Heavier than Air Aircraft

In 1866 the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain was formed. This represented the first organized activity dedicated to the research of aviation. During its first meeting, F.H. Wenham, a marine engineer, submitted the results of his research in aerodynamics. His findings substantiated Cayley's theories and the cambered surface wing. Wenham is also credited with building the first wind tunnel.

Alphonse Penaud, a young French person, without reading the papers of Sir Cayley, also had discovered the effects of dihedral and a tail. He also learned that he received additional stability with a negative angle of attack of the tail plane. Penaud had designed an aircraft of considerable advancement, including such features as a single control to move both rudder and elevators, retractable landing gear, a glass canopy, and an engine enclosed within the fuselage. However, because of the lack of an available engine and an unfavorable reception at an 1871 Pries display, he gave up and committed suicide,

Clement Ader, another French person, made claims in 1890 to have flown 165 feet in a steam-powered aircraft. However, the event was not properly witnessed and could not be repeated. He was later considered a fraud.

In 1894 Hiram Maxim, an English inventor, proved the theory of thrust. With a test bed that had a 4000-square-foot lifting area Maxim powered his two eighteen-foot-diameter propellers with two 180-horse-power steam engines. In July Maxim powered his throttles a little too far, and his machine tore through the guard rails, lifting into the air. Maxim quickly reduced the throttles and dropped to the ground. This was a wise act because the machine had no directional controls. With his machine severely damaged. Maxim announced, "I've done it! I've proved that there is lift and thrust for flight. The rest is easy." However, he never pursued controlled flight.

Samuel Pierpont Langley was close to being the first person to design and build a heavier-than-air aircraft that was capable of carrying a person in flight. He was a noted astronomer who became a secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Langley, like the others who pioneered flight, was fascinated with the concepts of flight. He experimented with models that he had created with very good results. However, as many before him, he was plagued by the lack of a capable engine. With help from his assistant, Charles Manly, he attempted to produce the engine they needed. In October of 1903, a 125-pound, 53-horsepower engine was installed into Langley's machine, aerodrome. On the 7^th of October and again on the 8^th of October Manly attempted to fly the aerodrome, catapulted from a converted house bout in the Potomac River. Both times Manly failed but returned from the water unhurt. Two weeks later two young bicycle shop owners succeeded where many great inventors and scientists had failed.

On the 17^th of December, 1903 the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, Americans, flew the first propeller-driven heavier-than-air aircraft. The first flight had a distance of 120 feet, at an altitude of 10 feet, airspeed of 30 mph, and a duration of only 12 seconds. This accomplishment proved the theories of flight and led the way for the expedient improvement of designs.

Within the next 10 years aviation reached such great leaps in technology that an emerging industry was created; so was the first legislation.

Exercise 2. Put the events into the chronological order.

1) _ Theory of cambered surface wings was the revolution in fixed wing aircraft design.

2) _ Development of the dirigible was the development of controlled flight understanding.

3) _ The first documented event of crewed flight on balloon was in Versailles, France.

4) _ Successful attempts in the design of propeller-driven airplane.

5) _ Heavier than air aircraft capable of caring a person in flight.

6) _The first organized activity dedicated to the research of aviation.

7) _ The flight on the 17 December 1903 by the Wrights and its consequence.

8) _ Hiram Maxim proved that there was lift and thrust for flight.

9) _ Considerable advancement of fixed wing aircraft.

Exercise 3. Match English terms with Ukrainian equivalents. Then practice the vocabulary. Cover first the right column and translate the terms into Ukrainian, then cover the left column and give English equivalents. Work in pairs, in turn ask each other.

a. fixed, wing aircraft 1) триколісне шасі

b. rudder 2) реактивна тяга

с. elevator 3) дросель

d. lift 4) підйомна сила

e. low-pressure area 5) літак з нерухомими крилами

f. glider 6) зона низького тиску

g. aerodynamics 7) швидкість літака (у повітрі)

h. monoplane aircraft 8) паровий двигун

i. wingspan 9) моноплан

j. tricycle landing gear 10) відстань

k. retractable landing gear 11) шасі, що забирається

1. steam engine 12) розмах крила

m. fuselage 13) планер

n. thrust 14) кермо висоти

о. throttle 15) аеродинаміка

р. altitude 16) фюзеляж

q. distance 17) висота польоту

г. airspeed 18) кермо напрямку