Wing (building)

“ The main building, Fig. 30, is two hundred and thirty-eight feet long, and the wing one hundred and seventy-four feet. It seems probable, from the symmetrical character of most of these structures, that the original plan contemplated an extension of the main building, the addition of another wing, to be followed by the connection of the wings with a wall, thus closing the court. These buildings were not all completed at once, but were extended and increased in the number of stories from generation to generation, as the people increased in numbers and prosperity. ”

“ The wings are the most massively-built and best-preserved portion of the whole building, that portion which lies between them and back of the court being much more ruinous and dissimilar in many respects. The walls of the south wing, which are in the first story, very heavy and massive, are still standing to the height of the third story. Many of the vigas are still in place, and are large and perfectly smooth and straight undressed logs of pine, averaging ten inches in thickness ”

“ The bird or moth may indeed have wide wings, because the size of the wing does not give supremacy to the wing. The head and life are the mighty things, and the plumes, however wide, are subordinate. In fine west fronts with a pediment and two towers, the centre is always the principal mass, both in bulk and interest (as having the main gateway) , and the towers are subordinated to it, as an animal's horns are to its head. ”

“ But, underlying the lightness and apparent frailty of such a wing, when one sees it in the workshop in its skeleton form, before it has been clothed in fabric, there is a skill in construction, and an experience in the choice, selection, and working of woods, that produces a structure which, for all its fragile appearance, is amazingly strong. And the same applies, nowadays, to all the other parts of an aeroplane. ”

“ The Wing acts as an Elevator, Propeller, and Sustainer, both during extension and flexion.—The wing, as has been explained, is recovered or drawn off the wind principally by the contraction of the elastic ligaments extending between the joints, so that the pinion during flexion enjoys a certain degree of repose. The time occupied in recovering is not lost so long as the wing makes an angle with the horizon and the bird is in motion, it being a matter of indifference whether the wing acts on the air, or the air on the wing, so long as the body bearing the latter is under weigh ”

“ Cut the wings long enough to extend up as high or higher than the side walls of the stage. Bend each strip lengthwise at dotted line and paste the bent margin of one wing from Fig. 65 on each side wall, running the wing up from the floor to the top of the wall about four inches from the back wall. ”

“ How to apply Artificial Wings to the Air.—Borelli, Durckheim, Marey, and all the writers with whom I am acquainted, assert that the wing should be made to vibrate vertically. I believe that if the wing be in one piece it should be made to vibrate obliquely and more or less horizontally. ”

“ Imagine their amazement when looking far out over the heaving waters they discovered a sky-scraper zooming along, suddenly make downward swoops and presently float upon the lake, for what object they could only surmise and feed their sinking hearts with wild hopes. Then to see the airship again taking wing, and even head toward the land, must have filled them with a wild enthusiasm. ”

“ The change of the camber of itself may increase the efficiency of a wing by thirty per cent. And not only were the wings changed as to design, but they were strengthened by various means of reinforcing and trussing not used by Langley. ”

“ The wing is supplied with vertical springs, which assist in slowing and reversing it towards the end of the down and up strokes, and these, in conjunction with the elastic properties of the wing itself, contribute powerfully to its continued play. ”

“ THE WING STRUCTURE.—The wing structure of every flying creature that man has examined, has one universal point of similarity, and that is the manner of its connection with the body. It is a sort of universal joint, which permits the wing to swing up and down, perform a gyratory movement while doing so, and folds to the rear when at rest. ”

“ Here again the construction of the airplane follows very closely the general form of the bird. A large bird which flew very high would be found to have his wings arched high in front, where they would have considerable thickness, and sloping down very rapidly toward the rear, while their thickness rapidly diminished. This sort of wing has great lifting power, and it is the sort that is used on an airplane which is built to “climb” rather than to develop speed. ”

“ They afford an opportunity only of admiring at a distance the extraordinary agility and the stateliness likewise of their motions, the richness of their plumage, and the great propriety there was of ascribing to them ‘an expanded, quivering wing.’ Nothing certainly can be more beautiful and entertaining than such a sight! the wings, by their repeated though unwearied vibrations, equally serving them for sails and oars; while their feet, no less assisting in conveying them out of sight, are no less insensible of fatigue. ”

“ Thus, a wing must be so designed that, with a certain amount of air flowing around it, it would lift a certain weight. They also discovered that air flow against any surface attached to the wing would cause a resistance or drag. Hundreds of experiments in their wind tunnel with various types of wing shapes gave the Wrights a series of tables from which to design a wing that would create the lift for a designed weight. ”

“ That the wings invariably strike forwards during the down and up strokes in aerial flight is proved alike by observation and experiment. If any one watches a bird rising from the ground or the water, he cannot fail to perceive that the head and body are slightly tilted upwards, and that the wings are made to descend with great vigour in a downward and forward direction. The dead natural wing and a properly constructed artificial wing act in precisely the same way. ”

“ As he rises vertically, forcing his way in a straight line upwards, his wings almost meet above his back and again beneath the body; they are put forth to his full stroke. When his flight inclines and becomes gradually horizontal, the effort is less and the wing tips do not approach so closely. ”

“ That birds which fly with flapping wings derive their support from the air, is undoubtedly true, and that the lift produced is due, not to the form, or shape, or area of the wing, is also beyond question. The records show that every conceivable type of outlined structure is used by nature; the material and texture of the wings themselves differ to such a degree that there is absolutely no similarity; some have concaved under surfaces, and others have not; some fly with rapidly beating wings, and others with slow and measured movements ”

“ The wing continues its movements of depression inclined to the horizon, but the impulse of the air which continues its effect, and naturally acts upon the surface which it strikes, has the power of resolving itself into two forces, a vertical and a horizontal force, the first suffices to raise the animal, the second to move it along.”117 The reverse of this, Marey states, takes place during the elevation of the wing—the resistance of the air from above causing the upper surface of the wing to look backwards. ”

“ The plane of the wing at its base varies but little during flight; the plane of the median part of the wing is very much displaced on one and the other side of its mean position; finally, the outer part of the wing, and especially its tip, experiences considerable change of plane. This warping of the wing is modified at each instant during its elevation and depression, in the manner just indicated; at the extreme points of its beat the wing is nearly plane. ”

“ A wing constructed on this principle gives a continuous elevating and propelling power. It develops figure-of-8 curves during its action in longitudinal, transverse, and oblique directions. It literally floats upon the air. It has no dead points—is vibrated with amazingly little power, and has apparently no slip. It can fly in an upward, downward, or horizontal direction by merely altering its angle of inclination to the horizon. It is applied to the air by an irregular motion—the movement being most sudden and vigorous always at the beginning of the down stroke.—Original. ”

“ When the wing ascends, the upper surface impinges against the air; the under surface impinging at the same time from its being carried obliquely forward, after the manner of a kite, by the body, which is in motion. During the down stroke, the under surface only acts. The wing is consequently effective both during its ascent and descent, its slip being nominal in amount. The wing acts as a kite, both when it ascends and descends. It acts more as a propeller than an elevator during its ascent; and more as an elevator than a propeller during its descent. ”

“ The theory of the dihedral angle is that when one wing is lifted by a gust of wind, the air is spilled from under it; while the other wing, being correspondingly depressed, presents a greater resistance to the gust and is lifted restoring the balance. A fixed angle of three to five degrees, however, will only be sufficient for very light puffs of wind and to mount the wings so that the whole wing may be moved to change the dihedral angle presents mechanical difficulties which would be better avoided. ”

“ You see, the wind that comes across the wing makes a vacuum on top of the wing surface, and the plane is drawn up into the vacuum. You get a lot more lift that way than if the propellers were under the wing and blowing straight up on the bottom of it. ”

“ First a piece of board is turned out which looks exactly like a cross section of a wing. But there is no need for solid wood to add to the weight of the wing, and so all over its surface the workman goes, boring out circular pieces, until only a framework remains. ”

“ Just as the wing of a plane bites into the air to cause lift, the propeller blades, patterned after wing camber, bite into the air to create thrust. Their action on the air is similar to a screw biting its way into wood. ”

“ Curves in the Wing of a Partridge in Flight.
The wings, when flexed and extended in flight, assume curved surfaces, which change at each instant and carve the air, as does the tail of the fish the water, into complex wave-lines; and such is the structure of the wing that these results are inevitable when it is put in motion. "The muscles, bones, ligaments, and feathers, are so adjusted with reference to each other that, if the wing is moved at all, it must move in the proper direction." The bird no more thinks of its motions in flying than we do of ours in walking ”

“ The elastic properties of the wing are absolutely essential, when the mechanism and movements of the pinion are taken into account. A rigid wing can never be an effective flying instrument.
The kite-like surfaces referred to in natural flight are those upon which the constructors of flying machines very properly ground their hopes of ultimate success. These surfaces may be conferred on artificial wings, aeroplanes, aerial screws or similar structures; and these structures, if we may judge from what we find in nature, should be of moderate size and elastic. ”

“ The curves and the reversal thereof are necessary to give continuity of motion to the wing during its vibrations, and what is not less important, to enable the wing alternately to seize and dismiss the air.
70 In birds which skim, sail, or glide, the pinion is greatly elongated or ribbon-shaped, and the weight of the body is made to operate upon the inclined planes formed by the wings, in such a manner that the bird when it has once got fairly under weigh, is in a measure self-supporting. ”

“ The Wing at all times thoroughly under control.—The wing is moveable in all parts, and can be wielded intelligently even to its extremity; a circumstance which enables the insect, bat, and bird to rise upon the air and tread it as a master—to subjugate it in fact. The wing, no doubt, abstracts an upward and onward recoil from the air, but in doing this it exercises a selective and controlling power; it seizes one current, evades another, and creates a third; it feels and paws the air as a quadruped would feel and paw a treacherous yielding surface. ”

“ It is the soaring or sailing flight of certain varieties of large birds who transport themselves on rigid, unflapping wings in any desired direction; who in winds of 6 to 20 miles per hour, circle, rise, advance, return and remain aloft for hours without a beat of wing, save for getting under way or convenience in various maneuvers. They appear to obtain from the wind alone all the necessary energy, even to advancing dead against that wind. ”

“ To meet this difficulty, the wing is so shaped that it is concave or hollow upon its lower surface, so that it gathers the air together and prevents it from escaping; while the upper surface is convex or bulging, so that the air slides off from it when the wing is moved upward. ”

“ In both cases the wing describes a waved track, as shown at e g, g i, which clearly proves that the wing strikes downwards and forwards during the down stroke, and upwards and forwards during the up stroke. The wing, in fact, is always advancing; its under surface attacking the air like a boy’s kite. ”

“ The Wing during its Vibration produces a Cross Pulsation.—The oscillation of the wing on two separate axes—the one running parallel with the body of the bird, the other at right angles to it (fig. 80, a b, c d) —is well worthy of attention, as showing that the wing attacks the air, on which it operates in every direction, and at almost the same moment, viz. from within outwards, and from above downwards, during the down stroke ”