Transcript Chapter 2 Wright Brothers (1896-1914)

Chapter 2
Wright Brothers (1896-1914)
Section
Section
Section
Section
A – Heavier Than Air
B – Wright Bros.
C – Wright Patent
D – Wright Airplanes
Section A
Heavier Than Air
Two technologies that influenced
aviation were much older than their
aeronautical application: the kite, and
the windmill.
The Kite and The Windmill
Kite
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Invented by the Chinese
Can be seen as a primitive airplane, or Wings
Windmill
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Invented by the Romans
Form that influenced aviation appeared in 12th
century Europe
Can be seen as a propeller, or “airscrew”
Sir George Cayley
Englishman who first conceived the modern
airplane design, 1804.
 His model glider had…
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A paper kite for wings
An empennage, or tail assembly
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Rudder and Elevator
A pole that connected all parts, a fuselage
He shifted the Center of Gravity for control
Cayley built gliders that was able to carry people
Henson and Stringfellow
William Henson and John Stringfellow
worked on several aviation projected
together from 1835 to 1847.
 Built and flew a model glider known as a
monoplane.
 Unique about with wings were that they
were cambered, or curved.
Other Innovations
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Felix du Temple
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French naval officer
Built a glider with powerplant consisting of a
tractor propeller.
Tractor – prop on front, pulls aircraft
Pusher – prop on back, pushes aircraft
Otto Lilienthal
German Engineer who published an
important book on bird flight.
 Came up with the bat-wing design
 Built glider where control was achieved by
the pilot shifting his weight
 Died in a glider crash, last words were…
“Sacrifices must be made.”
Octave Chanute
Began building man-carrying gliders in 1896
 Improved Lilienthal’s design be scraping
the “Bat-Wing”…thank God!!
 Also used a Cayley-type tail unit.
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Wrote a book on the history on Progress
in Flying Machines
Nineteenth-Century Aeronautics
Cayley, Henson, Stringfellow, Lilienthal, and
Chanute were influential in the
development of heavier-than-air aviation.
Another was Alphonse Penaud
 Planophore – rubber band power
 Dihedral – upward angle of the wing
End of Section A
Section B
Wright Brothers
Wright Bros.
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Lived in Dayton, Ohio
Handcrafted bicycle makers
Death of Lilienthal sparked Wilbur’s
interest in aviation, later spread to Orville
Constructed first biplane kite, August 1899
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Kite had aeronautical controls
Fixed horizontal rear stabilizer
 Wings could move back and forth to adjust CG
 Cords allowed with wings to be warped for lateral
stability, “Wing-Warping”
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The Problem of Mechanical Flight
The Wrights recognized the whole problem of
mechanical flight.
Plane and pilot, stability and maneuverability
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Stability- tendency to return to equilibrium
Maneuverability – ability to turn, climb,
descend, roll, and yaw
The Problem of Mechanical Flight
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A Plane too stable is hard to maneuver
Unmanned gliders need to be stable, but
manned gliders need to be control
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Many glider pilots had to be athletically fit
As a result, the Wrights intended to built an
unstable airplane so the pilot could control
and maneuver the aircraft.
Gliders
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Wrights’ first full-size glider built in 1900
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Unstable, required a pilot to fly
“Wing Warping”
The winds in Dayton were too mild for the
bros.
The moved to Kitty Hawk, NC
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Known for strong steady winds
Gliders
While most problems faced by the bros.
were fixed, they didn’t know about one.
Adverse Yaw – Tendency for an aircraft to
yaw in the opposite direction to a turn
The solution was the rudder!!
Control
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The bros. made almost a thousand glides
at Kitty Hawk
They had “wing-warping for turns
A Rudder for Adverse Yaw
Now they added a Canard, French for
Duck, for pitch
They have solved the problem of control.
Engine
The next issue was an engine.
 Engine
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200 lb, 4 cylinder, 12-hp gasoline engine
Water cooled
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More reliable than air cooled
The Bros. went with reliability over lightness
Propellers
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Counter-rotating, to counter torque
Driven by same engine
Airplane Flight
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First flight scheduled on Dec 14, 1903
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Wilbur climbed too steeply and crash
Airplane was repaired
DECEMBER 17, 1903
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Orville made the first manned, powered,
controlled, sustained flight ever!
Three more flights followed
Flight ended on ground at or higher than
starting point.
End of Section A & B