THE ORIGINS OF FLIGHT

OVERVIEW Early Civilizations’ Ideas about Flight Ancient Attempts to Fly Early Contributions to Flight

Flight Legends – Ancient China Chinese Emperor, Shun, 2,000 B.C. escaped from prison in “work clothes of a bird”, flew to freedom Kei Kung, god of thunder and lightning had wings of a bat Ki-Kung-Shi, built flying chariot in 1800 B.C., could rise and move through the air with no visible means of support Levitation Kite invented around 1000 B.C. Silk, bamboo General Han Hsin, 200 B.C. First to use kites in warfare Measured distance to enemy 17 th Century A.D., carry soldiers up to observe enemy actions in battle EARLY CIVILIZATIONS’ IDEAS ABOUT FLIGHT

Flight Legends – Other Ancient Countries A picture of a person flying, carved on a seal, 3500 B.C., Babylonia Chinese discover gunpowder in 9 th century and were using it to make simple rockets by 12 th century Wan Hoo 47 rockets tied to chair Ball of smoke and fire!

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS’ IDEAS ABOUT FLIGHT Flight Legends – Other Ancient Countries Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, cage pulled by Griffins King of Persia (Iran) rode a flying throne carried by 4 eagles Inca civilization founded by 4 brothers; one had wings and could fly like a bird Egyptians created pictures of creatures with wings on the walls of tombs and Sphinx Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, others believe in Angels

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS’ IDEAS ABOUT FLIGHT Flight Legends – Greece and Rome The Greek god Hermes and the Roman god Mercury Eros, Greek god of love, and Cupid, Roman god of love Pegasus, winged horse of Greeks

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS’ IDEAS ABOUT FLIGHT Flight Legends – Greece and Rome Daedalus and his son, Icarus Escaped prison with wings made from feathers attached with wax “The Man in the Moon” used flock of geese to fly him to the moon

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS’ IDEAS ABOUT FLIGHT Desire and Ability to Fly In the seventeenth century, Francesco de Lana proposed an “aerial boat” Suggested using evacuated hollow spheres to provide lift Seemed to understand a vehicle lighter than air could fly Forerunner to balloon? The first balloons were paper or cloth bags filled with hot air

EARLY ATTEMPTS TO FLY

First Record of Human Attempts to Fly Two important traits People have always wanted to fly Flight has depended on building machines to carry us through the air Why?

EARLY ATTEMPTS TO FLY First Record of Human Attempts to Fly In 852 A.D. Armen Firman jumped from a tower with cloak.. it didn’t work! As early as the 11 th century, there are records of people trying to fly by attaching large wings to their bodies and jumping from high places Attempting to imitate the flights of birds Made from cloth and wood Sometimes feathers Wings of birds support less than 1 pound per square foot of wing area Some (ducks/geese) have as much as 2 pounds per square foot How much wing area for a 150 pound man?

EARLY ATTEMPTS TO FLY First Record of Human Attempts to Fly In 852 A.D. Armen Firman jumped from a tower with cloak.. it didn’t work! As early as the 11 th century, there are records of people trying to fly by attaching large wings to their bodies and jumping from high places Attempting to imitate the flights of birds Made from cloth and wood Sometimes feathers Wings of birds support less than 1 pound per square foot of wing area Some (ducks/geese) have as much as 2 pounds per square foot How much wing area for a 150 pound man? 25x3=75 sq ft 75x2=150 sq ft

EARLY ATTEMPTS TO FLY First Record of Human Attempts to Fly Took place before the days of science, mostly trial & error Lack of power made search almost pointless Most attempts unsuccessful until the invention of motors/engines Gliders are unpowered airplanes Flight is act of passing through the air by the use of wings Parachutes slow the descent of a person or object to Earth

EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO FLIGHT Leonardo da Vinci Lived from 1452 – 1519 G.A. Borelli

EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO FLIGHT Leonardo da Vinci Lived from 1452 – 1519 Influenced by birds Drew gliders with wings like a bat Left 160 pages of descriptions and sketches, including the first known design of a helicopter and parachute If he had worked on fixed-wing gliders instead of bird-like machines, he might have moved aviation ahead by 400 years His papers were not found until 300 years after his death

EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO FLIGHT Leonardo da Vinci Center of Gravity Center of Pressure cp = (S[x * p(x)]dx) / (S[p(x)]dx) Streamlining

EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO FLIGHT Leonardo da Vinci Center of Gravity Point were an object is balanced Center of Pressure Average location of the pressure on the surface of the object Streamlining Shaping of an object, such as an aircraft body, wing, boat, car, etc. to reduce the amount of drag or resistance to motion through a fluid (air or water)

EARLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO FLIGHT G. A. Borelli Came to conclusion about 150 years after da Vinci that it would be impossible for men to fly using his own muscles because of their small power output

CONCLUSION Early Civilizations’ Ideas about Flight Ancient Attempts to Fly Early Contributions to Flight