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Post by Officer Crabtree on May 24, 2011 20:18:18 GMT 12
In my early Biggles books (set in WW1) Cpt Johns refers to the top wing as the 'top plane'. Is this the correct term? Or has it just changed over tome to refer to the aircraft itself?  |
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Post by DragonflyDH90 on May 24, 2011 20:36:00 GMT 12
The wing (both) on monoplane is often refered to as the main-plane, a biplane would have a top and bottom plane, therefore two main-planes. The term plane in reference to the aircraft is the shortening of the term aeroplane or airplane if you are a yank.
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Post by Bruce on May 24, 2011 21:47:09 GMT 12
As I have told journalists asking about homebuilt aircraft on several occasions... "A Plane is something a carpenter uses...."
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Post by shorty on May 25, 2011 13:09:31 GMT 12
think mainplane, tailplane, monoplane, biplane, triplane etc.
Oxford Dictionary says:
Plane, nsurface such that a straight line joining any two points in it lies wholly in it; level surface. AEROPLANE; main aerofoil.
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Post by Damon on May 25, 2011 15:11:04 GMT 12
Americans also refer to aircraft as 'ships' .Some Brits refer to aeroplanes as 'kites'. .Me personally I like aircraft or aeroplane,never liked plane as a referance to aircraft.
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Post by The Red Baron on May 25, 2011 18:25:50 GMT 12
Heres another Biggles poser,as I happened to read a bit of one the other day.
Biggles seemed to land a lot,especially behind the lines,could he have hand started his Camel by himself and got in,the old rotary engines only had full speed or stop,if I'm not mistaken.
So if he hand swung the prop,would not the Camel have roared of by itself into the wide blue yonder?.
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Post by Bruce on May 25, 2011 18:52:15 GMT 12
Depends which engines Biggles' Kite had.... From Wikipedia:
"The Gnome "mono" engines did not have throttles and were at full "throttle" while the ignition was on - they could be "throttled" with a selector switch which cut the ignition to some of the cylinders to reduce power for landing. The Clerget, Le Rhone and BR1 had throttles, although reducing power involved simultaneously adjusting the mixture and was not straightforward, so it became common during landing to "blip" the engine (turn the ignition off and on) using a control column-mounted ignition switch, the blip switch, to reduce power."
Sounds possible, but not easy. Biggles however, would have found a way!
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Post by yak2 on May 25, 2011 19:14:29 GMT 12
For biplanes, common terminology is the interplane strut or struts, which connect top and bottom planes (ie wings). Now usually referred to as 'I' struts. Single bay biplanes have one set of struts either side of the fuselage. Multi-bay biplanes have er, multiple sets. Next topic is landing and flying wires.......
As to Biggles starting his Camel behind enemy lines. Between him and Smythe, his trusty mechanic, they would have devised a fiendishly clever method that outsmarted the Hun.
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Post by Officer Crabtree on May 25, 2011 21:10:52 GMT 12
Señor Bigglees had a Le Rhone.
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Post by flyjoe180 on May 26, 2011 21:07:05 GMT 12
Very talented gentleman was Mr Bigglesworth.
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Post by oj on May 26, 2011 21:58:02 GMT 12
Regardless, they are all plank-wings.
BTW, anyone done any modern "planking" yet?
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 26, 2011 22:31:52 GMT 12
Planking is the new phrase used by Australian police to describe Darwin awrad deaths, isn't it?
Another forgotten word from back in the days of Biggles is volplane. Errol M should be able to describe that one.
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Post by errolmartyn on May 27, 2011 11:09:53 GMT 12
Another forgotten word from back in the days of Biggles is volplane. Errol M should be able to describe that one. Long before young Biggles, me Lad! Volplane in use by 1910. For the French vol plané . . . A dive, descent, or downward flight at a steep angle on the part of an aeroplane under control, and with the engine stopped or shut off. (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary) Errol |
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 27, 2011 11:51:45 GMT 12
Ah, the bit before the crash then. ;D
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