Download or read book Inventing Flight written by John David Anderson and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The invention of flight craft heavier than air counts among humankind's defining achievements. In this book, aviation engineer and historian John D. Anderson, Jr., offers a concise and engaging account of the technical developments that anticipated the Wright brothers' successful first flight on December 17, 1903. While the accomplishments of the Wrights have become legendary, we do well to remember that they inherited a body of aerodynamics knowledge and flying machine technology. How much did they draw upon this legacy? Did it prove useful or lead to dead ends? Leonardo da Vinci first began to grasp the concepts of lift and drag which would be essential to the invention of powered flight. He describes the many failed efforts of the so-called tower jumpers, from Benedictine monk Oliver of Malmesbury in 1022 to the eighteenth-century Marquis de Bacqueville. He tells the fascinating story of aviation pioneers such as Sir George Cayley, who in a stroke of genius first proposed the modern design of a fixed-wing craft with a fuselage and horizontal and vertical tail surfaces in 1799, and William Samuel Henson, a lace-making engineer whose ambitious aerial steam carriage was patented in 1842 but never built. Anderson describes the groundbreaking nineteenth-century laboratory experiments in fluid dynamics, the building of the world's first wind tunnel in 1870, and the key contributions of various scientists and inventors in such areas as propulsion (propellers, not flapping wings) and wing design (curved, not flat). He also explains the crucial contributions to the science of aerodynamics by the German engineer Otto Lilienthal, later praised by the Wrights as their most im Kitty Hawk as they raced to become the first in flight, Anderson shows how the brothers succeeded where others failed by taking the best of early technology and building upon it using a carefully planned, step-by-step experimental approach. (They recognized, for example, that it was necessary to become a skilled glider pilot before attempting powered flight.) With vintage photographs and informative diagrams to enhance the text, Inventing Flight will interest anyone who has ever wondered what lies behind the miracle of flight. undergraduates, that would tell the connected prehistory of the airplane from Cayley to the Wrights. In light of the recognized excellence of his technical textbooks (with their stimulating historical vignettes), I can't think of a better person than Professor Anderson for the job. He has the rare combination of technical and historical knowledge that is essential for the necessary balance. Inventing Flight will be a welcome addition to undergraduate classrooms.--Walter G. Vincenti, Stanford University

Download or read book Taking Flight written by Richard P. Hallion and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-05-08 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The invention of flight represents the culmination of centuries of thought and desire. Kites and rockets sparked our collective imagination. Then the balloon gave humanity its first experience aloft, though at the mercy of the winds. The steerable airship that followed had more practicality, yet a number of insurmountable limitations. But the airplane truly launched the Aerial Age, and its subsequent impact--from the vantage of a century after the Wright Brother's historic flight on December 17, 1903--has been extraordinary. Richard Hallion, a distinguished international authority on aviation, offers a bold new examination of aircraft history, stressing its global roots. The result is an interpretive history of uncommon sweep, complexity, and warmth. Taking care to place each technological advance in the context of its own period as well as that of the evolving era of air travel, this ground-breaking work follows the pre-history of flight, the work of balloon and airship advocates, fruitless early attempts to invent the airplane, the Wright brothers and other pioneers, the impact of air power on the outcome of World War I, and finally the transfer of prophecy into practice as flight came to play an ever-more important role in world affairs, both military and civil. Making extensive use of extracts from the journals, diaries, and memoirs of the pioneers themselves, and interspersing them with a wide range or rare photographs and drawings, Taking Flight leads readers to the laboratories and airfields where aircraft were conceived and tested. Forcefully yet gracefully written in rich detail and with thorough documentation, this book is certain to be the standard reference for years to come on how humanity came to take to the sky, and what the Aerial Age has meant to the world since da Vinci's first fantastical designs.

Download or read book Free Flight written by James Fallows and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2008-11-05 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The troubles of the airline system have become acute in the post-terrorist era. As the average cost of a flight has come down in the last twenty years, the airlines have survived by keeping planes full and funneling traffic through a centralized hub-and-spoke routing system. Virtually all of the technological innovation in airplanes in the last thirty years has been devoted to moving passengers more efficiently between major hubs. But what was left out of this equation was the convenience and flexibility of the average traveler. Now, because of heightened security, hours of waiting are tacked onto each trip. As James Fallows vividly explains, a technological revolution is under way that will relieve this problem. Free Flight features the stories of three groups who are inventing and building the future of all air travel: NASA, Cirrus Design in Duluth, Minnesota, and Eclipse Aviation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. These ventures should make it possible for more people to travel the way corporate executives have for years: in small jet planes, from the airport that's closest to their home or office directly to the airport closest to where they really want to go. This will be possible because of a product now missing from the vast array of flying devices: small, radically inexpensive jet planes, as different from airliners as personal computers are from mainframes. And, as Fallows explains in a new preface, a system that avoids the congestion of the overloaded hub system will offer advantages in speed, convenience, and especially security in the new environment of air travel.

Download or read book How We Invented the Airplane written by Orville Wright and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-07-12 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating firsthand account covers the Wright Brothers' early experiments, construction of planes and motors, first flights, and much more. Introduction and commentary by Fred C. Kelly. 76 photographs.

Download or read book Wright Brothers Inventing Flight for Man written by Susan E. Hamen and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2007-08-01 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the lives of the two men responsible for the first flight of a machine powered aircraft on December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Download or read book The Wright Brothers written by David McCullough and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 New York Times bestseller from David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize—the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly—Wilbur and Orville Wright. On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot. Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed. In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” (The Economist), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” (The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished…The Wright Brothers soars” (The New York Times Book Review).

Download or read book Stealth written by Peter J. Westwick and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story behind the technology that revolutionized both aeronautics, and the course of history On a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen airplanes appeared in the skies over Baghdad. Or, rather, didn't appear. They arrived in the dark, their black outlines cloaking them from sight. More importantly, their odd, angular shapes, which made them look like flying origami, rendered them undetectable to Iraq's formidable air defenses. Stealth technology, developed during the decades before Desert Storm, had arrived. To American planners and strategists at the outset of the Cold War, this seemingly ultimate way to gain ascendance over the USSR was only a question. What if the United States could defend its airspace while at the same time send a plane through Soviet skies undetected? A craft with such capacity would have to be essentially invisible to radar - an apparently miraculous feat of physics and engineering. In Stealth, Peter Westwick unveils the process by which the impossible was achieved. At heart, Stealth is a tale of two aerospace companies, Lockheed and Northrop, and their fierce competition - with each other and with themselves - to obtain what was estimated one of the largest procurement contracts in history. Westwick's book fully explores the individual and collective ingenuity and determination required to make these planes and in the process provides a fresh view of the period leading up to the end of the Soviet Union. Taking into account the role of technology, as well as the art and science of physics and engineering, Westwick offers an engaging narrative, one that immerses readers in the race to produce a weapon that some thought might save the world, and which certainly changed it.

Download or read book Quest for Flight written by Gary B. Fogel and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2012-10-11 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wright brothers have long received the lion’s share of credit for inventing the airplane. But a California scientist succeeded in flying gliders twenty years before the Wright’s powered flights at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Quest for Flight reveals the amazing accomplishments of John J. Montgomery, a prolific inventor who piloted the glider he designed in 1883 in the first controlled flights of a heavier-than-air craft in the Western Hemisphere. Re-examining the history of American aviation, Craig S. Harwood and Gary B. Fogel present the story of human efforts to take to the skies. They show that history’s nearly exclusive focus on two brothers resulted from a lengthy public campaign the Wrights waged to profit from their aeroplane patent and create a monopoly in aviation. Countering the aspersions cast on Montgomery and his work, Harwood and Fogel build a solidly documented case for Montgomery’s pioneering role in aeronautical innovation. As a scientist researching the laws of flight, Montgomery invented basic methods of aircraft control and stability, refined his theories in aerodynamics over decades of research, and brought widespread attention to aviation by staging public demonstrations of his gliders. After his first flights near San Diego in the 1880s, his pursuit continued through a series of glider designs. These experiments culminated in 1905 with controlled flights in Northern California using tandem-wing Montgomery gliders launched from balloons. These flights reached the highest altitudes yet attained, demonstrated the effectiveness of Montgomery’s designs, and helped change society’s attitude toward what was considered “the impossible art” of aerial navigation. Inventors and aviators working west of the Mississippi at the turn of the twentieth century have not received the recognition they deserve. Harwood and Fogel place Montgomery’s story and his exploits in the broader context of western aviation and science, shedding new light on the reasons that California was the epicenter of the American aviation industry from the very beginning.

Download or read book People Land Water written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Free Flight From Airline Hell To A New Age Of Travel written by James Fallows and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2001-06-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fallows, a correspondent for Atlantic Monthly, explores future trends in commercial aviation technology that may make airline travel easier and quicker than the current hub system. He focuses on three separate groups of innovators who are developing a NASA small plane research program, a small airplane with a parachute for the entire plane, and an inexpensive jet plane for air taxi services. c. Book News Inc.

Download or read book Taking on Gravity written by Richard Browning and published by Random House. This book was released on 2021-05-06 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **As seen on Top Gear** 'Richard Browning is a real-life Tony Stark.' - Wired --------------- For fans of Adrian Newey, Guy Martin and Chris Hadfield, in Taking on Gravity inventor Richard Browning tells the inspiring story behind his iconic jet suit, and shares his creative principles for generating true innovation. From Icarus to Iron Man, the dream of human flight has always inspired and challenged us. Now, with his pioneering jet suit, Richard Browning has redefined what is possible. Richard Browning's story is one of groundbreaking innovation. Building an aviation business from his garage, he has invented a whole new form of personal flight - a fantasy previously reserved for the pages of science fiction. His iconic jet suit has captured the imaginations of millions around the world, triggered ongoing developments in technology and engineering, and inspired a new generation of creative minds to pursue their dreams. In Taking on Gravity, Browning reveals the creative principles of his multimillion-pound company, Gravity Industries, and shows us how grass-roots innovation can disrupt established industries in exciting and unexpected ways. On this journey into the sky we'll experience what it's like to take flight, to test the limits of the human body, and to convert moonshot ideas into tangible results. The Gravity story is an inspiring example of human creativity and our ceaseless desire to push the boundaries of what is possible. Where we go next is up to you. READERS LOVE THE 'TAKING ON GRAVITY' STORY ***** 'Tony Stark Lite' ***** 'Must read for anyone looking for inspiration to continue pursuing their dream' ***** 'Taking on Gravity by Richard Browning is equal parts inspiring, inquisitive, soulful and ultimately a fantastic read that I will return to again.'

Download or read book The Airplane written by John David Anderson and published by AIAA. This book was released on 2002 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the technical development of the aeroplane, commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight. In each chronological period covered, the various aspects of the synthesis of aerodynamics, propulsion, flight dynamics, and structure is described and evaluated.

Download or read book The Early History of The Airplane written by Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright and published by Namaskar Books. This book was released on 2024-10-18 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take flight with the visionary pioneers of aviation in Orville and Wilbur Wright's captivating work, "The Early History of The Airplane." This remarkable account chronicles the trials, triumphs, and groundbreaking innovations that transformed humanity's dreams of flight into reality. As the Wright brothers share their journey, you might ask yourself: What does it take to change the course of history? Discover the relentless determination, ingenuity, and passion that fueled their quest to conquer the skies. But here's a thought-provoking insight to consider: How did their groundbreaking inventions alter the trajectory of transportation and communication forever? This book not only recounts the technical milestones but also reflects on the broader implications of their achievements in shaping the modern world. With detailed illustrations and firsthand accounts, *The Early History of The Airplane* offers readers an intimate look at the experimentation and perseverance that led to powered flight. The Wright brothers invite you to experience their fascination with flight and the relentless pursuit of their dream. Are you ready to soar through the pages of history and witness the dawn of aviation? This is more than just a historical narrative; it's an invitation to explore the spirit of innovation that continues to inspire generations of dreamers and inventors. Don’t miss your chance to dive into the fascinating story of "The Early History of The Airplane." Will you join the Wright brothers on this incredible journey of discovery? Secure your copy of "The Early History of The Airplane" now, and let the adventures of aviation pioneers lift you to new heights!

Download or read book Wood Wire Wings written by Kirsten W. Larson and published by Thinkingdom. This book was released on 2020-06-23 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This riveting nonfiction picture book biography explores both the failures and successes of self-taught engineer Emma Lilian Todd as she tackles one of the greatest challenges of the early 1900s: designing an airplane. Emma Lilian Todd's mind was always soaring--she loved to solve problems. Lilian tinkered and fiddled with all sorts of objects, turning dreams into useful inventions. As a child, she took apart and reassembled clocks to figure out how they worked. As an adult, typing up patents at the U.S. Patent Office, Lilian built the inventions in her mind, including many designs for flying machines. However, they all seemed too impractical. Lilian knew she could design one that worked. She took inspiration from both nature and her many failures, driving herself to perfect the design that would eventually successfully fly. Illustrator Tracy Subisak's art brings to life author Kirsten W. Larson's story of this little-known but important engineer.

Download or read book Birdmen written by Lawrence Goldstone and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From acclaimed historian Lawrence Goldstone comes a thrilling narrative of courage, determination, and competition: the story of the intense rivalry that fueled the rise of American aviation. The feud between this nation’s great air pioneers, the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, was a collision of unyielding and profoundly American personalities. On one side, a pair of tenacious siblings who together had solved the centuries-old riddle of powered, heavier-than-air flight. On the other, an audacious motorcycle racer whose innovative aircraft became synonymous in the public mind with death-defying stunts. For more than a decade, they battled each other in court, at air shows, and in the newspapers. The outcome of this contest of wills would shape the course of aviation history—and take a fearsome toll on the men involved. Birdmen sets the engrossing story of the Wrights’ war with Curtiss against the thrilling backdrop of the early years of manned flight, and is rich with period detail and larger-than-life personalities: Thomas Scott Baldwin, or “Cap’t Tom” as he styled himself, who invented the parachute and almost convinced the world that balloons were the future of aviation; John Moisant, the dapper daredevil who took to the skies after three failed attempts to overthrow the government of El Salvador, then quickly emerged as a celebrity flyer; and Harriet Quimby, the statuesque silent-film beauty who became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. And then there is Lincoln Beachey, perhaps the greatest aviator who ever lived, who dazzled crowds with an array of trademark twists and dives—and best embodied the romance with death that fueled so many of aviation’s earliest heroes. A dramatic story of unimaginable bravery in the air and brutal competition on the ground, Birdmen is at once a thrill ride through flight’s wild early years and a surprising look at the personal clash that fueled America’s race to the skies. Praise for Birdmen “A meticulously researched account of the first few hectic, tangled years of aviation and the curious characters who pursued it . . . a worthy companion to Richard Holmes’s marvelous history of ballooning, Falling Upwards.”—Time “The daredevil scientists and engineers who forged the field of aeronautics spring vividly to life in Lawrence Goldstone’s history.”—Nature “The history of the development of an integral part of the modern world and a fascinating portrayal of how a group of men and women achieved a dream that had captivated humanity for centuries.”—The Christian Science Monitor “Captivating and wonderfully presented . . . a fine book about these rival pioneers.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] vivid story of invention, vendettas, derring-do, media hype and patent fights [with] modern resonance.”—Financial Times “A powerful story that contrasts soaring hopes with the anchors of ego and courtroom.”—Kirkus Reviews “A riveting narrative about the pioneering era of aeronautics in America and beyond . . . Goldstone raises questions of enduring importance regarding innovation and the indefinite exertion of control over ideas that go public.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Download or read book The Wright Brothers written by Russell Freedman and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Newbery Honor-winning biography of the men whose experiments brought about the Age of Flight. This engaging narrative account of Orville and Wilbur Wright, two men with little formal schooling but a knack for solving problems, follows their interest from a young age in the developing field of aeronautics. Russell Freedman’s writing brings the brothers’ personalities to life, enhancing the record of events with excerpts from the brothers’ writing and correspondence, and accounts of those who knew them. Chronicling their lives from their early mechanical work on toys and bicycles through the development of several flyers, The Wright Brothers follows the siblings through their achievements—not only the first powered, sustained, controlled airplane flight, but the numerous improvements and enhancements that followed, their revolutionary airplane business, and the long legacy of that first brief flight. Illustrated with numerous historical photographs—many taken by the Wright brothers themselves—this is a concise, extremely reader-friendly introduction to these important American inventors. Includes a note on the Wright brothers’ photographs, as well as recommendation for further reading and learning.

Download or read book Progress in Flying Machines written by Octave Chanute and published by . This book was released on 1899 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beskriver gennerelle principper for at flyve og fortæller om de første forsøg på at bygge en egentlig flyvemaskine før det lykkedes at gennemføre en bemandet, motordrevet flyvning