Page:Popular Mechanics 1928 01.pdf/12

 



Shaving with a safety razor recently introduced in England is somewhat like running a mower, for the blade oscillates from side to side instead of remaining stationary with respect to the holder. This is accomplished by a clockwork mechanism in the handle. The razor is said to be especially adapted to stubborn beards.

 

Realization of one of the fondest dreams of aviation is anticipated in a plane that, it is hoped, will be able to rise vertically at the rate of 1,900 feet a minute, make perpendicular descents in safety with the motors dead and thus permit landings in restricted areas. The ship is not a helicopter, engineers report, but is classed as a vertically rising airplane. So far, its possibilities have been judged wholly on the basis of wind-tunnel tests with a model of the plane. So convincing have these demonstrations proved, however, that a large aircraft company is reported to have voted $75,000 for the construction of a full-sized ship from the model plans. The small unit employed in the tests had four wings, but it is expected that the big ship will have only three. They are to be in a horizontal plane and will rotate at a speed of 120 to 135 revolutions per minute. Each of the wings will have a thirty or thirty-five horsepower motor to turn it and will be mounted on a vertical shaft above the fuselage. There will be no propeller in front, the forward motion of the plane being attained simply by tipping it forward. This gives the wings a new angle, and since they are set for climbing, their revolutions will tend to send the plane ahead. Comparatively slow speeds will be made, from fifty to seventy miles an hour being all that is promised. As the ship comes down, the wings revolve, even if the motors are dead, creating a breaking drag against the force of gravity. This feature is expected to prove of great aid in forced landings, through fogs, for instance, or in alighting in confined spaces such as the tops of buildings or ship decks.

 

Hazards of driving the automobile at night are reduced by a special headlight so adjusted that a wide beam is projected to both sides of the road, without glare to approaching cars and with better illumination of the highway on curves. The lamp plainly shows the road before the driver turns. It is not intended to take the place of the regular spot or headlights, but for special service on winding roads.



