The Experimental Approach to Aircraft Structural Research: The Fifteenth Wright Brothers Lecture presented before the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Auditorium, Washington, D.C., December 17, 1951 Available to Purchase

Research in aircraft structures is constantly bringing forward new problems of a fundamental character. Many of these respond to systematic experiment, and the paper presents the experimental approach in terms of recent work done in Great Britain and particularly at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. One aspect of research considered is the testing of small specimens made of xylonite. Another is the strength testing of actual aircraft, which opens up several fields of research activity for discussion. Design studies of new testing equipment for large aircraft and for pressure cabins are also described. Consideration is given to the measurement of external forces in flight and the design of measuring instruments, including a description of the new counting accelerometer recently developed by the R.A.E. Finally, structural fatigue is discussed as being one of the most difficult subjects with which the structural specialist has yet had to deal.