Extract of a lecture by George H Dowty reported on by the The Aeronautical Journal – May 1936“When invited to give this lecture in a building overlooking London’s river, my thoughts wandered back to many pleasant hours spent watching nature’s graceful handiwork, the common seagull, so familiar to those of us who still have “time to stand and stare” in these hustling days of speed and yet more speed.Wheeling with arched pinions and webbed feet retracted backwards into auxiliary tail organs, these effortless soarers are a vision of tomorrow.What aeronautical engineer, released for a moment from the narrow confines of the drawing board and the workshop, could wish for more profitable day dreaming than a quiet half-hour spent on London Bridge (shall we say?), admiring the cunning perfection of natural flight?And who could wish for better inspiration for the subject of this paper than a glimpse now and again at Nature’s own elegant solution of the undercarriage problem? …. “ Dowty, G. (1936). Retractable Undercarriages. The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, 40(305), 249-303. doi:10.1017/S0368393100107291 ================================== 1936年5月《航空杂志》报道的乔治·H·道蒂演讲节选: “当我应邀在一座俯瞰伦敦河的大楼里作这场演讲时,我的思绪又回到了许多愉快的时光,这些时光是用来观看大自然优雅的手工艺品——一只普通的海鸥,我们这些人对它是如此熟悉,在这些飞速发展的日子里,我们仍然有时间“站立和凝视”。 带着拱形小齿轮和蹼状的脚向后缩回辅助尾部器官,这些不费吹灰之力的飞行者是明天的愿景。 哪位航空工程师,从狭窄的画板和车间里出来一小会儿,会希望做一个比在伦敦桥上安静地呆上半个小时更有利可图的白日梦呢,欣赏自然飞行的巧妙完美? 对于这篇论文的主题,除了时不时地瞥见大自然对起落架问题的优雅解决方案之外,谁还希望得到更好的灵感呢?…. “ 道蒂,G.(1936)。伸缩式起落架。皇家航空学会杂志,40(305),249-303。doi:10.1017/S0368393100107291
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