Aviation lexicon

From Le Matin, 8 August 1908, p.2.

‘Petit lexique de l’Aéronautique’

Cellulaire                                                         biplane

Surface portante or plan de sustentation         surface of cloth, paper, rubber, etc., which sustains on the air, or finds a point of support in the air

Angle d’incidence                                            An angle of resistance to the air. As an aircraft moves through the air, it meets greater or lesser resistance.

                                                                        If the ‘surface portante’ cuts the air, like a knife blade, the angle of incidence is said to be zero because there is little or no resistance.

Fuselage                                                          a wooden or steel beam linking the forward part of the aircraft with the rear, and carrying the motor and pilot. It is itself supported by a metal frame [‘châssis en métal’].

Gouvernail de direction                                  [rudder] at the rear of the aircraft, used to make the aircraft turn right or left

Gouvernail de profondeur, or équilibreur       Single or biplane surface used, according to the angle of incidence that is set, to make the aircraft rise or fall. May be in the nose or the tail

Gauchissement                                                The action of giving single or biplane surfaces a larger or smaller incidence ‘to maintain the balance of the aircraft in the wind’. It is changed by levers. It is used in Wright’s aircraft. It allows flying in quite strong winds.

Ailerons                                                          Small surfaces placed at the ends of the wings to maintain balance. They work a little like gauchissement. Used with success by Blériot on his monoplane.

[It is significant that the newspaper now thought there was enough interest in flying now to warrant publication of this list.

Even more interesting is that the definitions of gauchissement and ailerons both stress maintaining of the balance of an aircraft -- keeping it level. Though there is reference to Wilbur Wright here, who used wing warping to make turns, the newspaper’s writer still does not see that THAT is the main utility of ailerons and warping. At the time of this article, August 1908, Wright had only just started flying in France. Over the next six months or so, the notion of using ailerons or warping to bank an aircraft intentionally, and hence produce a safe and possibly sharp turns, gradually penetrated French aviation thinking.

Most of the information here is taken from the Paris newspaper Le Matin for late 1907, 1908, and the first half of 1909.

Dates of the issue of the paper, and page numbers, are given at the start of each entry. Some other material has been included. The sources of it are given at the beginning of each entry.