"It should be clear that in order to obtain a lift it is necessary that the air which flows past an aerofoil be given a downward acceleration; indeed the lift can be only the reaction produced by the downward acceleration of the flowing air. The motion of the air in the neighborhood of an aerofoil may be followed theoretically with great exactness. In the following, it will be undertaken to make understood, through the simplest possible considerations, the effect of span and loading on the air force on an aerofoil, and while these do not form a strong proof of the correctness of the formulae developed, yet they explain the essential features of the phenomena" (p. 1).

"The subject of the choice of an airfoil section is by no means a closed one, and despite the impossibility of making a single rule serve, it is quite practicable to deduce in a strictly rational manner a series of rules and formulas which are capable of being of the greatest use if we but confine ourselves to the consideration of one element of performance at a time. There are seven such elements of performance which are here taken up in turn. The seven are of different relative importance in different types of airplanes. The seven elements are: maximum speed regardless of minimum; maximum speed for given minimum; maximum speed range ratio; maximum rate of climb; maximum absolute ceiling; maximum distance non-stop; and maximum duration non-stop" (p. 1-2).

Report presenting an experiment consisting of an aerofoil and propeller in order to discover the mutual influence between the two components and variations in moment due to the propeller influence.

"The object of this series of experiments was to determine the influence of the relative vertical position of wing and fuselage on the efficiency of the wing. Since the longitudinal position of the wing can be varied but slightly with reference to the center of gravity in a normal airplane, it was kept constant in the experiments to be described and only the vertical position of the wing with reference to the fuselage was varied" (p. 1).

Report presenting a review of currently published documents regarding the resistance of polished cylinders with generators perpendicular to the airstream. The discrepancies between these various studies are pointed out.

Much attention is given here to the design of the wind tunnel and the experimental set-up. In comparing their results on the wind resistance of spheres to the results of other researchers, the authors find wide discrepancies. They are unable to explain the cause of the discrepancies, concluding, as they do, that the differing results could not be explained by the action of the wind tunnel walls.

Report presenting the theory of the ideal propeller, which is important for solving the problem of the action of propellers. Several different theories of propeller action are described and compared to determine which ones seem to be the most accurate.

Descriptions are given of two captured helicopters, one driven by electric power, the other by a gasoline engine. An account is given of flight tests of the gasoline powered vehicle. After 15 successful flight tests, the gasoline powered vehicle crashed due to the insufficient thrust. Also discussed here are the applications of helicopters for military observations, for meteorological work, and for carrying radio antennas.

An instrument is described which will illustrate completely in a qualitative sense the longitudinal stability characteristics of an airplane. The instrument is primarily of use for the lecture room, but it is hoped that ultimately it will be possible to obtain quantitative results from it.

It is obvious that, in accordance with Newton's second law, the lift on an aerofoil must be equal to the vertical momentum communicated per second to the air mass affected. Consequently a lifting aerofoil in flight is trailed by a wash which has a definite inclination corresponding to the factors producing the lift. It is thought that sufficient data, theoretical and experimental, are now available for a complete determination of this wash with respect to the variation of its angle of inclination to the originating aerofoil and with respect to the law which governs its decay in space.

Report presenting a continuation of a previous study in order to supply further data to the designers of wind tunnels. Particular emphasis was placed on the study of directional variation in the wind stream. The results indicated that placing radial vanes directly before the propeller actually increased the efficiency of the tunnel to a considerable extent.

Note presenting an experiment to obtain information regarding the relationship between the coefficients for flow in the two directions through an inlet. The results indicate that the ratio of the orifice discharge coefficient from standard orifice to the discharge coefficient from reverse flow is always less than unity, but approaches unity with increasing ratio of box area to orifice area, and that even for a ratio of areas as low as twenty the ratios of the coefficients is not much less than unity.

Here, conceptions concerning vortices are illustrated by the simplest possible examples. Mathematical formulas and similar means of presentation, which, for the most part, do not help the understanding of persons not versed therein, have been avoided as much as possible. Instead, the author has endeavored to demonstrate the phenomena by means of simple geometrical and mechanical illustrations. For the sake of clarity, the author chiefly considers currents in one plane only, a situation that can be readily represented by diagrams. Some of the peculiarities of vortices in three dimensional flow are briefly discussed.

The authors argue that the center of gravity has a preponderating influence on the longitudinal stability of an airplane in flight, but that manufacturers, although aware of this influence, are still content to apply empirical rules to the balancing of their airplanes instead of conducting wind tunnel tests. The author examines the following points: 1) longitudinal stability, in flight, of a glider with coinciding centers; 2) the influence exercised on the stability of flight by the position of the axis of thrust with respect to the center of gravity and the whole of the glider; 3) the stability on the ground before taking off, and the influence of the position of the landing gear. 4) the influence of the elements of the glider on the balance, the possibility of sometimes correcting defective balance, and the valuable information given on this point by wind tunnel tests; 5) and a brief examination of the equilibrium of power in horizontal flight, where the conditions of stability peculiar to this kind of flight are added to previously existing conditions of the stability of the glider, and interfere in fixing the safety limits of certain evolutions.

The aim was to bring attention to what might be the cause of some aircraft accidents for which there was no satisfactory explanation. The author notes that in testing aircraft accidents at the Bureau of Standards, it happened frequently that the engine performance became erratic when the temperature of the air entering the carburetor was between 0 C and 20 C. Investigation revealed the trouble to have been caused by the formation and collection of snow somewhere between the entrance to the carburetor and the manifold, probably at the throttle.

A new type of air speed meter is described which was designed by the technical staff of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The instrument consists essentially of a tight metal diaphragm of high natural period which is acted upon by the pressure difference of a pitot-static head. The resulting deflection of this diaphragm is recorded optically on a moving film.

Report details the characteristics and advantages of the swift traffic airplane constructed by Zeppelin Works at Staaken. The maximum speed, weight, construction, layout, and landing capabilities of the plane are included.

"The proposed device tends to render the lateral stabilization of airplanes easier and more efficacious. The proposed solution is to mount the ailerons independently, in such a manner that they can turn freely, under the action of the relative wind, about an axis located in front of the extreme position of the center of the lift" (p. 1).

The author presents a comparison and combination of the numerical and geometrical determinations of the maximum M, when calculating the maximum bay moment.

Note presenting a study of the influence exercised on the results of measurements by the dimensions and type of the tunnels used in aerodynamic laboratories, and on the comparison of the results with observations made in motionless and unlimited air.

From Summary: "This investigation was undertaken to determine whether the results obtained upon model tail surfaces can be used to accurately predict loads upon the full-sized tail; and also to find the distribution of load when large elevator angles are used, as the loads from such angles can not be obtained readily in free flight. The method consisted in using a metal horizontal tail surface inside of which small air passages, connecting with a series of holes in the surface, led the pressure off from the tail in rubber tubes. In this way the pressure at each of these holes was measured by a manometer at several angles of attack and several to the loading under similar conditions in the full-sized airplane and the manner of distribution is quite similar in the two cases when there is no slip stream."

This work was undertaken to obtain results on a small model of a complete airplane which might be used for comparison with corresponding tests made in full flight. Somewhat similar tests have been previously made at various other laboratories; but as certain discrepancies exist between corresponding tests in different tunnels, it has been deemed advisable to obtain a direct comparison for this particular installation. The present work covers tests on a one-twenty-fourth scale model at speeds varying from 6.7 m/sec. (15 m.p.h.) to 40.2 m/sec, (90 m.p.h.). A slip stream correction has been obtained by the use of a small belt-driven propeller mounted in front of the model, and force coefficients thus obtained are compared with the measurements of the same forces made in full flight on a geometrically similar airplane. This report gives lift, drag, and longitudinal moment values obtained in tests of a particularly accurate model over a wide range of speeds. A measure of the slip stream corrections on lift and drag forces was obtained by the use of a power-driven model propeller. Measurements were also made of forces and longitudinal moments for all angles from 0 degree to 360 degrees.

In this report a study is made of the effect on longitudinal and lateral oscillations of an airplane of simultaneous variations in two resistance derivatives while the remainder of the derivatives are constant. The results are represented by diagrams in which the two variable resistance derivatives are used as coordinates, and curves are plotted along which the modulus of decay of a long oscillation has a constant value. The same type of analysis is also carried out for the stability of the parachute.

This report, which is a continuation of the "Preliminary report on free flight testing" (report no. NACA-TR-70), presents a detailed theoretical analysis of statical stability with free and locked controls and also the results of many free flight test on several types of airplanes. In developing the theory of stability with locked controls an expression for pitching moment is derived in simple terms by considering the total moment as the sum of the moments due to wings and tail surface. This expression, when differentiated with respect to angle of incidence, enables an analysis to be made of the factors contributing to the pitching moment.