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>Powered flight came about virtually the moment a high power-to-weight engine (based on aluminium and petrol fuel) existed. The only thing I would change is th

>Powered flight came about virtually the moment a high power-to-weight engine (based on aluminium and petrol fuel) existed. The only thing I would change is that this makes it seem like powered flight was waiting on the engine, when it was waiting on the plane. One thing that struck me at the Museum of Flight in Seattle is how far advanced IC technology was while the Wright brothers were gliding in wooden contraptions. They had turbocharged v12 diesel engines and Benz was already making aluminum engines for cars before the Wright brothers made their first attempt. I found it fascinating how as soon as flight was demonstrated, it only took a few years to go from a wooden prototype to a sophisticated machine with a very complex engine. Bonus pic of some of those early engines https://i.imgur.com/mENnuHH.png https://i.imgur.com/mENnuHH.png

matthewdgreen 4y ago
Or rather, that development of the plane was waiting on the engine. The Wright brothers did all of their iteration and experimentation on relatively flat terrain flying close to the ground, which is how they were able to survive at least eight major crashes (and probably more minor ones.) Without an engine this kind of iterative experimentation seems almost impossible: you’d need to launch from a height, which means the first minor failure probably kills you and destroys the prototype. And of course even if you survive the iterative development process, all you’ve got is a (largely) useless glider until the engine comes along and you can commercialize it.
jodrellblank 4y ago
See the Caproni Transaero from 1921, with eight engines and nine wings it’s right from the time you are talking about - putting engines on a fixed wing solid plane body is possible but sufficient understanding of flight is still missing. https://youtube.com/watch?v=uYn6fyGNg7c https://youtube.com/watch?v=uYn6fyGNg7c
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  Excellent example. And a beautiful failure to boot.

matthewdgreen 4y ago

Or rather, that development of the plane was waiting on the engine. The Wright brothers did all of their iteration and experimentation on relatively flat terrain flying close to the ground, which is how they were able to survive at least eight major crashes (and probably more minor ones.) Without an engine this kind of iterative experimentation seems almost impossible: you’d need to launch from a height, which means the first minor failure probably kills you and destroys the prototype. And of course even if you survive the iterative development process, all you’ve got is a (largely) useless glider until the engine comes along and you can commercialize it.

jodrellblank 4y ago

See the Caproni Transaero from 1921, with eight engines and nine wings it’s right from the time you are talking about - putting engines on a fixed wing solid plane body is possible but sufficient understanding of flight is still missing. https://youtube.com/watch?v=uYn6fyGNg7c https://youtube.com/watch?v=uYn6fyGNg7c

dredmorbius 4y ago
Excellent example. And a beautiful failure to boot.