Alphonse Penaud's Planophore of 1871

"robert arndt" wrote in message
om...

Buying into that NASM crap again Al? The Gustave Weisskopf GW No.21
flew in 1901- two years before the Wrights and it was witnessed by
hundreds of people and reported in the local newspaper. But because
the scientific reporter did not like taking photos (preferring to
sketch instead) and the fact that Herr Weisskopf was not a US
citizen... he has been deliberately and conveniently dismissed. It
probably helped that the Wrights pressured the US to declare their
aircraft the first in order to recieve their permission to display
their aircraft in the US and the fact that Weisskopf tried to
concentrate on early aviation motors- his personal business that
ultimately failed which led him back to Germany and his death.
The Wrights have stated that the GW.21 "could have never flown" due to
its construction. But they were proven wrong by two different
replicas, one flown here in the US by a historic society and the
second in Germany with a Luftwaffe pilot at the controls.
BTW, who cares about the Wrights? The Germans had Lilienthal's gliders
and the Zeppelins.


Whitehead's flight witnessed by hundreds of people? Nope. Whitehead "flew"
at night, supposedly to avoid crowds. Of course, flying at night offered a
convenient explanation as to why nobody had seen his machine fly.

http://www.flyingmachines.org/gwhtd.html

On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 20:19:19 -0400, "Lawrence Dillard"
wrote in Message-Id:
:

Not intending a flame war, but I seem to recall that an Australian inventor
got his powered, piloted, heavier-than-air a/c into sustained, controlled
flight to a safe landing even before (perhaps by years) the Wright
Brothers. His feat, however, did not get the publicity it deserved.

There's a web site I recall, that very thoroughly lists the
aeronautical events of a German immigrant who was reputed to have had
some success predating Orv and Wil. There are doubtless other like
minded, unpublicized individuals who realized some measure of
successful powered heavier-than-air, sustained, controlled flight.

The Wright's were the progeny of a clergyman, bright, educated for
their day, successful businessmen, and had the foresight to
photo-document and journal their work. But what truly set them apart
from other aeronautical (crackpot?) experimenters of the time was
their abhorrence of the press.

This was the beginning of the era that became (and still is) dominated
by the use of petro-power to provide useful work that had till then
been the provence of steam. Harnessing the energy of the oily remains
of the life that has populated this planet for aeons, made man's
taking to the skies inevitable.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message rthlink.net...
"robert arndt" wrote in message
om...

Buying into that NASM crap again Al? The Gustave Weisskopf GW No.21
flew in 1901- two years before the Wrights and it was witnessed by
hundreds of people and reported in the local newspaper. But because
the scientific reporter did not like taking photos (preferring to
sketch instead) and the fact that Herr Weisskopf was not a US
citizen... he has been deliberately and conveniently dismissed. It
probably helped that the Wrights pressured the US to declare their
aircraft the first in order to recieve their permission to display
their aircraft in the US and the fact that Weisskopf tried to
concentrate on early aviation motors- his personal business that
ultimately failed which led him back to Germany and his death.
The Wrights have stated that the GW.21 "could have never flown" due to
its construction. But they were proven wrong by two different
replicas, one flown here in the US by a historic society and the
second in Germany with a Luftwaffe pilot at the controls.
BTW, who cares about the Wrights? The Germans had Lilienthal's gliders
and the Zeppelins.


Whitehead's flight witnessed by hundreds of people? Nope. Whitehead "flew"
at night, supposedly to avoid crowds. Of course, flying at night offered a
convenient explanation as to why nobody had seen his machine fly.

http://www.flyingmachines.org/gwhtd.html

Absolutely false:

http://www.flightjournal.com/articles/wff/wff1.asp

Rob

"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message ...
"robert arndt" wrote in message
om...
"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message
...
"robert arndt" wrote in message
om...
The model aircraft that led to the aeroplane:

http://www.amars.hpg.ig.com.br/plantas/planoph.html

Rob

This was only one of the progenitors and scarcely the most advanced.

George Cayley laid a lot of the groundwork which was taken up by
pioneers such as Henson, Stringfellow and Lillienthal

Henson was experimenting with gliders and lightweight steam engines
in the 1840's and published his patent (no. 9478) in 1842. This
described
a machine with bamboo spars and diagonal wire bracing. The surface of
the
planes was to amount to 4,500 square feet, and the tail, triangular in
form
was to be 1,500 square feet. The driving power was to be supplied by a
steam engine of 25 to 30 horse-power, driving two six-bladed propellers.

John Stringfellow flew his first steam powered flying machine in 1848
and
his triplane of 1868
is on display in the Early Flight Gallery of the National Air & Space
Museum,
Washington, DC

Otto Lilienthal's work is of course seminal and laid much of the
foundations
of what is noiwadays referred to as aerodynamics. In particular his
analysis
of different wing constructions and aspect ratio, wing shape and
profile,
based on his experiments were invaluable to those who followed.

Keith

The Planophore (1871) flew farther and longer than the Wright Flyer
and was more stable. Langley, Chanute, and the Wrights all
acknowledged Penaud's accomplishments.

Sure it did but it was a model powered by a rubber band.
A machine capable of carrying a man is a rather more advanced
device and while it may have flown longer than the Wrights first flight the
they assuredly beat its record fairly quickly.

Nobody is denying Penaud certainly did good work but he was one on many.

Got something else to say? (Of course he does... he ALWAYS does)


This is a discussion group old boy, of course other people have
something to say.

Keith

Say something to this:

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/es...800s/PH4G9.htm

Rob

"robert arndt" wrote in message
om...
"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message
news:bdvgdg$nhh$1

Say something to this:

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/es...800s/PH4G9.htm

Rob

It was a very nice toy but scarcely to be compared with a powered machine
that could carry passengers.

Keith

You simply cannot get over the fact that the first powered, heavier
than air piloted aircraft was built an flown by Americans and not your
Germanic super men, can you?

Al Minyard

Buying into that NASM crap again Al? The Gustave Weisskopf GW No.21
flew in 1901- two years before the Wrights and it was witnessed by
hundreds of people and reported in the local newspaper. But because
the scientific reporter did not like taking photos (preferring to
sketch instead) and the fact that Herr Weisskopf was not a US
citizen... he has been deliberately and conveniently dismissed. It
probably helped that the Wrights pressured the US to declare their
aircraft the first in order to recieve their permission to display
their aircraft in the US and the fact that Weisskopf tried to
concentrate on early aviation motors- his personal business that
ultimately failed which led him back to Germany and his death.
The Wrights have stated that the GW.21 "could have never flown" due to
its construction. But they were proven wrong by two different
replicas, one flown here in the US by a historic society and the
second in Germany with a Luftwaffe pilot at the controls.
BTW, who cares about the Wrights? The Germans had Lilienthal's gliders
and the Zeppelins.

Rob

What utter BS. The fact that the US beat Germany (and the rest of the
world) in this particular feat diminishes the "Blond Germanic Knight"
syndrome, and thus must be wrong. Hitler would have loved it.

Al Minyard

On 4 Jul 2003 19:23:23 -0700, (robert arndt) wrote
in Message-Id: :

It probably helped that the Wrights pressured the US to declare their
aircraft the first in order to recieve their permission to display
their aircraft in the US

Actually, Orville Wright prevented the Smithsonian from displaying the
original Flyer until after his death, IIRC. It was on display in
London until then.

The Germans had Lilienthal's gliders

Not to disparage the accomplishments of Otto Lilienthal, but it was
the inaccuracies of his airfoil data that led the Wrights to build
their wind tunnel, IIRC.

And for airmen throughout the world, such as the Columbia crew,
Lilienthal's last words still ring true: "Sacrifices must be made."

"robert arndt" wrote in message
om...

Say something to this:

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/es...800s/PH4G9.htm


It's a toy.