Then, when Dick had become a little
used to the novel sensation, they showed him how to work the
different levers. The motor was controlled by spark and gasolene
exactly as is an automobile. But there was no water radiator, the
engine being an up-to-date rotating one, and cooling in the air.
The use of the wing-warping devices, by which the alerons, or
wing-tips are "warped" to allow for "banking" in going around a
curve, were also explained to Dick by means of the levers
controlling them.
You know that a horse, a bicyclist, or a runner leans in toward the
centre of the circle in making a curve. This is called "banking"
and is done to prevent the centrifugal force of motion from taking
one off in a straight line. The same thing must be done in an
airship. That is, it must be inclined at an angle in making a
curve.
And this is accomplished by means of bending down the tips of the
planes, pulling them to the desired position by means of long wires.
It can also he accomplished by small auxiliary planes, called
alerons, placed between the two larger, or main, planes. There is
an aleron at the end of each main wing.
Straight ahead flew the army men and Dick, and then, when the cadet
was more used to it, they went around on a sharp curve. It made the
young millionaire catch his breath, at first, for the airship seemed
to tilt at a dangerous angle. But it was soon righted and
straightened out again.
Suddenly a shadow seemed to pass over Dick's head.
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