science

Merriam glider

Merriam glider 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 Merriam glider rather than just read about it. In short: The Merriam glider was a single-seat monoplane glider, designed specifically for the first British gliding competition held at Itford Hill in 1922, an endurance event. It crashed at the start of its first competitive flight and was later converted into a dual control training glider.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Merriam glider was a single-seat monoplane glider, designed specifically for the first British gliding competition held at Itford Hill in 1922, an endurance event. It crashed at the start of its first competitive flight and was later converted into a dual control training glider.

Design In August 1922, the Daily Mail newspaper offered a £1,000 prize for the longest duration flight by an unpowered, heavier than air aircraft. The competition was to be organized by the Royal Aero Club, who chose the site (Itford Hill, on the Sussex South Downs near Lewes) and the date (16–21 October). This gave competitors six weeks to design, build and transport their entries. Thirteen machines arrived in time and one of these was the Merriam glider, competition number 18. The Merriam glider was designed, built and flown by Frederick Warren Merriam. He built it in one of the sheds belonging to S. E. Saunders at Cowes, Isle of Wight where Newman was works manager. The latter took a close interest in the glider and came to Itford with it; it is sometimes referred to as the Merriam-Newman glider. It was an all-wood aircraft, a parasol wing monoplane. Though several of the Itford contenders used thick airfoils, the Merriam used the thin R.A.F. 15 section and its wing required external wire bracing. A pair of flying wires on each side ran from a central, four strut pylon above the wing central section and three more pairs ran from the lower fuselage longerons to the wing undersides. The wing had constant chord and blunt wing tips, with ailerons which reached the tips and extended aft a little beyond the wing trailing edge. The glider had a deep, rectangular cross-section fuselage, straight edged and roughly rhomboidal in profile. The underside sloped up rearwards, with an all-moving tailplane hinged at its extremity. Fin and rudder had a cropped parallelogram form, sloping up to allow clearance between rudder and elevator. The single open cockpit was ahead of the wing. Twin wheels were attached outside the fuselage, assisted by a tailskid.

Operational history Merriam and Newman arrived at Itford late on Saturday 14 October, the first of two pre-competition practice days. A competitive flight on the Monday was called off when the wind dropped. It was launched the following day and crashed immediately. Though Merriam was only slightly hurt, his glider was too damaged to continue. After repair the Merriam went to the Whitely Bank School of gliding, set up by Merriam on the Isle of Wight where it was converted into a dual control two seater. In 1930 it was with the Isle of Wight Gliding Club, but there is no evidence that it was flown by this club.

Specifications Data from British Gliders and SailplanesGeneral characteristics Capacity: 1 Length: 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m) Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.68 m) Wing area: 225.0 sq ft (20.90 m2) Aspect ratio: 6.54 Airfoil: R.A.F. 15 Empty weight: 200 lb (91 kg) Gross weight: 360 lb (163 kg) Wing loading: 1.60 lb/sq ft (7.81 kg/m2)

References

External links "Merriam's take-off and crash at Itford". at 3:12 min. YouTube. Retrieved 23 May 2011.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Merriam glider

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Merriam glider 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 Merriam glider 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 Merriam glider 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 Merriam glider

In research: Merriam glider 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 Merriam glider 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: Merriam glider is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1920s British sailplanes, Aircraft first flown in 1922, Glider aircraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Merriam glider 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.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Merriam glider in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Merriam glider 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 Merriam glider out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Merriam glider in simple terms?

Why does Merriam glider 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 Merriam glider?

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 Merriam glider.