NO. 4 PIONEER WIND TUNNELS RANDERS-PEHRSON I5 



G. A. CROCCO 



In the fall of 1903 an aerodynamical laboratory was established 

 near Rome by the " Brigata Specialist! " of the 3rd Italian Engineer 

 Corps. The laboratory was built under the direction of Lieutenant, 

 now General, Gaetano Arthuro Crocco. It was well equipped with 

 research apparatus, including, as the most prominent part, a wind 

 tunnel of novel construction. 



By means of a 2.5-meter centrifugal fan and a 30-hp. electric motor, 

 air was driven into a large cylindrical chamber like a gasometer, 5 

 meters in diameter and 3.5 meters high, which served to overcome 

 turbulence and fluctuations. From here the wind was conveyed through 

 a tunnel, the end of which was inserted in the laboratory wall, fan and 

 air tank being outside. The cross-section of the mouth of the tunnel 

 was I by I meter square ; also a cross-section of 80 by 80 centimeters 

 was used, and cylindrical mouthpieces of smaller diameter. 



The tests were made in the open jet, balance and models being 

 mounted on a support on the floor, on a light carriage, or sometimes 

 on floats swimming in water. The principal balance, constructed by 

 Crocco in 1904, was an improvement on the dynamometric balance 

 of Renard. 



For some researches the part of the laboratory where the air entered, 

 was closed off tb .form a second air-straightening chamber, and the 

 Vv^ind continued through a tunnel within the laboratory building. This 

 tunnel was 8 meters long and 0.85 by 1.50 meters in cross-section." 



The investigations at the laboratory of the Brigata Specialisti were 

 chiefly concerning air propellers and the resistance and stability of 

 airships. The construction of the first Italian military airship in 1907 

 was based on these tests. 



Results of the investigations were also presented in several im- 

 portant papers by Crocpo, published in various places, and reprinted 

 in his " Problemi aeronautici, degli albori lino alia guerra." 524 p., 

 illus., 27 pis. (Roma, A. Stock, 1931). 



D. RIABOUCHINSKY 



Through the efforts of D. Riabouchinsky, a wealthy patron of 

 science and himself a scientist, Russia took its place in the front rank 

 with regard to pioneer aerodynamic research. 



'Boll. Soc. aeronautica ital., vol. 2, p. 209, illus,, Nov.-Dec. 1905. 

 Marchis. Le Navire aerien. Appendix, pp. I22a-i27a, illus. Paris, 1909. 



