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vide the best methods to prevent the plane from going over the side of the ship. Their idea as applied to their ship planes to date has been the use of hook attachment, about ten feet long, fastened to the under side of the fuselage, immediately back of the landing gear. It can be dropped by the pilot and its rear extremity engages the ropes that are set transversely across the deck. These are fastened to sand bags. This method does not produce a very marked shock to the machines, owing to the leniency of resistance produced by moving the sand bags. Shock absorbing devices in the forward extremity of the long metal hook are fastened to the under side of the airplane fuselage. 

The French have been attaching considerable importance to the development of very high speed racing aircraft such as has been evidenced in the Nieuport Delage Sesquiplan. One of the main objects is to ascertain from the trials in full scale, the relation between the performances realized and theoretical performance advanced from laboratory experiments. It is their desire to determine standard correction factors that will be applicable in full scale tests and to determine the value of different airfoils and resistance factors at high velocities.

Preparing for and conducting racing meets is very expensive, but the benefits to be derived for general technical aeronauti-

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