"
"What is the gyroscope?" asked Dick.
"It is an invention of mine, and one over which Lieutenant Larson
and I had some argument," said Mr. Vardon.
"You probably know," the aviator went on, while Dick, Paul, and
Innis, with several other cadets, listened interestedly, "you
probably know that one of the great problems of aviation is how to
keep a machine from turning turtle, or turning over, when it strikes
an unexpected current, or 'air pocket' in the upper regions. Of
course a birdman may, by warping his wings, or changing the
elevation of his rudder, come out safely, but there is always a
chance of danger or death.
"If there was some automatic arrangement by which the airship would
right itself, and take care of the unexpected tilting, there would
be practically no danger.
"I realized that as soon as I began making airships, and so I
devised what I call a gyroscope equilibrizer or stabilizer. A
gyroscope, you know, is a heavy wheel, spinning at enormous speed,
on an anti-friction axle. Its great speed tends to keep it in
stable equilibrium, and, if displaced by outside forces, it will
return to its original position.
"You have probably seen toy ones; a heavy lead wheel inside a ring.
When the wheel is spinning that, and the ring in which it is
contained, may be placed in almost any position, on a very slender
support and they will remain stable, or at rest.
"So I put a gyroscope on my airship, and I found that it kept the
machine in a state of equilibrium no matter what position we were
forced to take by reason of adverse currents.
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