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Cyclists first flew 100 years ago today
The Wright brothers were cycle dealers - and their bicycle experience informed their experiments in powered flight...
Wright brothers articles are everywhere today - as it's exactly 100 years since their first flight. But stressing the cycling connection more than most are:
This comprehensive story from Bikebiz.com
The Smithsonian writeup (thanks to Velorution for the link)
If that's not enough for you there are plenty of further links on the BikeBiz article.
Posted on 17 December 2003
Your comments ...| From: John ([email protected]) on 17 December 2003 |
| Just a minute. What about Sir George Cayley (first man-carrying glider, 1853) and Alberto Santos-Dumont (first powered flight in still air, by balloon in 1901, by winged plane in 1906). The Wright plane was launched by catapult into a strong wind. They should have stuck to bikes :-) |
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 17 December 2003 |
THe Wright Brothers claim to fame is the first documented controlled and powered level flight of an aircraft heaver then air, carrying a pilot
Others like Clement Ader, Gustav Weiskopf etc. did short jumps, without any control, or never were able to dokument their flights because of conducting their expaeriments in secret.
Gustav Weiskopfs craft for example has been repluicated and test flown, but there is no dokumented proof or eyewitness acounts that prove that he flew befor the Wrghts.
The Wrights also were the first to repeatedly prove again and again that their Flyer worked.
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| From: andy scaife ([email protected]) on 17 December 2003 |
| Is anyone going to mention Percy Pilcher? He had a powered flyer all ready for the off, having glided (glode?, Glid?) several times. Two days before his demo flight, his self-built engine siezed. He would have JUST beaten the Wrights. At least the news coverage today gave the bicycle connection due mention. |
| From: David Rodgers ([email protected]) on 17 December 2003 |
| Yep, us cyclists are a great bunch. Next stop Mars anyone? We've cracked flight it would seem... |
| From: Wobbly John ([email protected]) on 18 December 2003 |
Was Percy Pilcher a cyclist then?
Roger the Hilldodger must be offline otherwise he would have mentioned Pilcher being a Leicestershireian. |
| From: Seamus (etc) on 18 December 2003 |
I think the cycling lobby are making to big a thing of the cycling element here.
It's state-of-the-art technology that's the point really. That's the business these people where in, pushing back the bounderies an all.
There were lots of people around the time who could have been the first with the aeroplane but weren't. The real technological advancement wasn't the aircraft per se but a suitably lightweight and efficient engine.
Charlie Taylor was the one who made the flight possible with his cleverly designed engine which I'm going to say nowt about.
Happy Christmas. |
| From: jes (@pedalcars.info) on 18 December 2003 |
| That's Charlie Taylor the well known Leicester bicycle shop owner and noted amateur postman is it? |
| From: Fred (not sure) on 18 December 2003 |
Only in the Hilldodgers revisionist Leicesterian History of Cycling.
"the Wright brothers recognized the need for a lightweight, power source to move the airplane through the sky. Steam had shown weight limitations, and electrics had no practical solution, so the Wrights decided to use a gasoline powered engine. Since none could be found to meet their power to weight requirements, they decided to build their own and with the hands-on genius of their creative machinist/mechanic, Charlie E. Taylor" |
| From: Roger T Hilldodger (@ cyclemagic) on 18 December 2003 |
| No comment. |
| From: Carlton Reid ([email protected]) on 19 December 2003 |
Funny, my quote disappeared. Cos of the HTML being disallowed, I suppose:
* I think the cycling lobby are making to big a thing of the cycling element here.*
Every little helps. |
| From: S (etc) on 19 December 2003 |
| I liked <.>> better;-) |
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 21 December 2003 |
Keep in mind, that the Wright brothers started out as printers, before they opened a Bikeshop.
The main skill they had as printers they were mechanics, and were skilled in fixing their own printing presses. |
| From: Robert Nichols ([email protected]) on 09 January 2004 |
There was a recent programme on British TV telling the story of a group of Americans who, in the past few years, built replicas as near as they could to the Wrights' original designs, starting with the gliders and finishing with the plane that became the world's first mass-produced powered aircraft. The Wrights' designs were evolutionary, with improvements made on the basis of the Wrights' experiments each year at Kittihawk. They also knew how to make lightweight components successfully back in their bicycle workshop.
The programme clearly demonstrated the advantages the Wrights gained from their understanding of the dynamics of bicycle riding. Most designers of the day were attempting to make an aircraft that would be inherently stable in flight -if you were to let go of the controls (with the engine still maintaining forward motion), the plane would continue in level flight, given steady or zero wind speed. The Wrights understood that the bike is inherently unstable - let go of the controls and you will fall over - but control becomes instinctive and reactionary once you have gained the skill. Their aircraft were inherently unstable (like the bike) and the controls were rigged in such a way that leaning in the direction of the required deviation caused the movement of the rudder and warp of the wings to turn the plane correctly. I believe the first really successful inherently stable plane was designed by J.W. Dunne in the 1920's.
The replica planes had the advantage of an actual Wright engine - rebuilt naturally. |
| From: Ralf Grosser ([email protected]) on 09 January 2004 |
Robert is not quite right on the engine.
There are no running Wright engines available, that any museum would part with and let anyone rebuild to runig condition, let alone fly.
They did use an engine, that is an acurate replica of the one the Wrights used.
Other replicas of the Wright Flyer used modern engines of the same or more power output as the original.
But thats just not the real McCoy! |
| From: Robert Nichols ([email protected]) on 15 January 2004 |
| Did you see the programme, Ralf? I did. I don't remember the exact words used but it was stated that the team had been given a GENUINE Wright engine by a private individual, who had kept it in his room at home, to refurbish. Some parts did indeed have to be manufactured as replacements but the engine was shown being delivered to the team in substantially complete form before refurbishment started. |
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