Technical paper issued by the Bureau of Mines over quarry accidents reported during the year of 1919. The results of the accident reports collected are presented and discussed. This paper includes tables.

From Introduction: "This paper aims to show the general method of procedure in studying underground conditions in producing oil fields and how such study may not only correct but even prevent great unnecessary losses. Throughout the paper reference is made to oil wells and oil fields, but to a certain degree many of the suggestions relating to oil wells are applicable in the care and protection of gas wells and in solving gas problems."

From Summary: "The difficulties experienced in properly holding thin tipped or tapered airfoils while testing on an N.P.L. type aerodynamic balance even at low air speeds, and the impossibility of holding even solid metal models at the high speeds attainable at the National Advisory Committee's wind tunnel, necessitated the design of a balance which would hold model airfoils of any thickness and at speeds up to 150 m.p.h. In addition to mechanical strength and rigidity, it was highly desirable that the balance readings should require a minimum amount of correction and mathematical manipulation in order to obtain the lift and drag coefficients and the center of pressure. The balance described herein is similar to one in use at the University of Gottingen, the main difference lying in the addition of a device for reading the center of pressure directly, without the necessity of any correction whatsoever. Details of the design and operation of the device are given."

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.

From Introduction: "The report discusses some of the fundamental factors governing oil production, taking up first the conditions affecting the amount of oil in the oil sand, then those factors that control the rate of production of oil wells, and then discusses several related problems, most of which deal particularly with the effect of the production of one well on that of another."

"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).

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.

This report examines the idea of coupling numerous engines together to turn a single propeller, which the author feels would free aircraft design from the problems of multi-engine and propeller design.

Report discussing the the development of milling practice in Boulder County, the ore-dressing methods in use, and the local manufacture of ferrotungsten and tungstic oxide. Figures giving the production of tungsten concentrates in the Boulder district, in the United States, and in the world; data on the buying of tungsten ores; costs of production; and the normal tungsten requirements in this country are presented.

In order to determine the maximum and the most favorable pitch for a propeller, it was found desirable to investigate the dependence of propeller efficiency on the angle of attack of the propeller blade. The results of a few experiments are given to show that propeller blades conduct themselves just like airplane wings with reference to the dependence of their efficiency on their angle of attack.

This report contains a list of the courses relating to aeronautics announced in Germany, both in the technical high schools and in the universities.

From Introduction: "This bulletin is the fourth in the series of petroleum bibliographies being published by the Bureau of Mines, the preceding, Bulletins 149, 165, and 180, being complications for the years 1915, 1916, and 1917, respectively. In this bulletin the same general plan has been followed in arranging the references, but a few changes and additions have been made in classification, the more important changes being in the classes "Geology and Origin" and "Refining and Refineries." During the year German periodicals were not available, and as in the bibliography for 1917, references to articles in foreign journals that were not available have been taken from other sources and credit given to those sources."

A great amount of research and experimental work has been done and fair success obtained in an effort to place airplane and propeller design upon an empirical basis. However, one can not fail to be impressed by the apparent lack of data available toward establishing flow phenomena upon a rational basis, such that they may be interpreted in terms of the laws of physics. With this end in view it was the object of the authors to design a wind tunnel differing from the usual type especially in regard to large power and speed of flow.

"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).

An attempt was made to determine the effect of spindle interference on the lift of the airfoil by measuring moments about the axis parallel to the direction of air flow. The values obtained are of the same degree as the experimental error, and for the present this effect will be neglected. The results obtained using a U.S.A. 15 wing (plotted here) show that the correction is nearly constant from 0 degrees to 10 degrees incidence and that at greater angles its value becomes erratic. At such angles, however, the wing drag is so high that the spindle correction and its attendant errors become relatively small and unimportant.

Report issued by the U.S. Bureau of Mines on the characteristics and behavior of oil and coal distillation processes. The effectiveness of the distillation processes and the properties of the oil and coal mixtures are presented. This report includes tables, graphs, and illustrations.

From Summary: "The experiments described here show that the cracking at sharp bends, observed in the insulation of internal combustion engine high tension ignition wires after service, is due to a chemical attack upon the rubber by the ozone produced by the electric discharge that takes place at the surface of the cable. This cracking does not occur if the insulating material is not under tension, or if the cable is surrounded by some medium other than air. But it does occur even if the insulation is not subjected to electric stress, provided that the atmosphere near the cable contains ozone. The extent of this cracking varies greatly with the insulating material used. The cracking can be materially reduced by using braided cable and by avoiding sharp bends."

This report describes a pressure-measuring device especially adapted for use in mapping indicator diagrams of high-speed internal combustion engines. The cards are obtained by a point-to-point method giving the average of a large number of engine cycles. The principle involved is the balancing of the engine cylinder pressure against a measured pressure on the opposite side of the metal a diaphragm of negligible stiffness.

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.

This report describes briefly a series of experiments made at the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, to determine the comparative moisture resistance of linseed oil, impregnation treatments, condensation varnishes, oil varnishes, enamels, cellulose varnishes, rubber, electroplated and sprayed metal coatings, and metal-leaf coatings when applied to wood. All coatings except rubber and electroplated metal coatings, which were not developed sufficiently to make them practical, admitted moisture in varying degrees. The most effective and most practical coating was found to be that of aluminum leaf.

This report states the results of investigations made upon numerous propeller models at the request of the Subcommittee on Aerodynamics, and contains valuable data for those interested in the design of air propellers.

"This report makes available data which will aid the designer in determining the plywood that is best adapted to various aircraft parts. It gives the results of investigations made by the Forest Products Laboratory of the United States Forest Service at Madison, Wisconsin, for the Army and Navy Departments, and is one of a series of reports on the use of wood in aircraft prepared by the Forest Products Laboratory for publication by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The object of the study was to determine, through comprehensive tests, the mechanical and physical properties of plywood and how these properties vary with density, number, thickness, arrangement of the plies and direction of grain of the plies" (p. 109).

The need for a device to measure flight resistance, engine and propeller power, and efficiency during flight grew in proportion to the demand for increased flying capacity in military types of aircraft. Here, a dynamometer hub was inserted between the engine and the propeller. Taken as a whole, the tests that were conducted show that though the dynamometer is a sensitive instrument liable to numerous derangements, it is undeniably useful even in its present form, when handled with care and skill.