The crew of the "Fafnir" was given an excellent opportunity for collecting first-hand data as to the usefulness of gliders in the Alps. It is necessary to recount the remarkable glider achievements ahead of the Rhon Soaring Contest, in order to understand the tension and expectation with which the Rhon contest was anticipated. A description of some of the aircraft present at the event is provided.

"Exhaustive torsional-vibration investigations are required to determine the reliability of aircraft engines. A general outline of the methods used for such investigations and of the theoretical and mechanical means now available for this purpose is given, illustrated by example. True vibration diagrams are usually obtained from vibration measurements on the completed engine. Two devices for this purpose and supplementing each other, the D.V.L. torsiograph and the D.V.L. torsion recorder, are described in this report" (p. 1).

A method is described for testing the strength of propellers of any shape. It is shown that the shape of the propeller greatly affects the stresses, and that great caution must be exercised if the relieving effect of the centrifugal force, which exists in every propeller with a straight blade axis, is to be increased by curving the blade axis. In a numerical example, the calculation is made for a certain revolution speed at which the actual distortion is then measured. The results of the calculation agree satisfactorily with the experimental results.