70 



NATURE 



[July 14, 1923 



lines is in progress in the Aeronautical Department of 

 the Imperial College, South Kensington, which is thus 

 beginning its work as a centre of advanced research. 



To turn to other parts of the discussions in Group 

 (A), mention must be made of a most important paper 

 by Mr. Handley Page on the slotted wing. The 

 author gave the most recent details of his wind- 

 channel tests on his device for enabling the pilot to 

 increase effectively the lifting power of the wing. 

 This enables him to land at a much lower speed than 

 would be otherwise possible. Reference must be 

 made to the paper for the figures ; it must suffice to 

 say that in the case of one section known as Airscrew 4 

 the maximum lifting coefficient was increased from 

 0-7 to I'l, while for the well-known section R.A.F. 15 

 the increase was from 0-55 to 0-95. The meeting was 

 pleased to hear from the representative of the Koyal 

 Air Force that the full-scale tests, so far as they had 

 been completed, were successful. 



Methods of measurement in experimental work were 

 discussed in various papers. Col. Robert, of the 

 Technical Aeronautical Service of France, gave a 

 detailed account both of the precautions necessary to 

 secure accuracy in the results and of the delicacy of 

 the tests, thus confirming the experience of the 

 workers at the National Physical Laboratory, Ted- 

 dington. Our French colleagues are to be congratu- 

 lated on the possession of the new air-channel which 

 is now being installed. The channel is 3 metres, say 

 10 ft., in diameter, and the maximum air speed 30 

 metres, or about 100 ft. per second. The standardisa- 

 tion, or rather the intercomparison, of methods of 

 research was discussed by Sir Richard Glazebrook in 

 his paper dealing with the international tests now in 

 progress. Mr. Southwell described the most recent 

 apparatus at the National Physical Laboratory, and 

 I\Ir. M'K. Wood dealt with the accuracy of model 

 results and their comparison with full-scale work. 



Among the other papers, one by Mr. Baumhauer, of 

 the Dutch Institute for Aeronautics, on the methods 

 of computing wing sections, met with general approval. 



while Mr. North's paper on the technical development 

 of the aeroplane aroused much interest. It must 

 suffice to mention them, together with the papers on 

 stability by Mr. Barlow ; on control at low speeds, by 

 Mr. M'K. Wood ; and on testing of strength, by Mr. 

 Douglas. Another paper by Mes.srs. Baumhauer and 

 Groning dealt with the vibrations of an aeroplane wing, 

 a subject which is being investigated both at the 

 National Physical Laboratory and at Farnborough. 



It will be obvious from the above that those 

 members of the Congress who attended Group (A) were 

 kept fully occupied with interesting and important 

 problems. 



And now to conclude ; limits of space forbid any- 

 thing but the briefest reference to the other papers, 

 not that they were less interesting or less important 

 than those of Group A. There is no one better able 

 to speak on airship travel than Major Scott, with his 

 experience of two voyages across the Atlantic. 

 Colonel Richmond is an authority on airship structure, 

 while Signor Nobili has acquired a world-wide re- 

 putation from the success of the Italian ships. Some 

 comparison of their performance with those of our 

 own non-rigids would be interesting. Moreover, full- 

 scale experimental work, if airships are to be con- 

 structed on a scientific basis, is still required, though our 

 knowledge has been increased by recent American work. 



Members attending Group B were interested in 

 various papers connected with engines, such as Mr. 

 Charlton's account of the crude oil engine, Wing- 

 Commander Hyne's description of engine work at 

 Farnborough, and the communications on lubrica- 

 tion by Dr. Stanton, Mr. Evans, and Mr. Hersey, while 

 on Wednesday morning the discussion on air mails 

 and the development of commercial a.viation by 

 General Williamson, Jonkherr van Hemstede, and 

 Mr. Handley Page attracted a large and attentive 

 audience to Group C. In every way the Congress 

 proved a great success, and its members acclaimed 

 Sir Samuel Hoare's toast at the concluding meeting, 

 " To our next merry meeting, Brussels, 1925." 



The National Physical Laboratory, Teddington. 



Annual Visitation. 



ON Tuesday, June 26, the General Board of the 

 National Physical Laboratory made the annual 

 visitation to the Laboratory. As is customary on 

 this occasion, a number of members of scientific 

 and technical societies and institutions, government 

 departments, and industrial organisations were invited, 

 and the Laboratory was open for inspection. The 

 visitors were received in the new aerodynamics 

 building by Sir Charles Sherrington, chairman of the 

 Board, Sir Arthur Schuster, and the director of the 

 Laboratory. 



Since the last visitation the Laboratory has been 

 somewhat extended, and Victoria House, acquired 

 a few years ago to meet the anticipated increased 

 demands of the work, has been converted for the 

 use of the Physics Department. ]\Iost of the tempera- 

 ture work involving the testing and standardisation 

 of mercury, resistance, and optical pyrometers is 

 carried out here, in addition to the investigations 

 of the newly created sound section. The Metallurgy 

 Department has been provided with much - needed 

 increased accommodation by the addition of a new 

 story to the Wernher Building, in which a number 

 of offices and small laboratories, as well as a special 

 room for high temperature work, have been equipped. 



A very large number of interesting exhibits were 

 shown in the various departments. It is, however, 

 impossible to do more than describe briefly a few 



NO. 2802, VOL. 112] 



of the more noteworthy, which show the wide range 

 of phenomena, from the highly theoretical to the 

 severely practical, which the Laboratory is called 

 upon to investigate. 



In the Aerodynamics Department the wind-tunnels 

 were shown in operation. In the duplex wind- 

 tunnel, which has a working portion 14 ft. wide, 

 7 ft. high, and 80 ft. long, two motors of 200 h.p. 

 develop wind speeds up to about no ft. per sec. 

 (75 miles per hour). A test on a Bristol Fighter 

 aeroplane was demonstrated in which, on a model 

 (i full size) having a motor -driven airscrew, an 

 experimental investigation of the effect of slip- 

 stream on the behaviour of the plane is being carried 

 out. The " whirling arm," which is driven through 

 a worm gear by a 12-h.p. motor giving speeds of 

 advance up to 50 ft. per sec, was shown employed 

 in the determination of the pressure distribution on 

 ellipsoids travelling in, circular paths. This has an 

 important application in the deduction of the stresses 

 imposed on the hull of an airship which is turning. 



Another interesting exhibit showed an electrical 

 method of determining the stream-lines of an inviscid 

 fluid past an aerofoil of any given section. It can 

 be shown theoretically that the equipotential Unes 

 of a system consisting of an insulated conductor 

 between two charged parallel plates are identical 

 in form with the stream-lines in a perfect fluid flowing 



