148 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE VOL. 27 



from the sand-bar and about 1000 feet from the house-boat. The propellers 

 had almost ceased turning when the aerodrome came down into the water, and 

 il settled almost as quietly as though it had been picked up and placed there, 

 so that no damage was done to it. 



The total time that the aerodrome was in the air was 63 seconds, and the 

 total length of flight was about 2500 feet. The path of this flight is shown by 

 i Ik dotted line with the double circle in Plate 36. The data on settings of wings, 

 tail, etc., are given on Data Sheet No. 10. 



As soon as the workmen had had their breakfast, Aerodrome No. 5 was 

 again placed on the launching apparatus, equipped this time with the super- 

 posed wings and Penaud tail. Upon lighting the burners, it was found that they 

 did not work properly, a small piece of soot having clogged up the tip of the 

 vaporizing coil. While tins trouble with the burners was being remedied, the 

 wind increased to such an extent that it was found necessary to remove the 

 aerodrome from the launching apparatus to prevent its being injured by side 

 -lists. As it was Saturday and the wind showed no signs of quieting down, 

 the experiments were discontinued until the next week. 



< 



AUGUST 1 AERODROME NO. 5 



After placing the aerodrome on the launching apparatus and getting every- 

 thing in readiness I'm- a flight, upon lighting the burners a sudden sheel of 

 flame shot out of the smoke-stack and so seriously charred three panels of each 

 of the rear wings that they had to be removed for repairs. The silk covering 

 of the wings had been coated with a special fire-proofing preparation, but the 

 intensely hot flame, of course, charred all the silk that it came in contact with. 



By the time that the wings had been repaired, and the defect in the burner 

 winch caused the accident had been remedied, a severe storm had arisen, mak- 

 ing il necessary to remove everything to the interior of the boat. While wail- 

 in- for the weather to become more suitable, a test of the engine of Aerodrome 

 No. 5 was made inside of the house boat. In this test a steam pressure of 140 

 pounds was obtained, giving 650 R. P. M. of the round-end, 100-centimetre pro- 

 pellers, which previous tests had shown to mean a thrust of 74SO grammes. 

 As the Hying weight of the aerodrome was now 14,104 grammes, the thrust ob- 

 tained would correspond to a lift of 53 per cent of the flying weight, which 

 was maintained in this lest for HO seconds. 



As the CG of Aerodrome No. 5 seemed to be a little too far forward in the 

 flight of July 28, it was decided to change it slightly, and it was moved back 4 

 niilliniel res. 



A trial run in the house boat was also made on Aerodrome No. 0, while 

 waiting for the weather to become more suitable, but, unfortunately, the result 



of this test was disastrous. The aerodrome had been placed on trestles and 



