Abstract
WHILE a vast literature has grown around aeroplanes since the outbreak of the war gave an unprecedented stimulus to aeronautical theory and practice, and a certain amount has been written about airships, very little indeed has seen the light of publication in connection with balloons. Popular interest was attracted to the more spectacular phases of flight; the Zeppelin raids dominated the minds of millions of non-combatants in the early part of the war, and the aeroplane raids captured their minds later on. To the active service man who was inclined to join the Air Force the aeroplane gave promise of excitement and distinction; to the scientific investigators at home the aeroplane and airship presented many problems of baffling difficulty and interest. The kite balloon, on the other hand, never reached such heights of popularity. Its work was more useful than spectacular; ever shrouded in secrecy, it scarcely ever attracted the attention of any who were not immediately engaged in its construction or its use.
The Design and Stability of Streamline Kite Balloons, with Useful Tables, Aeronautical and Mechanical Formulae.
By Capt. P. H. Sumner. Pp. viii + 146. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1920.) 10s. 6d. net.
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BRODETSKY, S. The Design and Stability of Streamline Kite Balloons, with Useful Tables, Aeronautical and Mechanical Formulae . Nature 108, 111 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/108111a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/108111a0