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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Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

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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Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

but yeah, I always thought the first solo flight across
the Atlantic was Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis
flight.

If I can get a word in edgewise here, the first flight across the
Atlantic was by the American NC-4 (Navy-Curtiss, 4th one) with
several stops along the way. Four a/c started, NC-1, 2, 3, and 4.
Only NC-4 made it all the way to Plymouth, England, in May 1919.

The first NONSTOP flight across the Atlantic was by Alcock and Brown,
Brits, flying a Vickers Vimy WW I bomber. From St. John's,
Newfoundland, to Clifden, Ireland. June, 1919. A replica Vimy made
the trip again a couple of months ago.

Lindbergh was competing for the Orteig Prize, offered for the first
flight FROM NEW YORK TO PARIS. (Or vice versa, IIRC.) It didn't have
to be solo, but Lindbergh prefered it that way. Admiral Byrd was
preparing for the trip in a Fokker Trimotor with a crew but was
delayed by an accident; he made the trip not long after, landing in
the Channel because Paris was fogged in.

And Beryl Markham, British dame, was the first person to fly SOLO
from London to New York, a more difficult feat because she was flying
against the prevailing winds. September 1936.

vince