Introduction
The beginning of the concept of aviation began in Chinese in the fourth century A.D. In 400 B.C a toy that consisted of feathers at the end of a stick was spun between the hands to generate a lift and after its release it provided a free flight, It is assumed that those who build the toys were inspired by the auto rotating nature of seeds from trees such as Sycamore. 1
In the year 1480, Leonard da Vinci discovered that a screw shaped device well made from a starched linen can rise in air if turned quickly.
Biography of Leonard da Vinci
He was born on April 15th 1452 in Vinci, near Florence. He grew up in Vinci, his father’s home where he could access scholarly articles that belonged to family and friends; He got exposed to the family’s painting tradition. He had a talent in painting and was apprenticed a workshop where he stayed until 1477. In 1482, Leonardo entered the service of the duke of Milan. By 1499, he gained heights in the fields of science and art. In the years 1485 to 1490, he came up with studies on many subjects such as flying machines and architectural designs among others. His curiosity made him to be interested in new things but he was unable to complete his experiments. He dedicated most of his time in studying science.2 Leonard was fond of taking and keeping notes of what he studied in his note books. Most of his works were paintings, architectural designs, Human anatomy, and mechanics; he used to collect the sketches and his studies in different coding and manuscripts
He produced paintings in small numbers but was very innovative and an influential artist. He made famous painting like the Adoration of the Magi, Mona Lisa, and the Last Supper among others.
However, none of his sculptures were completed even though his approach to a three dimensional is very evident in his drawings. In addition to this, his building projects were not completed
In the years 1485 to 1490, he came up with studies on many subjects such as flying machines and architectural designs among others. His curiosity made him to be interested in new things but he was unable to complete his experiments. He dedicated most of his time in studying science.
Leonardo’s scientific discoveries were well planned based on careful observation and recording notes with a good documentation. Most of his scientific innovations were not completed but the theories are contained in many notebooks.
Many discoveries of modern times are based on his theories and scientific studies such as the human anatomy, geology and meteorology, nature studies, and mechanics. He invented the hydrometer and in the aviation history, his flying machines contributed to the principals of aviation and aerodynamics. He died on May 2nd 1519 in Cloux, France. 3
The Talents of Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo was an inventor, artist and, a scientist. He was an artist and painted the pictures of an angel and the portions of a landscape in a Baptist Church of Christ in Verrocchio making him to be registered in the painter’s guild in Verrocchio in 1472 the period which he began his artistic career.4
In addition to this, Leonardo da Vinci was a great inventor and had a lot of ideas and drew war machines, flying machines, machines that are used for work, architectural designs and structures and, machines that are used in water and land. Most of his work and theories were advanced by other people to design other machines.
Most of the machines that he designed were meant for war, even though he was not a man of war.
He designed a circular armored car that had the capacity of shooting three hundred and sixty degrees without making a turn. He also designed a thirty three barreled organ, an automatic hull rammer and multiple cross bows among other machines.
His Contribution in the History of Aviation
In the field of flight, his most common contribution was the idea of a flying machine that was an aerial screw given a classification as the beginning of the design of a helicopter. It had the same design of a helicopter. The prop of the aerial screw is a flat screw which when turned, creates a lift. During his time, some of his inventions were not tested such as the aerial screw since he had a lot of commitments in other projects.
He built a parachute which had a slight difference with the modern parachutes; his parachute had a structure that looked like a temple. He had a lot of ideas on gliders and drawings of a leaf spring engine that is used for flying machines.
His concept predominates even in the modern world but with a few modifications such as the scuba diving suit. He was a great scientist whose thoughts and theories have a greater impact in the world of science.
Leonardo da Vinci made a contribution to the history of aviation. Being a brilliant scientist, he made a lot of contribution to the first scientific experiments in the aviation field.
Leonardo spent many years in understanding the concept of flight. He provided descriptions and sketches of the flying machines that include pictures and descriptions of the world’s initial designs of a parachute and a helicopter a note book which were discovered and put in print many years after his death, that showed the models of the parachute and the helicopter and he flew them very successfully.
Leonardo understood and put in writing the importance of the gravitational force, the centre of pressure and streamlining. These are the most important basic principles in the design and building of an airplane or a spaceship. He developed a lot of interest in seeing a man fly like birds, making him to give a description, sketches, and also created many models of various types of a flying machines in the air, propelled by the use of flapping wings.
According to history, Leonardo da Vinci made his first studies of aviation in 1480’s and had over 100 drawings that he used to illustrate his theories on an onithoptera and the mechanical flight. His sketches described how a bird uses its wings and tails, bringing the idea of man using a flight in carrying machines and other materials for the experiment, ( Chanute, 1997).5
According to his perception of air as a fluid, this gave him the opportunity to understand the basics of fluid mechanics. Hence, he earned a credit in the history of aviation. His idea on the flying machines is very interesting and of more importance in the discussion of the history of flight. In addition to this, his research on aviation was among other actives he was involved with which included, paintings, casting cannon, as an architect, he also designed military hardware; he was a good artist and did some sculpture, an architect, a n urban planner and optics. He was involved in so many activities.
Leonardo was the first person to apply the principle that when a screw like device is turned at a sufficient speed, then it would get uplifted and rise in air. The screw that he designed is very old and its age is compared to Archimedes who used the idea in uplifting water. This device has been known as the origin of the design of a helicopter and the screw propeller.
His work also included a most elaborate flying machine having a streamlined cabin which could have two men sitting and one being the operator of the wing. However this machine did not work. Leonardo furthered his experiments by making an attempt to copy the wings of a bird in a fully expressed machine that looked like a bird’s wing. The mechanical wing had joints that had springs which were to be used in returning them to the original gliding position after flapping them, this man provided a flying machine that looked like a bird which he gave much thought to. His inventions also included the design of an aircraft with sections of a tail which is very critical for stability during flight. The Wright Brothers modified this by placing a stabilizer in front of the bi-plane.
The drawings of an aircraft with a wing were mostly single, however the modern models that were designed fro his drawings are very similar to the modern airplanes. The gliders that he devised had the interior half of the wings fixed and a movable outer half. He came with this idea after noting the flight of birds that, the portion of the wings closer to the body never moved much and the portion outside of the wing moved to propel and to control the flight.
Archimedes who was a Greek mathematician made perfect the principle of a rotating screw for use as a water pump. By the 15th century Leonardo da Vinci invented a helicopter capable of making a lift by carrying a person and doing experiments with the models of his designs. His sketches of the aerial screw described a device with a helical rotor with its helical surface on the device looking like a helicopter built from iron wire that were covered with linen surfaces and made airtight with starch.
In making assumptions of the possibility of a man to fly like birds, Leonardo was certainly correct. He drew some diagrams that up to date still appear like having the ability to fly. By using the flight of birds as the basis for his approach, he was quite certain that when a wing is flapped in a motion that is rowing, it would prove that it was the key to a sustained flight, (Turner, 1993).6
However, he appeared very secretive in his research work making his research on flight to appear to be top secret to him among most of his pursuits. Most researchers were thrilled by his idea on the flying birds up to the moment that flight was actually achieved by the Wright Brothers who used a fixed wing.
Later modifications in the research of flight were adapted from his drawings that also proved that he actually did an experiment with his craft as models. Having used his idea of understanding motion, his notations that were scribbled about roiling waters in a stream from a mountain showed that he was not successful in his efforts by turbulence.
His plans were to use the muscle power to make the rotor revolve which was not sufficient enough to uplift the helicopter. Even though in his notes, he showed that his models flew, but according to the sketch, this was not possible as there was no torque created by the propeller.
During Leonardo da Vinci’s time, tremendous improvements advanced the idea of horizontal flight but were lack of adequate power to achieve flight; in addition, they were too bulky and heavy. Efforts in designing a real helicopter dates back to the early years of the 20th century.
However, the onithoptera machine was not a success and was not created. It was a design that Leonardo da Vinci created to explain how human being could also fly like birds. His note book on aviation was uses by flight pioneers in the 19th century, (Kemp, 1981).7
Leonardo’s theory for “compressing” the air and obtaining a lift was very similar with the design of the modern helicopters. His attempts have been one of the serious initial experiments in the production of a functioning helicopter. They were experimental, hence were never put in practical use. Adequate technology was far ahead of his time and, without adequate technology, the ability to create such machines is not possible, (Clark, 1988).8
Further developments in the history of aviation
Between the fifteenth century and the twentieth century, there had been minor inventions that contributed to the design of a helicopter. However, the models were not successful because of their sizes and weight.
The following men contributed to the history of aviation after the death of Leonardo
In 1954, Mikhail Lomonosov suggested a coaxial rotor machine that was used to elevate meteorological devices, modeled after the Chinese toy. It was powered by wound up string device that could fly freely to climb to good altitude.
In 1784, Launoy and Bienvenu built another version of the Chinese toy that had a two bladed propeller driven by a bow drill system at each end of its fuselage. This model consisted of a counter rotating set of feathers of turkey that were to take off and fly on its own proving that an object that is heavier than air can fly.
In 1800, Sir George Cayley made a contribution on the basic principles of flight that dated from the 1790’s. He constructed many successful vertical- flight models that were successful. He used rotors made of tin sheets and driven by a wound up’ clock springs. In 184, in a scientific paper that he published, Cayley mentioned a vertical flying machine known as “Aerial Carriage”, this device was considered as an idea since the available source of energy by that time was from steam engines which were considerably heavy to allow for a powered flight making his project not to be feasible.
In 1842, W.H Phillips built a 10 kilogram steam powered model; his contribution was followed by a steam machine that used a main rotor and two smaller ones, probably his machine was the first model of a helicopter that was powered by an engine instead of energy devices like the wound – up springs.
In 1845, Cossus of France built a model that was documented by Octave Chanute in quest for flying machines. This device had three aerial screws that were moved by a steam power.
In 1861, Bright advanced this model by using a globe over the rotors. The term helicopter was coined by a French man- Viscount Gustave de Ponton d’ Amecourt, who put together the Greek words “helicon meaning spiral and pteron meaning wing” where the term helicopter was derived.
Archimedes described a man- powered machine called a pterophere which had two airscrews that supported the machine in flight and forwarded propulsion.
In 1862, William Powers modeled an attack helicopter that used the Archimedes’ screws powered by a steam engine to propel it vertically and forward. However the model that he built did not construct a full size aircraft.
In 1877, E. Forlanini made a small steam engine weighing a bout 3.5 kilogram. This model reached nine meters and remained in flight for half a minute.
In 1880, Thomas Edison tried an electric engine which was unpowered but was certain that helicopters will be of great importance to the future generation. In 1895, De los Olivos made a tandem rotors helicopter that had wings.
Archimedes described a man- powered machine that he called a pterophere which had two airscrews that supported the machine in flight and forwarded propulsion.
In 1862, William Powers modeled an attack helicopter that used the Archimedes’ screws powered by a steam engine to propel it vertically and forward. However the model that he built did not construct a full size aircraft.
In 1871, Pomes and De la Pauze designed a machine that used a rotor powered by gunpowder. This machine was never constructed. Afterwards, in 1877, Alphonse Penaud was able to construct several model helicopters which he fashioned after the Chinese top having two superimposed screws that rotated in different direction setting motion by use of the force derived from a twisted rubber band. His models rose more than 15 meters high. In the same year, Emmanuel Dieuaide designed a helicopter that had counter- rotating rotors with an engine boiler on the ground but connected to a machine using a flexible tube. There were many achievements in tat year; Melikoff constructed a helicopter that had a colonial shaped rotor which doubled in its functions as a parachute.
During 1878, Castel manage to design and build a helicopter that that was lifted by compressed air that had eight rotors on its two counter rotating shafts. His model did not operate, however a smaller one built that was built between 1878 and 1879 by Dandrieux that was driven by elastic bands did fly. An Italian civil engineer known as Enrico Forlanini who was an Italian civil engineer created a flying steam-driven helicopter model powered by a 7.7 pound engine which had two counter rotating rotors and was able to rise up to 40 feet for more than 20 seconds.
In the 1880’s Thomas Alva Edison made an experiment with a small helicopter model and put into test many rotor configurations that were driven by a gun cotton engine which was one of the initial, early form of internal combustion engines. Later he used an electric motor to generate power being the first to demonstrate from his experiments that a rotor with a large diameter having a less surface area in its blade could provide a better floating efficiency in air. His knowledge and scientific approach on aerodynamics efficiency of the rotor and the supply of sufficient energy from an engine was a necessity for a successful vertical flight, (Gablehouse, 1969).9
By the end of the 19th century, there were fewer achievements in aerodynamics and mechanical complexities of creating a vertical aircraft. This was due to inadequate technological advances due to inefficient power and control. For instance the steam engines were too heavy and bulky for a full scale helicopter.
In conclusion, early developments in aviation could not materialize because the lack of adequate technological developments which was a hindrance to the early developers of aircrafts. These included inadequate knowledge on aerodynamics of vertical flight, lack of a suitable engine and the inappropriateness to withstand the weight of the structure and engine. There were problems that were associated with excessive vibrations coupled with the inability to have stability and control.
Notes
- Derget al, Chinese Inventions,2005.pg. 233
- Clark, Leonardo da Vinci, 1988. Pg.45
- Kemp, Leonardo da Vinci, The Marveling Works of Nature and Man, 198. Pg 168
- Turner, Inventing Leonardo, 1993
- Gablehouse, A History of Rotating Wing and V/STOC Aviation, 1969
- Light Body, The Illustrated History of Helicopter, 1990
Bibliography
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"History of Aviation," GlobalAircraft.org 2008. http://www.globalaircraft.org © 2008 GlobalAircraft.org.
