Sir George Cayley
 

From the Holland Herald:

".....when the aviation pioneer Sir George Cayley first worked out the
principles of lift and thrust some 200 years ago, he took the dimensions
of the trout as his model -- and in fact these correspond almost exactly
to a modern low-drag airfoil."

Figure 1:

http://aerodyn.org/People/cayley.html

On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 15:47:53 -0700, JR wrote:

From the Holland Herald:

".....when the aviation pioneer Sir George Cayley first worked out the
principles of lift and thrust some 200 years ago, he took the dimensions
of the trout as his model -- and in fact these correspond almost exactly
to a modern low-drag airfoil."

Figure 1:

http://aerodyn.org/People/cayley.html


Interesting that you brought this up. When I was 4, my parents bought
me an 8 volume child's encyclopedia and Cayley's work was one of the
main themes of the development or aerodynamics. Also in that book is
a picture of Sir Hiram Maxim's aircraft built in 1894 that he
apparently flew while it was constrained by rails. It reportedly left
the ground by two feet, the first powered flight. It was too unstable
though to be flown without the rails in place so Maxim didn't develop
it further.

Peter

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Peter Charles wrote:

... Also in that book is
a picture of Sir Hiram Maxim's aircraft built in 1894 that he
apparently flew while it was constrained by rails. It reportedly left
the ground by two feet, the first powered flight. ...

And all this time I thought it was the Wright Brothers
who did that. What else was in that Brit book, that
water was invented by Sir Aitchtwo Oh ? ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 23:45:10 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

Peter Charles wrote:

... Also in that book is
a picture of Sir Hiram Maxim's aircraft built in 1894 that he
apparently flew while it was constrained by rails. It reportedly left
the ground by two feet, the first powered flight. ...

And all this time I thought it was the Wright Brothers
who did that. What else was in that Brit book, that
water was invented by Sir Aitchtwo Oh ? ;-)


Jeez Ken, what kind of history were you taught -- Maxim was American
but he did his machine gun and aircraft development in Britain.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWmaxim.htm

Suppose you also think Lindberg was the first to fly across the
Atlantic . . .

Peter

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Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Peter Charles wrote:

... Also in that book is
a picture of Sir Hiram Maxim's aircraft built in 1894 that he
apparently flew while it was constrained by rails. It reportedly left
the ground by two feet, the first powered flight. ...

And all this time I thought it was the Wright Brothers
who did that. What else was in that Brit book, that
water was invented by Sir Aitchtwo Oh ? ;-)


Jeez Ken, what kind of history were you taught -- Maxim was American
but he did his machine gun and aircraft development in Britain.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWmaxim.htm

Suppose you also think Lindberg was the first to fly across the
Atlantic . . .

I guess it could have been Sir Jonathan Livingston Seagull
but yeah, I always thought the first solo flight across
the Atlantic was Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis
flight.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 01:15:15 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

Peter Charles wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
Peter Charles wrote:

... Also in that book is
a picture of Sir Hiram Maxim's aircraft built in 1894 that he
apparently flew while it was constrained by rails. It reportedly left
the ground by two feet, the first powered flight. ...

And all this time I thought it was the Wright Brothers
who did that. What else was in that Brit book, that
water was invented by Sir Aitchtwo Oh ? ;-)


Jeez Ken, what kind of history were you taught -- Maxim was American
but he did his machine gun and aircraft development in Britain.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWmaxim.htm

Suppose you also think Lindberg was the first to fly across the
Atlantic . . .

I guess it could have been Sir Jonathan Livingston Seagull
but yeah, I always thought the first solo flight across
the Atlantic was Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis
flight.

Emphasis on the word "solo" he was not the first to fly across, rather
the first to fly across solo. It's funny how that distinction always
gets lost.

Peter

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"Peter Charles" wrote in message
...

Emphasis on the word "solo" he was not the first to fly across, rather
the first to fly across solo. It's funny how that distinction always
gets lost.

Peter

Well, certainly not "always". In fact, I've never heard of that
problem....Do you think that might be a regional problem?

Danl

On Tue, 6 Sep 2005 18:52:43 -0700, "Dan Finn"
wrote:


"Peter Charles" wrote in message
.. .

Emphasis on the word "solo" he was not the first to fly across, rather
the first to fly across solo. It's funny how that distinction always
gets lost.

Peter

Well, certainly not "always". In fact, I've never heard of that
problem....Do you think that might be a regional problem?

Danl

Well, OK, not "aways" how about "a lot" then.

Here's a bit from a PBS site that about sums it up.

At 25, Charles A. Lindbergh -- handsome, talented, and brave --
arrived in Paris, the first man to fly across the Atlantic. But the
struggle to wear the mantle of legend would be a consuming one. Crowds
pursued him, reporters invaded his private life. His marriage, travels
with his wife and the kidnapping and murder of their first child were
all fodder for the front page.

No mention of solo there.

Take a quick look through the Lindberg sites -- some say solo, some
never mention the word.

Ask the general public who was the first to fly across the Atlantic
(no caveats) and probably 99.9999% of the American public, and the
Canadian public as well, will say "Lindberg." Lindberg's flight was
very important and he did establish a number of significant firsts,
but being the first to fly across the Atlantic wasn't one of them.

Here's a great summation of the issue:

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtransatlantic.html

Peter

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"Peter Charles" wrote in message
...

the first man to fly across the Atlantic.

I can't speak for the Canadian version of the English language, but where I
come from "man" is singular and he was the first *man* to fly accross the
Atlantic vis a vis the first *men* to fly accross the Atlantic.

Wayne
seems to me Long Island to France beats Newfoundland to Ireland anyway.

Wayne Knight wrote:
"Peter Charles" wrote

the first man to fly across the Atlantic.

I can't speak for the Canadian version of the English language, but where I
come from "man" is singular and he was the first *man* to fly accross the
Atlantic vis a vis the first *men* to fly accross the Atlantic.

There wasn't no man 'mongst the men?

Or has the false riverman hijacked Wayne too?