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Ten unlikely ideas that changed the world

35 points by auxbuss 16y ago

WalterBright 16y ago
"George Cayley knew how to make a plane a century before the Wright brothers took off. If only he'd got the internal combustion engine to work." This implies that all the Wrights did was slap an engine on a Cayley design and fly. It's an egregious misunderstanding of the Wrights' numerous essential contributions to flight that made flight possible. 1. The Wrights designed and built their own engine from scratch. Nothing available had anywhere near the power/weight ratio they needed. Essentially, the Wrights invented the first aircraft engine. 2. They invented the first correct propellor theory, enabling them to produce propellors that were twice as efficient as their competitors'. This, of course, enabled the engine to be half the weight and power. (This factor alone is why I don't believe the other pretenders actually flew - they didn't have the power.) 3. They developed a 3 axis control system. This is absolutely crucial to successful flight. 4. They discovered that the existing data for airfoil efficiency was wrong by a factor of two. Airfoils needed to be twice the size as was previously thought. The Wrights invented a wind tunnel balance that was able to measure lift and drag, and used it to develop a refined, successful airfoil. Nobody else came even close. 5. They developed their technology over a series of increasingly sophisticated prototypes. It's probably the first example of a directed research and development program.
- ggchappell 16y ago
  > 1. The Wrights designed and built their own engine from scratch. Nothing available had anywhere near the power/weight ratio they needed. Essentially, the Wrights invented the first aircraft engine. The Wrights' first engine was actually designed and built by Charlie Taylor. (His Wikipedia article says, "... based partly on rough sketches provided by the Wrights.") In any case, the main point of your comment is certainly on target. Also, I wonder if we should add to your list the idea of twisting the wings to allow for turning. Was this an original contribution by the Wrights?
  - WalterBright 16y ago
    Taylor was employed by the Wrights, so yeah, they worked together on it. I included the wing warping as part of the 3 axis control. Yes, it was an original (and crucial) contribution by the Wrights.
yread 16y ago
Some of these are overly popularised. But I didn't know about the gyro train car. That was interesting

35 points by auxbuss 16y ago

"George Cayley knew how to make a plane a century before the Wright brothers took off. If only he'd got the internal combustion engine to work." This implies that all the Wrights did was slap an engine on a Cayley design and fly. It's an egregious misunderstanding of the Wrights' numerous essential contributions to flight that made flight possible. 1. The Wrights designed and built their own engine from scratch. Nothing available had anywhere near the power/weight ratio they needed. Essentially, the Wrights invented the first aircraft engine. 2. They invented the first correct propellor theory, enabling them to produce propellors that were twice as efficient as their competitors'. This, of course, enabled the engine to be half the weight and power. (This factor alone is why I don't believe the other pretenders actually flew - they didn't have the power.) 3. They developed a 3 axis control system. This is absolutely crucial to successful flight. 4. They discovered that the existing data for airfoil efficiency was wrong by a factor of two. Airfoils needed to be twice the size as was previously thought. The Wrights invented a wind tunnel balance that was able to measure lift and drag, and used it to develop a refined, successful airfoil. Nobody else came even close. 5. They developed their technology over a series of increasingly sophisticated prototypes. It's probably the first example of a directed research and development program.

ggchappell 16y ago
> 1. The Wrights designed and built their own engine from scratch. Nothing available had anywhere near the power/weight ratio they needed. Essentially, the Wrights invented the first aircraft engine. The Wrights' first engine was actually designed and built by Charlie Taylor. (His Wikipedia article says, "... based partly on rough sketches provided by the Wrights.") In any case, the main point of your comment is certainly on target. Also, I wonder if we should add to your list the idea of twisting the wings to allow for turning. Was this an original contribution by the Wrights?
- WalterBright 16y ago
  Taylor was employed by the Wrights, so yeah, they worked together on it. I included the wing warping as part of the 3 axis control. Yes, it was an original (and crucial) contribution by the Wrights.

yread 16y ago

Some of these are overly popularised. But I didn't know about the gyro train car. That was interesting