Chapter 2 Wright Brothers (1896-1914)

1
Chapter 2Wright Brothers (1896-1914)

• Section A Heavier Than Air
• Section B Wright Bros.
• Section C Wright Patent
• Section D Wright Airplanes

2
Section AHeavier Than Air

• Two technologies that influenced aviation were
  much older than their aeronautical application
  the kite, and the windmill.

3
The Kite and The Windmill

• Kite
• Invented by the Chinese
• Can be seen as a primitive airplane, or Wings
• Windmill
• Invented by the Romans
• Form that influenced aviation appeared in 12th
  century Europe
• Can be seen as a propeller, or airscrew

4
Sir George Cayley

• Englishman who first conceived the modern
  airplane design, 1804.
• His model glider had
• A paper kite for wings
• An empennage, or tail assembly
• 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

5
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.

6
Other Innovations

• Felix du Temple
• 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

7
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.

8
Octave Chanute

• Began building man-carrying gliders in 1896
• Improved Lilienthals design be scraping the
  Bat-Wingthank God!!
• Also used a Cayley-type tail unit.
• Wrote a book on the history on Progress in Flying
  Machines

9
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

10
End of Section A
11
Section BWright Brothers
12
Wright Bros.

• Lived in Dayton, Ohio
• Handcrafted bicycle makers
• Death of Lilienthal sparked Wilburs interest in
  aviation, later spread to Orville
• Constructed first biplane kite, August 1899
• 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

13
The Problem of Mechanical Flight

• The Wrights recognized the whole problem of
  mechanical flight.
• Plane and pilot, stability and maneuverability
• Stability- tendency to return to equilibrium
• Maneuverability ability to turn, climb,
  descend, roll, and yaw

14
The Problem of Mechanical Flight

• A Plane too stable is hard to maneuver
• Unmanned gliders need to be stable, but manned
  gliders need to be control
• 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.

15
Gliders

• Wrights first full-size glider built in 1900
• Unstable, required a pilot to fly
• Wing Warping
• The winds in Dayton were too mild for the bros.
• The moved to Kitty Hawk, NC
• Known for strong steady winds

16
Gliders

• While most problems faced by the bros. were
  fixed, they didnt know about one.
• Adverse Yaw Tendency for an aircraft to yaw in
  the opposite direction to a turn
• The solution was the rudder!!

17
Control

• 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.

18
Engine

• The next issue was an engine.
• Engine
• 200 lb, 4 cylinder, 12-hp gasoline engine
• Water cooled
• More reliable than air cooled
• The Bros. went with reliability over lightness
• Propellers
• Counter-rotating, to counter torque
• Driven by same engine

19
Airplane Flight

• First flight scheduled on Dec 14, 1903
• Wilbur climbed too steeply and crash
• Airplane was repaired
• DECEMBER 17, 1903
• Orville made the first manned, powered,
  controlled, sustained flight ever!
• Three more flights followed
• Flight ended on ground at or higher than starting
  point.

20
End of Section A B