brearey's aeronautical machine propulsion plane kite flying aeroplane early flight experiment experimental
brearey's aeronautical machine The propulsion of a loose undulating surface was at about the same time, somewhat differently and quite independently, proposed by M. F. W. Brearey, the Honorary Secretary of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain. He patented, in 1879 the apparatus shown, in which a flexible fabric is attached to a central spine and to vibrating wing arms at the front, which latter beat up and down like the wings of a bird. The effect of this action is to throw the fabric into a state of wavelike motions, both lengthwise and in a smaller degree also laterally, which are said to cause the apparatus to be both supported and propelled in the air, while an adjustable tail regulates the angle of incidence. The wing arms are flexible and stayed to a bowsprit by cords, and the power for an actual machine is to be placed in a car or body affixed along the central spine. M. Brearey records that he took the idea from watching the movements of a "skate" fish in an aquarium, which in swimming undulated its whole body, and that he found that when applied to propulsion in air the loose fabric greatly added to the stability, so that the device might be considered as a sort of dirigible parachute, which would come down safely if the motive power became exhausted from any cause. In the various models which he made to illustrate the experimental lectures, with which he was accustomed to popularize "the problem of flight ' in Great Britain, he used the torsion of indict-rubber to produce the revolution of the crank which vibrated the arms, thus getting a dozen strokes or so, and he claimed that the smaller model (5 ft. X 8 ft.) flew from his hand, on one occasion at least, perfectly horizontally to the extent of 60 ft., no angle of incidence of the apparatus being perceptible. The larger model was 6 ft. wide by 10 ft. long, with about 16 sq. ft. of surface, and a weight of lbs. (of which lbs was added ballast, which it easily carried), being thus in the
Size: 5500px × 3150px
Photo credit: © 19th era / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -fashioned, ., 1800, 1879, 19th, 2d, academic, aeronautical, age, ancient, antique, antiquity, apparatus, black, book, brearey, britain., bw, bygone, century, classical, copy, cut, cutout, differently, drawing, duplicate, embossed, empire, engrave, engraved, engraver, engraving, etching, expression, figure, formal, front, frontispiece, graphic, great, hand, heritage, historic, history, honorary, illustration, image, imperial, independently, late, lifelike, loose, machine, majesty, margin, master, monotone, national, nineteenth, notable, obscure, obsolete, olden, original, paper, patented, period, pictorial, picture, plane, portrait, pre, press, print, printed, printing, prior, proof, proposed, propulsion, publication, publicity, queen, rare, real, realism, realistic, reference, relief, replica, represent, representation, repro, reproduce, reproduction, retro, review, romantic, secretary, shown, social, society, standard, steel, studio, style, subject, surface, teach, time, title, tool, topic, topical, tract, true, undulating, unusual, victoria, victorian, visual, white
