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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1970)
. • • THE BATTALION Wednesday, May 20, 1970 College Station, Texas Page 3 20, J <B evenly <Biutey| Fun Items For A Fun Summer! s.^ nily 00 DO 1 > • • F ti m '4Ats It/imL— OltA /fow u/iti do ouAzt you; i<//a4 - kf tUiy a*u£ ObatAjidtdL'. // o/lfcoSUiLS ^ $3-$6 OJlins of Texas visit NEW ORLEANS $39 ROUNDTRIP CALL 846-3773 SHOP THURS. and FRI. TIL 8 P.M. BankAmericard //v/WaV? /tf )( A&M group designs spoiler to keep aircraft from stalling A device that gently prevents an airplane from stalling — a cause of many air mishaps—is nearing completion in A&M’s Plight Mechanics Laboratory. Called a stall prevention spoiler by Howard L. Chevalier and his crew at the Space Technology Division facility, the system is being developed to correct one of the serious problems encountered in aerial flight. An aircraft stalls when its attitude causes loss of lift. “When a high angle of attack occurs, the air flow separates from the wing,” Chevalier ex plained. He said that the stall itself is not dangerous to airplane struc tures, but resulting loss of flying speed, altitude and control is. What he, aerospace engineering graduate student and pilot Jim Savage of Sudan and pilot Doug Pearson of Oil City, Okla., have done is attach a thin strip of mettal—the spoiler—to the lower front edge of the stabzilizer. When the plane approaches stall conditions, the spoiler gradu ally drops into the air stream from a position flat against the elevator. It forces the nose of the craft down—and away—from stall attitude. The system, which has been discussed with the Federal Avia tion Administration and aircraft manufacturers, deploys the spoiler proportionately as stall atttiude increases. Chevalier conceived the device while at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. He sai dthat about 23 per cent of all air accidents were attrib uted to staff-induced situations. A large percentage of agricul tural-type planes mishaps can be traced to stall. “A great deal of flying instruc tion time is given to showing a student pilot what a stall is and how to recover from it,” the vet eran pilot commented. “A fool proof system would eliminate the need.” The system differs from stand ard anti-stall devices in that it applies corrections as a function of plane attitude. Stall warning horns, for example, sound when high stall conditions are imminent. Then the pilot must react. The spoiler system is auto matic, linked to a stall sensing vane on the wings through a servo motor that would deploy the spoiler regardless of pilot action. Advantages of the A&M lab- developed system are that it allows maximum maneuverability at all flight attitudes except near stall, is mechanically independent of the contro Isystem, does not require changes in standard con trol systems, can be incorporated into both new and existing air planes and does not require pilot judgment nor physical reaction. Work at the A&M Research Annex lab has progressed to link ing the entire system together for tests of automatic operation. Al most 30 hours of air time have gone into testitng the apparatus on a Piper PA-18. In tests so far, an observed has manually deployed the spoiler, first by listening for the stall-warning horn then by watching meter readngs from the vane sensor. “In these instances, the observer acted as the servo motor,” Che valier explained. Savage, who is basing his thesis on the system, did analytical wok, utilizing in part a report by professor A. E. Cronk, Aero space Engineering Department head, in predicting spoiler geome tries. A cooperative student, Larry Morse of Bedias, designed the electronics system. Chevalier said the electronics “black box” is light-weight, economical and can be used in almost any plane. Fabrication of system com ponents was done entirely in the lab and the annex Research and Instrument Shop. Joseph C. Brusse, engineering research asso ciate with the shop, inspected installations. The Flight Mechanics Lab, which also conducts research in improving aircraft lateral con trol and aircraft response to atmospheric turbulence, also flies a Gruman Ag Cat and Beechcraft T-34B from a runway of the former Bryan AFB. A fourth plans, a Beechcraft C-45, is being restored to flight condition. \ wamk^ 11 ILj m. - jr— k • STALL SPOILER—A stall prevention spoiler, part of which is shown projecting downward from the elevator of a Piper PA-18, developed by the Flight Mechanic Labora tory at Texas A&M. Cheap transport of moon samples to earth possible Economical transport to earth of materials extracted from the moon is feasible using a technique practically as old as man’s dream of space flight. The method—described among others, by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his “Venus” series—employs, a rocket-powered sled and launch track to assist in lunar liftoff. Russell A. Keyes, A&M senior aerospace engineering student, has calculated that a channel-type track along which the rocket sled would accelerate and ascent stage could withstand rigors of the WE ARE GIVING AWAY TWO-SETS OF FILTERS (With Every Spring Start-Up) Let us start-up & check out your residential central air con ditioning. For the reduced rate of $8.00, we will: ... oil fan motor & bearings . . . tighten fan belt, if needed . . . check outdoor unit refrigerant charge & pressures . . . And, as a bonus, provide two sets of filters. —FREE OF CHARGE— A spring check-out could save you a major repair bill or a hot., sleepless night this summer. This offer is limited. No additional repairs and charges will be madq without your authorization. CALL NOW FOR AN APPOINTMENT. PROFESSIONAL AIR DESIGN INC. 846-7767 Authorized Trane Dealer lunar environment. In the airless lunar atmosphere, cosmic and solar radiation would constantly bombard the launch track. It would be subjected to expanding and contracting forces of extreme temperature differ ences between the lunar day and night. Lunar temperatures range from—236 degrees to 284 degrees Fahrenheit in 27 days. “Analysis of the proposed track indicates it is capable of function ing throughout the extremes of the lunar environment,” Keyes stated in a course report to Dr. Charles A. Rodenberger, aerospace engi neering professor. He also calculated that vibra tional and frictional problems in herent in the operation of such a high speed track can be effectively overcome. Keyes, a San Antonio College graduate who transferred to A&M, chose “I” beams and “C” channel of cold-rolled steel and V^-inch aluminum plating for his general track design and analysis. His plan is to fix each beam rigidly at one end, restrain side slippage and vertical deflection by a bolt protruding through slots, along the lower flange of the beam. “Despite these restraints placed on it, the beam is able to expand longitudinally, laterally and vert ically,” he said. “Because of its ability to expand freely and the slow temperature rate of change which it would undergo, theT thermally induced stresses.” ' Similar bolt slots in the “C” channel make it easily possible for track side members to expand and contract with the lunar tem perature variation, he added. The track, consisting of 8>/2-foot wide sections, would stretch from 12.3 to 33.4 miles across the lunar surface. Thanks Old Army for a great year. We appreciate your business, and we want you to know it. We sincerely hope that our dealings have been as pleasant for you as they’ve been for us. And for the men that are leaving, come on in and let us buy your books one more time. We’ll pay the best price - as always - and shake your hand one more time. Loupot's He doesn’t deal with Tarot Cards to see into your future. He doesn’t need them to see your financial future revealed. He’ll help you see it. And plan for it. Now. Because the sooner you start, the less it costs. And he’ll show you an insurance program tailored especially for you. He can be found in our campus office. Go find him. 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