Part 1 Exceeding the Grasp
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www.PDHcenter.com www.PDHonline.org Flying Windmill The Gyroplane Story Table of Contents Slide/s Part Description 1N/ATitle 2 N/A Table of Contents 3~94 1 Exceeding the Grasp 95~207 2 A Brain Wave Airplane 208~272 3 Flying Craft of the Future 273~387 4 The Spaniard 388~438 5 The American Autogiro 439~558 6 Convertiplane 559~600 7 An On-Going Legacy 1 2 Part 1 “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?”for? Robert Browning, Poet (1812-1889) Exceeding the Grasp 3 4 “Records of almost every ancient tribe will show among its traditions the legend of some member who achieved the miracle of flight, either through the use of wings or other devices more closely resembling modern airplanes. And the extraordinarypartofitisthatthereareoneortwoinstances, apparently well authenticated, which record flights that were Airships of the Ancients actually successful. Leonardo da Vinci’s glider, designed in 1490,very possibly would have flown successfully, equipped with some source of power other than the human legs which were supposed to keep it moving through the air. Da Vinci was the originator of the parachute and his conception of that device, while not so efficient as the modern ‘chutes, un- doubtedly would have operated successfully…” Modern Mechanics, October 1930 5 6 © J.M. Syken 1 www.PDHcenter.com www.PDHonline.org The Challenge of the Ether Daedalus and Icarus flew in borrowed feathers set in wax, got 7 too near the sun in an ancient Greek fable concerning 8 man and his aspirations The basic idea of a helicopter - flight through rotating horizontal wings or “rotors” - goes back at least 1,500 years, through a simple invention known as the “Chinese Top” (left) that still survives Kites, popular in today in various forms. This is a toy with China since 200 a rotor blade mounted on a stick. B.C., taught man Spinning the stick between the palms of much about hea- the hands or by pulling a string wound around it causes it to soar into the air. vier-than-air flight. The toy eventually made its way from The woodcut at left China to Europe, where it appeared in depicts an English paintings dating as far back as 1463. Not kite-flying enthus- long after that, in 1483, Leonardo da iast ca. 1600. Vinci illustrated a more sophisticated “rotary-wing” toy in his famous note- books. However, building a rotary-wing aircraft that was anything more than a toy was beyond the technology of the 9 era and remained so for centuries. 10 Left: copy of the original drawings and notes by Leonardo da Vinci. Between the mid 1700s until the early 1900s, quite a large number of designs and proposals were put forward for helicopters. The majority of these designs and proposals, some of which were very grandiose, never progressed beyond the initial concept. Additionally, because of the lack of an engine with a suitable power-to-weight Both the helicopter and propeller ratio, all helicopters built (up until 1907) are suggested by Leonardo Da were essentially toys or large models which were not capable of lifting more Vinci’s flying screw concept (left). than their own weight. Power was derived Thegenesisoftheideamayhave from a number of sources such as electric motors, clock-springs and elastic bands. been the ancient “Chinese Top” In some cases, the rotors were turned by toy. “steam-jets” at the end of each rotor blade. The first successful steam-driven model was built by an Englishman named Phillips in 1842. The model managed an uncontrolled flight across two fields. Launoy and Bienvenu based their idea on the Chinese Top, using four feathers for each rotor at either end of a short stick. 11 The device was rotated by means of 12 a bow string. © J.M. Syken 2 www.PDHcenter.com www.PDHonline.org “In 1609 Pierre de Larrannes drew a picture of a flying fish airship of his own invention, reproduced in the sketch at left. His intention was to derive propelling force from two men who sat atop the fish and moved it forward by long, sweeping strokes with feather-tipp- ed oars. A third man near the fish’s tail The age of human was to act as helmsman, steering by flight began in Above: caption: “Sketch of Airship devised in means of a wheel which turned the France in 1783 1609 was a fish-shaped rudder to right or left…Another ancient balloon inflated with with the Montgolf- hydrogen or hot air” airship was the Persian flying car Right: caption: “Persian shown at left, supported and propelled ier Brother’s first Flying Car, from draw- ing dated 1609” by four birds, one at each corner. The captive ascent in a sketch is taken from a miniature and shows a Persian sportsman going hunting, hot air balloon. back in 1600. He sits cross-legged on a cushion and leisurely fits an arrow to his bow as he descries flying game in the distance. Naturally this sketch is highly Free flight follow- fanciful, but there were many similar ones during the period, testifying to man’s ed shortly there- age-old yearning to be able to fly. Geese, ducks and similar large birds were after. usually drafted into the medieval artist’s pictorial conception of an airship, which rarely got beyond the stage of a drawing on paper. Needless to say, none of these contraptions ever got into the air, but it was out of such fancies as these that the airplane was finally developed.” Modern Mechanics, October 1930 13 14 The first balloon crossing of the English Channel took place in 1785. A wing-like propulsion sys- tem may have helped, but a favorable wind probably helped even more. Above: the dream ship of 1850 held four balloons in a rigid frame. Propulsion was to be achieved through three manually operated Archimedean screws. It was never realized. 15 16 The first steerable, Left: an attempt to utilize “living motors” powered airship (an is contained in a balloon patent issued in elongated balloon) the United States in 1881 for a dirigible used a crude cloth airship. By fitting large birds with corsets, the inventor planned to steer his dirigible rudder and, for pro- through the sky. Eagles and/or vultures, pulilsion, a propeller wearing the makeshift harness (which left driven by a steam them free to flap their wings) were to be engine. It was flown attached to a movable framework. By by Frenchman Henri turning the framework, the airship would be piloted up, down, left or right (in Giffard in 1852. theory, at least). 17 18 © J.M. Syken 3 www.PDHcenter.com www.PDHonline.org Left:theSpheroid Diri- Left:theBicycle Airship– gible of 1887 had a designed to fly in any central compartment for direction – was the brain- passengers with buoy- child of Herman Reickert ancy chambers top and in 1889. The bicycle app- bottom.Theenginewas aratus in the pilothouse place in a hollow shaft in flapped side and center the center and connected wings, providing propul- to the pilot-house below. sion. 19 20 Above:thePennington Aluminum Airship of 1891 had a large sail over its gas bag which could be manipulated like that of a Above:a19th Century magazine’s concept of a heavier-than- boat. It had a large propeller in front for propulsion as well as air flying machine two smaller propellers, one on each side-wing. 21 22 Above: travel by rocket is an old idea in the literature of spec- Above: this steam-powered Russian flying machine of 1883 had a ulation on human flight. This hardy rocketeer seems un- propeller in the rear and two great wings. Air entered through the nose of concerned about his comfort nor how exactly he’s going the craft to allow combustion of fuel (a pendulum provided equil- 23 24 ibrium). Alas, it failed to take flight. to land safely. © J.M. Syken 4 www.PDHcenter.com www.PDHonline.org Above: a trip to the moon described by Valier – an early rocket travel proponent. Left: the round-the-moon train depicted from Jules Verne was, in reality, a projectile rather than a rocket. The Wright Brothers’ great innovation was the aileron –the “little wing” that gave them control of their primitive aero- 25 26 plane which was first flown at Kitty Hawk, NC in 1903 Ornithopppters & Orthopters Above: Louis Bleriot’s wing-warping monplane was the first heavier-than-air machine to cross the English Channel (in 1909) 27 28 “Built with flapping wings and bird-like body, this ‘American Eagle’ plane collapsed before its inventor could get the novel machine off the ground! The mystery attached to the so-called ‘mystery airplane’ built by James A. Crane of Ellsworth, Maine, seems to be – ‘Why doesn’t it fly?’ Built with flapping wings designed to lift it straight up into the air, the strange plane collapsed a few minutes after its motor was started up. The inventor, however, was undaunted. He expects to rebuild his plane, which he calls the ‘American Eagle,’ substituting “…An ornithopter is a flapping wing machine supposed to be metal wings for the wooden ones which the first test proved to be too flimsy. The a mechanical copy of a bird’s wing, and an orthopter is a cranking arrangement by which the wings were flapped is clearly shown in the flapping wing machine which the inventor believes is an above photographs.” Modern Mechanics, January 1929 improvement on a bird. A famous aviation editor once described an ornithopter as the inventor’s idea of how a bird’s wing worked, and an orthopter as the designer’s idea of how a bird’s wing should work if the Creator had known anything about aerodynamics…” Above Right: caption: “Wheeling the Left: caption: “Just before the motor was Modern Mechanics, October 1930 plane out of the hangar for the trial flight” ‘given the gun’ on the test” Above: caption: “Shown above is all that was left of the novel bird-plane after it had shaken itself to 29 pieces.