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Re: Aircraft Flying

From: N Wolcott <nwolcott~at~dsdial.net>
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 10:28:04 -0500
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

I believe the Bleriot claim came because it was in response to a British ad
requiring one to take off in a plane and return to the place taking off
from, after flying a certain length of time. It all depends on the meaning
of the word "flight"!
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Keeline" <keeline~at~yahoo.com>
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: Aircraft Flying


> --- 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 05 Feb 2005 - 02:04:06 IST

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