1. Ancient Flight Overview & Objectives
How humans tried to fly in ancient times
Key aviation devices created during ancient times
Why machines do not fly the way birds do

2. Flight in Ancient Times
Humans have dreamed of flying for thousands of years
What is “Flight”?
The act of passing through the air on wings
People told tales about flight
around the fire at night
Handed down these
stories to their children
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

3. First True Stories of Human Attempts to Fly
Some early inventors made devices of
lightweight material imitating bird or bat wings
They strapped the devices onto their arms or legs, and then they would jump from the top of a tower
Unfortunately, NONE of the devices succeeded
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

4. Armen Firman An Arabic Berber named Armen
Firman made 1st known human attempt to fly
Put on a huge cloak
Jumped from a tower in Cordoba, Spain
Hoped cloak would open wide like a bat’s wings to slow him on the way down
It didn’t & Firman fell to his death
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

5. Armen Firman
His unfortunate experiment described as an early attempt at a jump by “parachute”
Parachute - device intended to slow free fall from an aircraft or another high point
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

6. Chinese Kites Chinese invented kites in1000 BC
Kite - light framework covered with paper or cloth, w/ balancing tail, designed to be flown
W/n a few 100 years, kites in warfare
What is military advantage of kites?
1300 AD Marco Polo (Italian explorer) saw Chinese sailors (spies) attached to kites observing battle
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

7. Chinese Gunpowder 800 AD, Chinese had another important invention?
“An explosive powder made of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur, used to shoot projectiles from guns”
Why important to flight?
200 yrs later, Chinese used it to make 1st simple rockets
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

8. Chinese Rockets
Rocket - large, cylindrical object that flies by forcing burning gases out one end of the tube
Chinese used rockets mostly for celebrations, such as holiday fireworks
But they also used them
in battle to scare off
their enemies
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

9. Man in the Moon Chinese legend about a rocket trip into space
Wan Hoo – fastened 47 rockets
to chair to fly to the moon
Not surprisingly, it didn’t work…went up in a ball of fire
Perhaps the “Man on the Moon”?
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

10. Leonardo da Vinci
1st person in the history of aviation who was a real scientist was?
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
Jeopardy Questions
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

11. “throw himself down from any height without sustaining any injury”
Da Vinci’s Parachute
Leonardo produced 1st known designs for a parachute & helicopter
Today’s parachutes are based on principles first described by Leonardo da Vinci
He wrote that his invention would allow someone to:
“throw himself down from any height without sustaining any injury”
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

12. Da Vinci’s Helicopter
Leonardo’s drawing of an “aerial screw” looks a lot like a modern helicopter
A helicopter is an aircraft that gets its lift from spinning blades
Video
Video 2
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

13. Gliders Gliders 1st aircraft that had directional control
Leonardo da Vinci also researched the idea of a glider
Light aircraft w/o an engine
Glides after being towed aloft or launched from a catapult
Gliders 1st aircraft that
had directional control
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

14. Ornithopters
Leonardo Da Vinci was fascinated with birds & experimented with flapping-wing machines
He worked out designs for ornithopters
An aircraft designed to get its support and forward motion from flapping wings
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

15. Why Machines Do Not Fly the Way Birds Do
Leonardo didn’t understand:
Complex movement of bird’s wings
Human muscle problem:
not strong enough
So are birds lightweights?
Powerful wing muscles
Hollow bones
Chapter 1, Lesson 1
Courtesy of Comstock Images

16. Principles of Bird Flight
A bird’s flight is similar to an airplane’s
in some ways & different in others
2 phases of bird flight:
Ground phase (takeoff):
- Wing pushes bird forward
- Wings make “figure 8” pattern
Lift phase (inflight):
- Air then flows over wing producing
“lift” (like airplanes)
Video
Video
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

17. Birds’ Wings Wing feathers – arranged like shingles on a roof
Change position when bird flaps
Downbeat of wing,
feathers press together - air doesn’t
pass through
On up stroke,
feathers open - allows air to flow through
(less effort for bird) Video

18. Daniel Bernoulli Dutch-born scientist Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782)
Discovered Lift
Fluid has a constant pressure, but when a fluid starts to move faster, the pressure drops
Chapter 1, Lesson 1
Taken from wikipedia.com

19. Lift Both birds and airplanes rely on 2 types of lift
Named for the scientists who discovered them:
Daniel Bernoulli -
Sir Isaac Newton -
Induced Lift
Dynamic Lift

20. Bernoullian Lift
Wings are designed to make air flow faster over their tops…
this makes he pressure drop & the wings move upward
Known as “Bernoullian lift” or: Induced lift
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

21. Sir Isaac Newton Englishman Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
Formulated the famous “3 Laws
of Motion”
Chapter 1, Lesson 1
Taken from wikipedia.com

22. Newtonian Lift 3rd law states:
“For every action, there is an equal & opposite reaction”
…So, when a pilot angles the wing of the plane up against the oncoming wind…
The action of the wind causes a reaction by the wing
Pushes it UP….this additional lift, is called:
“Newtonian Lift” or dynamic lift
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

23. Why Some Ancient Inventors Tried to Mimic Bird Flight
In the beginning of aviation history, flapping wings seemed to be the way to fly…
We observed birds, bats, & insects flying this way
Some early inventors thought feathers might possess some lifting power of their own
Chapter 1, Lesson 1

24. Why Some Ancient Inventors Tried to Mimic Bird Flight
Even thinkers as brilliant as Leonardo da Vinci got stuck on birds as the model for human flight
Only when people stopped trying to fly as birds do… did the way open for….
The Wright brothers’ success on the dunes of North Carolina
Chapter 1, Lesson 1