The year 2003 heralds the 100th anniversary of the conquest of the skies and the Wright brothers’ contribution to the aerial age. It is appropriate as a topic, for Long Island has a long and impressive aerospace heritage.
By Joan Brown Wettingfeld
Part I of II
The year 2003 heralds the 100th anniversary of the conquest of the skies and the Wright brothers’ contribution to the aerial age. It is appropriate as a topic, for Long Island has a long and impressive aerospace heritage.
The mystery of flight has intrigued mankind from almost the beginning of time itself as even the earliest of humans yearned to emulate the flight of birds.
In Greek mythology, there is the story of Daedalus and his son, Icarus. An Athenian craftsman of note, Daedalus and his son were exiled to Crete after Daedalus murdered his apprentice, who was seen as being more skilled than his master. Imprisoned by the King of Crete, he invented wings from feathers and wax so he and his son could escape by flying away. Icarus, ignoring his father’s warnings, flew too close to the sun, which melted his wings. He perished while his father flew to safety.
Kites were another early attempt to conquer the skies and are believed to have originated in China some 3,000 years ago. For centuries kites were used to send messages and secret communications during wars. In the 1700s kites were used to rescue shipwrecked sailors. In the 19th and 20th centuries the U.S. Weather Bureau used kites to lift meteorological equipment, and during the Second World War kites were used as gunnery targets and for military observation.
Ballooning, flight without wings, owes its progress in flight to a Greek mathematician, Archimedes, who discovered the principle of buoyancy. Archimedes’ discoveries were among those lost when the great libraries in Alexandria, Egypt were destroyed in the year 500. Archimedes’ principles would help in the future development of the hot-air balloon 2,000 years later.
English alchemist Roger Bacon was influenced by this principle when he constructed a flying machine that was shaped like a balloon. Though this scientist wrote about this in his book, “The Wonderful Power of Art and Nature,” in 1250, it was not until 1542 that this idea was published. The Renaissance in Italy in the 15th century boosted not only interest in art but the sciences as well, and new ideas were spread by Johann Gutenberg’s invention of movable type in 1455. Later, a member of the Royal Society in London in 1648 revealed the scientific principles of Bacon’s work.
In 1783 two Frenchmen, the Montgolfier brothers, flew a hot-air balloon which was considered the first manned lighter-than-air flight. Later on, a member of the French Academy of Science made a flight in a balloon filled with hydrogen instead of hot air. Among those who saw the value of the more than 16-mile flight was Benjamin Franklin, who helped finance the project.
Ballooning became popular and eventually led to the controllable airship built by Charles Renard and A.C. Krebs. Fifty years later, a German named Count Zeppelin used an engine to fly his “balloon.” Thenceforth the Zeppelin design made regular flights from Europe in comparative luxury.
In reviewing the precursors of manned flight as we know it today, we cannot omit the name of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), who is known for his artistic contributions but who was also an amazing inventor. His drawings and theories about war machines, work machines and flying machines were discovered years after his death. His designs predated numerous modern machines. Though he despised war, many of da Vinci’s inventions had something to do with war, including a circular armored car that could shoot 360 degrees without turning.
Among his designs were his ideas about flight, including the aerial screw, now classified as the helicopter’s ancestor, though it has never been tested. Another ingenious concept was da Vinci’s parachute. It differed from today’s model, using instead a temple-like structure. He also designed gliders and a “leaf spring engine” for a flying machine.
Da Vinci’s pioneering efforts in the field of flight impacted the modern world. Early scientists such as Otto Lilienthal were inspired by da Vinci, and without Lilienthal’s experiments the Wright brothers would not have read the nine-page article on Lilienthal and his glider experiments in an issue of old McClure’s Magazine.
Joan Brown Wettingfeld is a historian and a free-lance writer.
