3 ms·
They manufactured bicycles, then the apex of precision mass produced products, and they also had a quite scientific approach to the design of their aircraft, wi
by JJMcJ 1y ago
They manufactured bicycles, then the apex of precision mass produced products, and they also had a quite scientific approach to the design of their aircraft, with wind tunnels, for example.
They were also the first to understand that steering the airplane was best done by warping the airfoils. Now we do it with rudders and elevators and flaps, then they did the whole surface.
- BurningFrog 1y agoNice! I never realized that they were working in the "hi tech" of the time. Their accomplishments make more sense to me now!
- JJMcJ 1y agoThey are sadly underestimated as technologists.
- WalterBright 1y agoThey were also the first to devise a mathematical propeller theory that enabled them to have 90% efficient propellers. The flat propellers used by others were only 50% efficient.
- le-mark 1y agoThe wing warping patent applied to flaps too, as Curtis found after a long legal battle. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers_patent_war https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers_patent_war
- fennecfoxy 1y agoSurely that would've been watches, not bicycles.
- hinkley 1y agoFiguring how to make bicycles that only flex in “good” directions instead of bad was a whole field of study that took off in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I’m sure they were making lemonade from their lemons. It’s gonna flex, what’s that good for?