science

Levasseur-Abrial A-1

Levasseur-Abrial A-1 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Levasseur-Abrial A-1 rather than just read about it. In short: The Levasseur-Abrial A-1 was a glider built in 1922 as a result of a collaboration between French aerodynamicist Georges Abrial de Péga and constructor Pierre Levasseur. A single example was built, which was destroyed on its fourth flight.

Key takeaways

Levasseur-Abrial A-1 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Levasseur-Abrial A-1 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Levasseur-Abrial A-1 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Levasseur-Abrial A-1 was a glider built in 1922 as a result of a collaboration between French aerodynamicist Georges Abrial de Péga and constructor Pierre Levasseur. A single example was built, which was destroyed on its fourth flight.

Design and development The A-1 had a one piece, cantilever wing with swept leading edges, an unswept trailing edge and blunted tips. It had a reflex, Joukovsky airfoil section and was thick in the centre, thinning outboard where tapered ailerons reached out to the tips. It was built around pairs of swept wooden spars with plywood skin from the forward one around the nose forming a torsion resisting D-box. The rest of the wing was covered with silk (pongée). The wing was set into the upper part of the flat-sided fuselage, with an open cockpit at its leading edge and behind a short, vertically edged nose. The fuselage tapered aft to large tail surfaces; a lightly swept, cantilever tailplane with angled tips was mounted at mid-height, carrying a one-piece elevator. The rounded profile of the fin merged into that of its rhomboidal rudder, leaving room below for elevator movement. The A-1's landing gear was based on a pair of ash skids, mounted from the fuselage on aluminium struts and cross-braced. There were light skids below the outer wings to protect the tips. If the terrain was suitable, wheels on a 600 mm (23.6 in) track single axle could be attached to them.

Operational history The Levasseur-Abrial A-1 took part in the Congrès Experimental de Combegrasse, held in August 1922 near Clermont Ferrand at a time when gliding as a sport was just beginning and before the importance of ridge lift or thermals was appreciated. It made three successful downhill flights after rubber cord launches, the longest lasting 117 s. On the fourth attempt the launching cord fouled the right wing and the glider crashed. Its pilot, Henri Pitot, escaped unhurt but the glider was badly damaged. The wing survived well enough to be on display on the Levasseur stand at the Paris Salon in November 1922. Its covering was partially removed to show the lightweight structure.

Specifications Data from Flight, August 1922 except where notedGeneral characteristics Crew: 1 Length: 6.1 m (20 ft) Wingspan: 12 m (40 ft) (Les Ailes gives 11.20 m (36 ft 9 in)) Wing area: 20.0 m2 (215 sq ft) Empty weight: 90 kg (198 lb)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Levasseur-Abrial A-1

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Levasseur-Abrial A-1 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Levasseur-Abrial A-1 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Levasseur-Abrial A-1 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Levasseur-Abrial A-1

In research: Levasseur-Abrial A-1 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Levasseur-Abrial A-1 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Levasseur-Abrial A-1 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Abrial aircraft, Aircraft first flown in 1922, Glider aircraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Levasseur-Abrial A-1 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Levasseur-Abrial A-1 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Levasseur-Abrial A-1 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Levasseur-Abrial A-1 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Levasseur-Abrial A-1 in simple terms?

Why does Levasseur-Abrial A-1 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Levasseur-Abrial A-1?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Levasseur-Abrial A-1.