during the war, shows what means were taken for the creation of new airplane types and what tests were employed for trying out their flying properties, capacities and structural reliability. The principal representative types of each of the classes of airplanes are described and the characteristics of the important structural parts are discussed. Data regarding the number of airplanes at the front and the flying efficiency of the various classes of airplanes are given."

From Summary: "This report presents the results of an investigation to determine the engine performance obtained with a hydrogenated safety fuel developed to eliminate fire hazard. The tests were made on a single-cylinder universal test engine at compression ratios of 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0. Most of the tests were made with a fuel-injection system, although one set of runs was made with a carburetor when using gasoline to establish comparative performance. The tests show that the b.m.e.p. obtained with safety fuel when using a fuel-injection system is slightly higher than that obtained with gasoline when using a carburetor, although the fuel consumption with safety fuel is higher."

An investigation of the possibility of using thrust augmented jets as prime movers was carried out. The augmentation was to be effected by allowing the jet to mix with the surrounding air in the presence of bodies which deflect the air set in motion by the jet. Six augmentation schemes were tested experimentally with compressed air at room temperature at jet speeds up to 1240 feet per second.

Report discussing an experimental investigation was carried out on air- and vacuum-melted M-252 and S-816 alloys to find conditions of heating and hot-working which resulted in abnormal grain growth. The experiments were mainly limited to normal conditions of heating for hot-working and heat treatment and normal temperatures of solution treatment were used to allow grain growth after susceptibility to abnormal grain growth was developed by various experimental conditions. Results indicated that small reductions of essentially strain-free metal were the basic cause of such grain growth.

Some preliminary results of full scale wind tunnel testing to determine the best means of reducing the tail buffeting and wing-fuselage interference of a low-wing monoplane are given. Data indicating the effects of an engine cowling, fillets, auxiliary airfoils of short span, reflexes trailing edge, propeller slipstream, and various combinations of these features are included. The best all-round results were obtained by the use of fillets together with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) cowling.

This note contains the results of flight test conducted by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics on a low-wing monoplane equipped with leading-edge slots extending over the entire wing and flaps extending only to the ailerons, to find their effect on the lift and drag characteristics of the airplane. Curves are given showing the lift and drag characteristics of the airplane for the following conditions of the slots and flaps neutral; slots closed and flaps down; and slots open and flaps down. In addition, the high and low speed in level flight and the climbing characteristics are given. The results show that the slots used alone increase the maximum lift coefficient 54 per cent; the flaps alone increase it 38 per cent; and the slots and flaps in combination decrease the landing speed from 60 to 43 m.p.h.; increase the speed range of the airplane 40 per cent; and increase the glide angle at landing speed 4.2 degrees.

Note presenting an investigation to determine the possibility of using the photoelastic method for the stress analysis of bulkheads in monocoque structures. The method was applied to several typical bulkheads including a circular ring with floor beam, a circular ring attached to the main wing spar, and a flying-boat bulkhead.

Report presenting a method for quantitative analysis of ternary mixtures of naphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene, and 2-methylnaphthalene on the basis of ultraviolet absorption in the region from 3000 to 3300 A and the effect of interference by a fourth absorber. Twelve synthetic ternary mixtures of three naphthalenes were analyzed with an average error of 0.8 percent of the alkylnaphthalenes present.

"Wind-tunnel tests have been made to find the lift, drag, and center-of-pressure characteristics of a Hall high-lift wing model. The Hall wing is essentially a split-flap airfoil with an internal air passage. Air enters the passage through an opening in the lower surface somewhat back of and parallel to the leading edge, and flows out through an opening made by deflecting the rear portion of the under surface downward as a flap. For ordinary flight conditions the front opening and the rear flap can be closed, providing in effect a conventional airfoil (the Clark Y in this case)" (p. 1).

In this study in which an airplane simulator with one degree of freedom (pitch) was used, results were determined for three conditions of airplane dynamics. For an undamped natural frequency of 1/2 cps with a damping ratio of 0.18 and for an undamped natural frequency of 1 cps with a damping ratio of 0.11, moderate longitudinal stick forces and displacements were desired.

Note presenting a study of the strength of the tendency for segregation to the gain boundaries of substitutional solute atoms which differ substantially in size from those of the solvent in single-phase high-purity aluminum through observations on the intergranular corrosion in 20 percent hydrochloric acid.

Report describing a research program to ascertain the properties of better alloys in the form of large forgings due to the impact of conditions of fabrication. The properties of two discs of CSA alloy were tested at several temperatures. Results regarding hardness surveys, short-time tensile properties, rupture test characteristics, time-deformation characteristics, creep strengths, stability characteristics, and data from tests in other laboratories are provided.

Note presenting a review of literature relating to fire-extinguishing agents in order to ascertain the extent of present knowledge and to determine what research might lead to the development of more efficient agents for extinguishing fires in aircraft. An analysis of the extinguishing data was made in order to determine the relative extinguishing effectiveness of different substances and the basic mechanisms involved in the action of extinguishing agents.

Report deals with the impact forces in landing gears. Both the landing impact and the taxiing impact have been considered, but drag forces have so far been excluded. The differential equations are developed and their numerical integration is shown, considering the nonlinear properties of the oleo shock strut. A way is shown for determining the dimensions of the metering pin from a given load-time diagram. A review of German literature on landing-gear impact is also presented.

"Available theories and test data on buckling of curved plates and shells are reviewed. For torsion and external-pressure loadings, the test data are correlated in terms of linear buckling theories for both the elastic and inelastic ranges. The cases which exhibit a marked disagreement between linear theory and test data include those of curved plates and cylinders under axial compression, cylinders under bending, and spherical plates under external pressure" (p. 1).