Wings Question Set 1

2. Why did it take so long for man to realize the dream of flight?

The dream of flight was one of man’s most time-consuming accomplishments because of a number of factors. Firstly, although all the necessities for lighter-than-air flight were available to many of the world’s earliest civilizations—such as in the case of the Condor I, constructed using only traditional Inca materials in 1975—men were unable to imagine the possibility of machines such as balloons and airships until the seventeenth century and its discoveries of chemical gases because there were few to no examples in nature of flight not powered with wings. Secondly, even when the first balloons were demonstrated, for instance, by a Jesuit priest from Brazil before the king of Portugal, these feats were dismissed as legendary due to long distances and the difficulty of rapid communication; man had trouble believing in the idea. Until the end of the eighteenth century, only Leonardo da Vinci was really interested in flight. Finally, there were mistaken calculations, such as when one researcher claimed that a flat, low-angled plate would not generate enough lift to fly (or, at least, to fly easily), adding more discouragement, or when John Smeaton represented the density of air in aerodynamic equations with an inaccurate coefficient; it took Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to fix his mistake. All of these circumstances together combined to hamper and delay the development of flight.

4. What three methods of solving the challenge of flight emerged by the late nineteenth century and how effective were they?

The first method was to move directly from research to the construction of full-scale, powered and piloted aircraft, such as the Eole, a steam-powered tailless monoplane which jumped 160 feet on launch in 1890, but could not perform sustained or controlled flight. This approach had a certain degree of success, but did not contribute significantly to the development of flight, only of short soaring movements. The second approach was the design and testing of model aircraft (as in the case of Alphonse Pénaud, who flew a “planophore,” powered by rubber bands, in the Jardin des Tuileries and accomplished a circular flight of 130 ft. This was the first public demonstration of stable flight by a heavier-than-air machine). This method, unfortunately, attracted little notice, and so made minor contributions to development of flight. Thirdly, early aeronauts would attempt to fly through the design and flight testing of piloted gliders, using air currents and not generated power. This was very dangerous. For example, Louis Mouillard, a French farmer and schoolteacher living in Algeria, flew 138 feet, but scared himself to death because he couldn’t control his flight, and never attempted to fly again (or, at least, died before he could attempt again). None of these three methods was ultimately successful.

5. Why did Wilbur and Orville Wright achieve success before their contemporaries?

The Wright brothers’ success was due, in the first place, to their remarkable team dynamic. In the words of Wilbur: “From the time we were little children…my brother and myself lived together, played together, worked together and, in fact, thought together…nearly everything that was done in our lives has been the result of conversations, suggestions and discussions between us (p.56).”   

However, they also proved themselves of a brilliant analytical disposition, not only rapidly absorbing the existing research on the subject of flight, but also discerning what was useful to them and what was not. This allowed them to settle correctly on the central problem of the whole heavier-than-air flight conundrum: equilibrium and balanced control. Their experience in their shared bicycle shop had equipped them to dream up and create lightweight, precisely tuned and balanced instruments and even measuring devices, such as in their improved wind tunnel. Drawing a comparison between riding a bicycle and directing an aircraft, they made it their goal to attack the problem as if they were helping a beginning cyclist to handle his wheels. Lastly and most importantly, they learned from their mistakes. Rather than abandoning one failed idea for the next, they progressed by eliminating unhelpful features while keeping helpful ones. For instance, they improved their first glider designs by covering them with fabric and increasing wing curvature. All of these determined, innovative qualities permitted the Wright brothers to outstrip their contemporaries and amaze the world.