DOMINION OYER PHYSICAL NATURE 



247 



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DQMINIQN QVER% 

 PHYSICAL NATURE 



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Flying Machines Made by Boys. 



A part of the course of study in the 

 New York City public schools is the 

 study of the atmosphere. The boys of 

 Public School Seventy-seven, Manhat- 

 tan, under the supervision of their 

 instructor, Mr. A. E. Horn, performed 

 some experiments with kites to deter- 

 mine the velocity of air currents and 

 the pressure of the atmosphere thous- 

 ands of feet in the air. 



These boys soon made kites of all 

 kinds, both for amusement and experi- 

 ment — tailless kites, French and Eng- 

 lish war kites, Eddy kites and the box 

 or Hargrave variety. Their alert 

 minds, however, soon suggested that 

 they do away with the expensive cord ; 

 but the kite would not fly. or at any 

 rate it would fly only with the wind 

 and not in the direction thev wished. 



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Again tney consulted their instruc- 

 tor, and he suggested a propellor 

 driven by some motive power such as 

 rubber bands. The boys adopted this 

 suggestion and the model aeroplane 

 was born. Do not imagine that the 

 first one was successful. Some of the 

 boys built as many as eight or nine 

 before they could make them fly. 

 They learned all about such difficult 

 problems as balance, the pitch of the 

 propeller, aero curves, warped —ing 

 tips, etc. 



When about thirty boys had built 

 aeroplanes that flew — monoplanes and 

 biplanes and 'planes that surpass de- 

 scription — a contest was held in the 

 yard of the school to see which 'plane 

 would fly the farthest. A gold pin 

 was awarded the winner. 



LEARNING HOW TO USE TOOLS IN MAKING "FLYING MACHINES. - 



