Читать книгу Building and Flying an Aeroplane. A practical handbook covering the design, construction, and operation of aeroplanes and gliders онлайн

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To form a more comfortable support for the operator, two arm pieces of spruce, 3 feet by 1 inch by 1 3/4 inches, should be bolted to the front and rear beams about 14 inches apart over the central opening left in the lower plane. These will be more convenient than holding on to the struts for support, as it will not be necessary to spread the arms so much and there will be more freedom for manipulating the weight to control the glider in flight. In using the struts, it is customary to grasp them with the hands, while with the arm pieces, as the name implies, the operator places his arms over them, one of the strips coming under each armpit. After the fabric has been given a coat of varnish on the upper side and allowed to dry, the glider is ready for use. The cost of the material should be about $30 to $40, depending upon the extent to which the builder has relied upon his own ingenuity in fashioning the necessary fittings—in any case, it will be less than the amount required for the purchase of the engine alone for a power-driven model.