History of Aeronautical Engineering

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The history of aeronautical engineering Introduction

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

Whenever the subject of aeronautical engineering is discussed or argued, the first thing that crosses people’s minds is the Wright brothers; as the inventors of the first heavier-than-air machine that successfully flew; which is right. However, when the history is reviewed carefully it will be found that the Wright brothers did not actually invent the first flying machine, they in fact harvested a century’s value of researches and experiments that were made by many scholars and professors who in reality represent the first aeronautics that in a way got neglected by history books. The Wright brothers earned the right to be called the first by their creativity, devotion, and determination; they carefully studied previous researches and analyzed their results thoroughly trying to avoid all the loop holes that resulted in their failures leading them to the ultimate success and the distinction of being the first.

1 3 – October – 2011 Dr. Young Hwan KIM

The history of aeronautical engineering Table of content:

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

1. In the very beginning 2. Sir George Cayley (1773—1857) — the true inventor of the airplane 3. From 1853 to 1891 – the aeronautical advance catnap 4. Otto Lilienthal (1848—1896) – Glider Man 5. Percy Pilcher (1867—1899) — The Glider’s Tradition Extension 6. Aeronautics arrives to America 7. Wilbur (1867—1912) and Orville (1871—1948) Wright – Inventors of the 1st practical aircraft 8. Conclusion 9. Reference list

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The history of aeronautical engineering 1. In the very beginning Flying as birds always been a dream that haunted human minds since the dawn of civilization, which can be clearly seen in Greek mythology or in Da Vinci’s documents. All the early ideas about human flight were based on imitating birds, by tying a pair of wings to human arms, climbing up to a mountain top, a tower, or any high ground, and then jumping, which fell out of favor as anyone who ever tried this ended up died or severely injured. This idea then was replaced with a new concept that used

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

Leonardo Da Vinci

mechanical machines to do the same thing, powered by human body movement. These machines were called ornithopters. Chronological studies revealed that Leonardo Da Vinci was obsessed with the idea of humans getting off the ground and drew more than 500 sketches that deal with flying, he sketched ornithopters and helicopters, but his sketches were never materialized. Nevertheless, human powered flight was always destined to failure. Human attempts to fly finally paid off on November 21th 1783, when a balloon carried Pilatre de Rozier off the ground and climbed into the air traveling 5 mi across Paris. The balloon was blown and kept afloat by hot air from an open fire source in a big bamboo basket beneath. The idea was simply envisioned by one of the brothers as he was staring at his fireplace. His idea was to use the lifting power of hot air rising from fire to lift a person of the ground. Shortly after the success of the Montgolfier brothers, the filled balloon on December 1th 1783. So by the end of the eighteenth century people succeeded in their attempts to fly using balloons or aerostatic machines as the Montgolfiers called them, however this success did not play any role in humans heavier-than-air flight. Nevertheless, it opened the public’s Joseph Montgolfier French physicist Charles of Charles’ gas law in physics made and flew a hydrogen-

Montgolfier’s balloon 3 3 – October – 2011 Dr. Young Hwan KIM

The history of aeronautical engineering

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

2. Sir George Cayley (1773—1857) — the true inventor of the airplane When the origin of the present airplane is sought out the name George Cayley will always show up as his design represents the starting point. His design had a fixed wing for lift production, a separated propulsion mean and two tailsvertical and horizontal- for stability. His design broke the previous way of thinking that combines both lift and propulsion in one mechanism and by doing so he opened the door into a century of aeronautical evolutions that ended with Wright brothers’ success. Sir George Cayley

Cayley engraved his design on a silver disk in 1799 three years after conducting experiments on helicopters, and then he followed it up with 10 years of serious aeronautical research and development. He made a revolving-arm device for testing airfoils, it was basically an airfoil tied to the end of a long shaft that was spun at a certain speed to generate airflow over the airfoil, which is being done by wind tunnels in present time. Cayley’s first flood of aeronautical research outcomes was archived in his significant 1809-1810’s triple paper that were titled On Aerial Navigation and issued in Nicholson’s Journal of Natural Philosophy. Cayley was encouraged to write his triple paper after hearing about an Italian scientist named Jacob Degen and his success in flying a mechanical machine which actually was a machine tied to a balloon and was of no importance. This paper was the first issue in history that discussed aerodynamics. In it he detailed his theory of lift and propulsion separation, he also pointed out that an area on the upper surface of the wing has a low pressure which causes the lift. Also in his paper, Cayley talked about airplane stability and how the vertical and horizontal tail plays a huge role in maintaining it. Cayley’s second flood of aeronautical research results took place in years 1848-1854. In which he made and tested a real-life airplane. In one of his series of tests, a boy was elevated several meters of the ground as the plane was flying down a hill, which inspired Cayley to name the airplane boy carrier. The boy carrier was a triplane; Cayley was the first to think of the multiplanes, which was mainly to eliminate his concern that a monoplane ―a plane with one single large wing‖ will have a potential structural breakdown, so the idea of having more wings stacked above each other was more logical to him. His concept dominated the entire designs pattern until 1930s when monoplanes came back into the picture and took the lead. 4 3 – October – 2011 Dr. Young Hwan KIM

The history of aeronautical engineering

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

Probably the most significant papers that Cayley ever wrote were published on September 25th, 1852, in Mechanical Magazine. The paper was titled ―Sir George Cayley’s Governable parachute‖ in this paper Cayley explained and detailed a design of a big glider capable of carrying a human passenger that almost had all the aspects of the present time aircrafts’ designs. His design had a) inclined wing to generate lift; b) longitudinal and directional stability was controlled by a flexible cruciform tail; c) pilot controlled; d) fuselage that took the shape of a car with tricycle landing gear; e) tubular beam with box beam structure. This paper was amazingly disregarded although Mechanical Magazine had a huge spread. These features were not seen again until Wright brothers by the start of the twentieth century. Sometime in 1853 eyewitnesses reported Cayley flying in his glider that design was very similar to the boy carrier’s along with his driver. They also reported that the glider flew numerous hundred yards before landing suddenly. Cayley died on December 15th, 1857. Cayley placed the basis of the modern aviation during his 84 years of life. However, for no reason his work got ignored by all the aeronautical scholars that came after him although his papers were published in well-known academic journals and that was due to the lack of knowledge regarding the literature. 3. From 1853 to 1891 – the aeronautical advance catnap For the next 50 years after Cayley’s huge accomplishment in flying the first glider, no huge progress in the aeronautical advance was achieved. Nevertheless few brave men took it on themselves to steer the while of aeronautical research, surprisingly blindfolded sometimes. The English William Samuel Henson (1812-1888) George Cayley’s dedicated scholar. He published a design of a fixed-wing plane running on a steam engine. This plane had features similar to the modern aircrafts; its engine was inside a fuselage, it had a tricycle landing gear, two propellers to generate propulsion, and a single rectangular wing. This design came right from the study of Cayley’s ideas and concepts, and it carved them in the brains of all the scholars and came later, even though they had no idea about the origin as his papers were neglected. William Samuel Henson

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The history of aeronautical engineering

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

Henson’s mate, John Stringfellow tried many times to bring his friend’s design to life as it was never built, he made many steam engine airplanes that were close to success but never accomplished it. The most known that he ever made model was not successful however it received a huge worldwide publicity that gave it a huge significance as it influenced Octave Chanute, who by turn influenced the Wright brothers, and supported Cayley’s idea of the overlaid wings. During this period no stable flight was made, just merely a few leaps. In 1857-1858 Felix Du Temple the French marine officer and engineer flew the first powered aircraft in history. His design was a monoplane running by clockwork and it had wings that were pointed forward. Later in 1874 he accomplished world’s first takeoff by a pilot using a plane that was running by a hot-air engine. The plane took off but never actually maintained flying. The same thing happened in Russia using a plane designed by Alexander F. Mozhaiski. His design is the descended directly from Henson’s steampowered model. So up to this point, the first and second powered takeoffs were achieved Du Temple and Mozhaiski, respectively; however they never met the needed criteria to achieve the first powered flight. At some point in this period, in 1866 to be exact, the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain was formed. Before it working on aeronautical issues was not taken seriously as it was very out of the usual. Nevertheless this society eliminated this issue and started to grab the attention of many engineers and scholars who took it upon themselves to push the boundaries of aeronautical research. 4. Otto Lilienthal (1848—1896) – Glider Man Even thought humans tried very hard in the past to leap into the skies, it was not until 1891 that this actually happened. A man finally succeeded in flying by jumping into the air with wings tied to his arms, that man was Otto Lilienthal of Germany, this man not only made it to aeronautical engineering hall of fame, he is among the greatest. He made and flew the first controllable gliders in history. Otto Lilienthal Felix Du Temple

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The history of aeronautical engineering

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

In the book that he published in 1889 ―Bird Flight as the Basis of Aviation‖, he did not only analyze numerous birds’ wings and studied them; he in addition, he applied the aerodynamic outcomes to design gliders. The Wright brothers used parts of this book after its translation and applied them to build their first gliders. In the same year of his book’s publication, Lilienthal came up with a great conclusion that impacted the couple decades to come. His conclusion was to actually learn practical aerodynamics, a one must experience it himself; quite simple, yet effective. Lilienthal failed many times while applying his conclusion. However by 1891 he successfully flew for the first time from a natural hill, later he made an artificial hill that had a pointed top so his flights can be made to any direction and straight into the wind. His glider looked a lot like a bird as shown in picture to the right.
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Hang Glider

Throughout the 19 century flying with an engine powered airplane was always based on the misunderstood concept that to fly an engine powered aircraft the engine must be very strong, the aircraft construction must be strong as well to resist the forces and produce lift, and maybe the plane will be able to takeoff; what happens after that when the plane is in the air is a matter of steering the plane. Gibbs-smith named these people who believed in this concept the chauffeurs, people who are only concerned about lift and drag, whereas the people who actually knew that in order to actually achieve that they must experience flying first to get the feel of it before building an engine-powered plane were called the airmen and Lilienthal was the first. 2000 was the number of the successful flights Lilienthal accomplished. All the aerodynamic information that he found got published around the world. His work inspired the leaders in aviation industry, in fact one of his pictures flying a glider inspired the Wright brothers’ and pushed them into the world of aeronautical engineering.

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The history of aeronautical engineering 5. Percy Pilcher (1867—1899) — The Glider’s Tradition Extension

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

Percy was a passionate visitor -who at a young age built his own glider- that came all the way from England to meet his mentor Lilienthal. Lilienthal led the young boy and thought him how to glide safely from his artificial hill, which done successfully several times. This visit increased Percy’s hunger for aviation, and during the 4 years that followed his visit, he built many successful gliders that he tested himself. His most famous glider was the Hawk which he built in 1896. His numerous trials with his gliders made him the second well-know British aeronautical after George Cayley. He was an airman just like Lilienthal his mentor and he understood the importance of Lilienthal’s conclusion regarding how the one must get a grasp of the feel of flying before building an engine-powered plane. 6. Aeronautics arrives to America From the previous it is obvious how nearly all the aeronautical research centered in England, which makes sense due to the industrial revolution. Then it moved towards Europe along with some sparks from the English side. However until then no progress was seen in the United States. Nevertheless French-born American citizen who lived in Chicago broke this curse; his name was Octave Chanute (1832-1910). A civil engineer who fell in love with aeronautics and collected every piece of aeronautic research he could find, which resulted in the publication of his book that was titled Progress in Flying Machines. It summed up the entire previous aeronautical research along with a few predictions about where it will be headed and how it can accomplish the long waited success. Just like Lilienthal, Chanute was an airman who designed and flew his own gliders. His biggest contribution to aeronautical research field was his biplane glider. This glider was the link between Stringfellow’s triplane that was previously mentioned and the first engine-powered flight. In Washington D.C. shined the second pre-Wright aeronautical star, Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906). Langley with determined well, designed and built many powered airplanes that he tested just a few weeks before Wright brother’s success. Samuel Pierpont Langley 8 3 – October – 2011 Dr. Young Hwan KIM

The history of aeronautical engineering

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

Langley was a man who taught himself by himself, he received no formal education after graduating high school; his interest in astronomy pushed him to learn by himself. Langley worked as an architect for 13 years after that he became an assistant at Harvard observatory after taking a tour of European observatories. Later he became a mathematics, physics and astronomy professor, and got a big position at Allegheny Observatory. All these accomplishments made him worthy of the secretary of the Smithsonian institution position in 1887. After becoming a worldwide recognized scientist, Langley began his powered flight research. Almost 100 different kinds of rubber-band-powered design aircrafts were made by him in 1892. Except that he did not accomplish any success until 1896 when one of his airplanes flew 3300ft and ¾ mi later the same year. These airplanes were called Aerodromes by Langley himself; they had a 1-hp steam engine and two propellers between the wings. Later Langley was amazed by one of Stringfellow’s small engines, which pushed him to design a better, lighter, and more efficient engine. Knowing that more research regarding the design of a man-carrying aircraft will consume more money Langley decided not to build it and he was satisfied with what he accomplished in 1896. However two years later by the time SpanishAmerican war took place the government offered him a $50,000 foundation to complete the research and to build the aircraft. He agreed. The first thing that Langley worked on after returning to his research was finding a better engine, which he decided to be a gasoline-powered one. The engine that he had his assistant made for him was 52.7-hp and weighing only 208 lb, which was quite the achievement back then. Before moving on to the full size man-carrying aircraft, Langley tested his work on a ¼ sized aircraft with a 1.5-hp engine and then with a 3.2-hp engine, in which the both succeeded. After seeing the results of the tests, Langley was very confident that he moved directly to build the full size model. On October 7th, 1903 Langley thought he was ready for his first try, which turned out to be a failure, and then he tried it again for the second time and got the same result. By that time the government gave up on the man-carrying aircraft and left Langley to face the 9 3 – October – 2011 Dr. Young Hwan KIM Aerodrome

The history of aeronautical engineering

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

public who was not very kind at that time which pushed him to retire and leave the aeronautical research forever. Many specialists felt that Langley would have never succeeded as he was a chauffeur who never got the feel of the air before building the aircraft and that caused him to pay no attention to the matter of flight control which resulted in his failure. 7. Wilbur (1867—1912) and Orville (1871—1948) Wright – Inventors of the 1st practical aircraft As mentioned in the previous paragraphs it was Lilienthal who caused Wilbur’s interest in aeronautics. Wilbur started like many scientists and scholars before him, which was by simply studying birds. By studying birds Wilbur came to a conclusion that having a twisted wing will help controlling the plane when rolling. This concept was called then y Chanute wing Wilbur Wright Orville Wright

wrapping. Hungering for more, the brothers wrote to the Smithsonian institute asking for books and documents regarding aeronautical engineering, which they got shortly and made sure to learn very well. All this resulted in their first aircraft, which was a biplane kite. They made this aircraft to test the wing wrapping concept which remarkably worked. After their success the brothers started to build and test their own gliders. They made and tested glider 1 in 1900 followed by glider 2 which was a bigger version of the first one in 1901; up to that point, the brothers relied completely on the data that was provided by the institute, after that they decided to start their own research which they done with determination. The brothers built a wind tunnel in their workshop and tested 100s of different types and shapes of airfoils. They measured lift and drag accurately using the tunnel. This aeronautical research led to glider 3 in 1902, which was a huge success that showed the world how wind tunnels help develop aircrafts. This glider was modified in such a way that to make soft turns, which was another big part that the brothers played in flight control. The glider 3 was the most successful glider in history. The brothers were now only steps away from the powered flight. The only issue that they needed to solve was propulsion; they needed an engine which they

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The history of aeronautical engineering

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

designed by themselves because they could not find any readymade engine that met the requirements, and since they were conducting the research by themselves they also designed a propeller that was very efficient. Now the only thing that was left is connecting all the dotes and assembling their first powered aircraft the Wright Flyer I. By the summer of 1903 they built their aircraft from zero and they were ready to test it. They moved the plane to Kill Devil Hills; their camp was in a mess as they left it for so long working on the plane, they fixed it and practiced on glider 3 more and more until they were ready to make history. On December 12th the brothers called witness to watch the first powered flight in history, Wilbur was the pilot, the pilot who made the first pilot error in history as he put too much pressure on the flyer that caused it to stall. Wright Flyer I

Few days later on December 17th, Orville was the pilot, again eye witness were asked to come and take photos, the plane began to move until it reached the end of the railway and history was made. The brothers did not stop there; by 1904 the Wright Flyer II was all set and ready to fly it was smaller with more efficient engine. The longest flight was 2 ¾ mi and it took 5 min 4 s. By 1905 the Wright Flyer III was built which was the first practical aircraft in history. It about 40 flights, the best was 38 min 3 s and it travelled 24 mi. The brothers applied for patent papers to protect their ideas as other companies were trying to copy their designs which took a while in which the brothers did not fly even once. During that period that was nearly 3 years the brothers designed 6 more engines and a new air craft that was name the Wright type A which was similar to flyer III but had a stronger engine and allowed people to be seated. The achievements of the Wright brothers were epic; they opened the door to a world filled with endless possibilities. They truly made history.

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The history of aeronautical engineering 8. Conclusion

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

From now on every time someone will hear a plane’s engine roaring will stop and think about how it all began, a dream to fly that’s the whole thing and with the human well everything is possible. So to sum up the huge steps in the aeronautical engineering history: a. Leonardo da Vinci and his designs of ornithopters that he left which were more than 500 sketches. Although this concept was unsuccessful, it stays a sign of humans’ dream to fly.

b. The aerostatic devices or the balloons designed by the Montgolfier, they were the first way humans ever used to get off the ground and prove that skies can be conquered as well.

c. Sir George Cayley and his silver disk that had a glider very similar to the present aircraft designs.

d. The first two hops that were made by Felix Du Temple firstly and by Alexander F. Mozhaiski secondly, but they were not stable flights.

e. Otto Lilienthal designed the first successful gliders in history and achieved more than 2000 successful flights.

f.

Samuel Pierpont Langley accomplished the first stable powered flight with no pilot. His pilot flights were unsuccessful.

g. The history was literally written when Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first stable powered flight that changed the world.

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The history of aeronautical engineering 9. Reference list

Khaled Asem Khalil 201021032

1. Anderson, D, 2012, Introduction to flight, seventh edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York.

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