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An Avro Sea-Plane

An Avro Sea-Plane.jpg An Airship leaving its shedThumbnailsAn Experimental AirshipAn Airship leaving its shedThumbnailsAn Experimental AirshipAn Airship leaving its shedThumbnailsAn Experimental AirshipAn Airship leaving its shedThumbnailsAn Experimental AirshipAn Airship leaving its shedThumbnailsAn Experimental AirshipAn Airship leaving its shedThumbnailsAn Experimental Airship
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The sea-plane, when a flight is made, is launched upon the water down a slipway; then the pilot and his passenger embark, the motor is started, and the propeller draws the machine across the water at a rapidly increasing pace. The floats raise themselves higher and higher upon the water, as the air-planes exercise a growing lift, until they only just skim the surface. And now comes the moment when the airman, drawing back his elevating lever, seeks to raise his craft from the water into the air. At first only the front of the floats rise, the rear sections clinging to the surface; then, in another instant, the whole float frees itself from the water in a scatter of spray, and the craft glides at a gently-sloping angle into the air. It is the aim of builders, by the curve they impart, to make the floats leave the water with as little resistance as possible. In the floats of the Avro will be noticed a notch, or cut-away section, which occurs at about the centre of the float upon its lower side. This is called a “step,” and is to help the float to lift from the water. When the main-planes draw upward, as the craft moves prior to its flight, the floats tend, as has been said, to raise themselves in the water; and as they do so, lifting first towards the bow, there comes a space between the upward-cut “step” and the surface of the water. Into this space air finds its way and, by helping still further to free the float from the surface, aids greatly at the moment when the pilot—operating his hand-lever—seeks the final lift which will carry him aloft.

A. Propeller
B. 100-h.p. Gnome motor, hidden by shield
C. Main-planes
D. Observer’s seat
E. Pilot’s seat
F. Rudder
G. Elevating-plane
H. Float to support tail
I. Main floats to bear the weight of the machine.

Author
The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Aeroplane, by Claude Grahame-White and Harry Harper
Published 1914
Dimensions
1200*488
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