Jules Verne Forum

<jvf@Gilead.org.il>

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009

Re: Aircraft Flying

From: James Keeline <keeline~at~yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 08:23:52 -0800 (PST)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

--- Alain Braut <alain~at~brautdurand.net> wrote:

> Norman,
>
> Since a long time, there is an interrogation about the first person to
> fly: WRIGHT brothers (Orville and Wilbur) or Clement ADER (not Louis
> Bleriot).
>
> It's sure that Ader's fly is done the 9th october 1890, with the first
> plane, and Wright's fly the on 17th december 1903. But Ader's fly is
> not considered Ok by many persons because it is a small fly called
> "jump of chip". But I think it's not just, because it's the first fly
> on a plane.
>
> Alain BRAUT


I had not heard of this aviation pioneer before so I looked him up on Google
and found this page:

  http://www.flyingmachines.org/ader.html

I note that this was steam-driven which would make it either very heavy or
simply not capable of long flights. Once the steam pressure drops, the
propellers cease to turn and the vehicle comes down.

The design does not look like it has much in the way of control surfaces. The
Wright Brothers flight was significant because it was not only heavier than air
and powered by a motor but it was also controlled. The wrights used a system
called "wing warping" where the tips were bent to change the flow of air.
Later pioneers, like Glenn H. Curtiss, used small wings called alerons (sp?) to
achieve even better control. Modern planes use this latter technique rather
than the Wright wing warping.

It is true that the Smithsonian Institution did not officially recognize the
Wright flight for many decades. They were offered the Flyer for their
collection and turned it down for many years. Part of the problem was that one
of the heads of the Smithsonian, Samuel Pierport Langley, launched a vehicle he
called an aerodrome from a houseboat. It crashed into the river but it was not
clear if it was a design or a structural error. Some years later Glenn Curtiss
successfully flew a modified version of the aerodrome. Of course, he was in
patent dispute with the Wrights.

Scientific literature of the period includes many claims which don't hold up
under closer scrutiny. For example, in the period between 1900 and 1910 there
are many articles with people who claimed that they could produce artificial
diamonds. I have a 1905 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN with such an article.
However, this was not done successfully until about half a century later.

Even modern years are not without conflicting claims--remember Cold Fusion?
One which has a little more credibility is the recent news story about making
petrified wood in the lab. I haven't looked this up yet to see the details. I
only heard about it on the radio.

James D. Keeline



=====
James D. Keeline
http://www.Keeline.com http://www.Keeline.com/articles
http://Stratemeyer.org http://www.Keeline.com/TSCollection

http://www.ITeachPHP.com -- Free Computer Classes: Linux, PHP, etc.
Spring Semester Begins Jan 31 -- New Classes Start Every Few Weeks.
Received on Sat 29 Jan 2005 - 18:24:01 IST

JV.Gilead.org.il
Copyright © Zvi Har’El
$Date: 2009/02/01 22:36:11 $$