lO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 62 



Wind tozvers. — On the ground to the west of the National Physical 

 Laboratory buildings, two wind towers, each 60 feet high and pro- 

 vided with rotating platforms 20 feet long, are used to determine 

 the flow and pressure of free air about large-scale models. The first 

 results of such determinations were published by Dr. Stanton in the 

 proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers for 1907, and later 

 studies may be found in the reports of the Advisory Committee. 

 The Smithsonian Institution can doubtless obtain a like service from 

 the three tall radio towers in its neighborhood. 



The Royal Air Craft Factory, under the direction of Mr. Mervin 

 O'Gorman, member of the Advisory Committee, is adjacent to the 

 headquarters and flying grounds of the Military Wing/ at South 

 Farnborough. Its work is coordinated with the aeronautical re- 

 searches of the National Physical Laboratory, and is professedly 

 concerned with the scientific improvement of air craft construction, 

 though in reality directed at times to the manufacture, on a large 

 scale, of aeroplanes, propellers and parts of dirigibles. The factory 

 construction and research are in charge of a civilian stafl:' which 

 cooperates with the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in perform- 

 ing aerotechnical work for the naval and military branches of the 

 aerial service. The close coordination of the Air Craft Factory with 

 the Flying Corps and with the Advisory Committee is an obvious 

 advantage to the progress of aerotechnics, which might be still 

 further enhanced if all the experimental ])lants were in one locality 

 as proposed for the L^nited States. 



Apparently no very sharp line separates the aerotechnical work 

 of the Royal Air Craft Factory from that of the National Physical 

 Laboratory. Both have a whirling table ; both have an engine 

 testing plant ; both have studied the materials of construction ; both 

 design instruments. But this overlapping is not excessive. Broadly 

 speaking', the laboratory investigates models ; the factory full-scale 

 air craft, their parts and appurtenances. 



The factory investigates, develops, manufactures, and tests air 

 craft. It is a mammoth plant, covering many acres and comprising 

 half a dozen large buildings. It is said to expend half a million 



^ It may be noted that the entire military aerial service of England is known 

 as " The Royal Flying Corps," and is under general supervision of the Air 

 Committee, itself a subcommittee of the Committee on Imperial Defense. The 

 Flying Corps comprises at present four branches : The Central Flying School ; 

 the Naval Wing; the Military Wing; the Reserve. The Advisory Committee 

 for Aeronautics is an independent liody, appointed by the Prime Minister, 

 and receiving its aiipropriations directly from the Lord of the Treasury. 



