Natural Stability and the Parachute Principle in Aeroplanes

"Natural Stability and the Parachute Principle in Aeroplanes " by W. LeMaitre are conclusions that are the result of a quite independent investigation, carried on over three years by means of numberless experiments about flying machines, and the writer has endeavored to make no single statement which he cannot by some experiment amply prove. Excerpt: «THE IMPORTANCE OF STABILITY. In considering the whole question of aviation, it becomes evident that the one point to strive for at the present juncture is stability. If we are ever to have a practical flying machine, that is, a machine which we can use as we do a yacht, a motor car, or a bicycle, it must be one that we can trust to keep its balance by reason of the natural forces embodied in it, and without any effort of control on the part of the pilot. It may be objected that a bicycle does not do this, and this is true, but, on the other hand, the upsetting of a bicycle is a very small matter, whereas the tilting of an aeroplane mostly means sudden death to its occupant, and it is probable that if the same consequences followed the tilting of a bicycle, bicycles would soon have been made with four wheels.»