The Birth of the The Birth of the AirplaneAirplane

Dr. Charles H. MarstonDr. Charles H. MarstonProfessor EmeritusProfessor Emeritus

Department of Mechanical EngineeringDepartment of Mechanical EngineeringVillanova UniversityVillanova University

The Wright BrothersDecember 17, 1903

• 3-Axis control

• Learn to fly

• System

Cayley’s Silver Disc1799

Lift and Propulsion Separated

Cayley’s Whirling Arm Lift ~ sin(alpha)

Cayley’s Model Glider 1804 Low aspect ratio fixed wing Adjustable tail

Henson’s Aerial

Steam Carriage

1843

London to India

30 Passengers

30 HP

Otto Lilienthal Tested Airfoils Hang gliding Inspired the Wrights

One of Lilienthal’s Gliders

Controlled by shifting weight

Fatal crashAug 1896

Octave Chanute

Civil Engineer Pratt Truss

The Race forTrue Powered Flight

Charles Manley

and

Samuel Langley

Drawing of Langley AerodromeDihedral for Lateral Stability

Balzer-Manley Engine52 HP/207 lbm

Wilbur Orville

The 1900 Glider Flown as a Kite Note the angle of the tie line (enhanced)

1/3 of Lift

1901Glider

Adverse yaw

Discouragement

Presentation to Engineer Society

Must find causes of reduced lift

Balance for measuring

CL

in the Wind Tunnel

’02 Wright Glider Flown as a Kite

’02 Glider in Flight

Vertical Rudder to correct adverse yaw

Wright Brothers’ Engine 12 HP/179 lbm

The Wright Brothers’ Propellers Designed as a series of airfoils Modern Copy tested at 80% efficiency

Crunch Time

Fall 1903

Langley was aware of the Wright Brothers

(and vice versa)

• Invited Wright’s to Washington

• No invitation to visit Kitty Hawk

• Chanute was a friend of both teams

Aerodrome Ready for First LaunchOctober 1903

Aerodrome First LaunchOct 1903

Aerodrome Second Launch

Dec 1903

Langley Doomed

• Scaleup design

• Wrong priorities

• “All up” public testing

• Remote management

• Overhead expenses

Kitty Hawk, NCNovember 28, 1903

Wilbur won the toss Over controlled Shaft failed

Side View of Flyer

First FlightDec 17,1903

Success

• Step-by-step “airman” R&D Progam

• Complete System

• Built on work of others

• Remarkable insights

• Gliders easy to repair

• Less than $1000 out of pocket

Plaque mounted near the Wright Flyer

. . . the world's first power driven, heavier-than-air machine in which man made free, controlled, and sustained flight . . .

By original scientific research the Wright brothers discovered the principles of human flight . . .

Bleriot Headed for EnglandJuly 1909

100 th Anniversary

The aerodrome flies, pilot: Curtiss

Aerodrome Restored

Now on display at the SmithsonianUdvar-Hazy Museum (Dulles Airport)

The World

Learns to Fly

Derrick Catapult

Lower air density in Dayton

’05 Flyer in Flight

Santos DuMont 14bis1906

Delagrange in Voisin-FarmanFirst flight in a closed circle in Europe May 1908

Curtiss’ June Bug, 1 Km Flight for Sci. Am. Prize

July 1908

1908 Back in the Air

• Test fly new airplanes at Kitty hawk

• Wilbur to France

• Orville to Washington, DC

Wilbur over

FranceAug 1908

Orville over Fort Meyer Sept. 1908

Army Contract

Hubert Latham in Antoinette Ready to Fly the Channel

Bleriot Headed for EnglandJuly 1909