The first viable, man carrying glider?

Brad · 4 October 2005, 01:05 PM

Folks,

I watched a show on PBS last night, documenting a replica built from plans of a man carrying glider... they flew it numerous times...

The plans? Drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci, circa 1500 AD! VERY cool!

I gather that they extrapolated from a very small sketch the weight shift method used, and perhaps altered it slightly.

They also later added wing warping via cables pulled by the pilot's harness when the pilot shifted her weight... but certainly not a big departure from the original plans. This was done since weight shift wasn't effective enough for roll control on this particular design- and it may or may not be something Da Vinci would have done.

The actual airframe was built exactly as drawn, and flew better than the Wright gliders!

Does this prove that Leonardo Da Vinci flew 500+ years ago? No... but it shows that he certainly understood aerodynamics WAY ahead of anyone else, and designed a viable glider!

Brad

EricGoedkoop · 4 October 2005, 01:13 PM

Wow!

Wish I would've seen that.

WinterHawke · 4 October 2005, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricGoedkoop

Wow!

Wish I would've seen that.

According to my guide here in Michigan - part two of this show is scheduled for tonite!

Leonardo's Dream Machines:

A two-part attempt to construct Leonardo's giant crossbow and glider concludes with a focus on the "flying machine."

On PBS, following NOVA - Sinking the Supership

Hopefully the stations down zinzinnati way are on the same schedule!!!

Lee

EricGoedkoop · 4 October 2005, 04:14 PM

No such luck - both parts were on last night.

Wind In The Wires · 4 October 2005, 04:59 PM

I watched that with great interest too.

IMHO they took some liberties with the design, especially the V tail, the curve of the leading edge and the weight shifting arrangement. That said, it performed remarkably well but not as well as the Wright's 1902 glider. The program's statement that they went farther than the Wrights referred to their first powered flight (182 feet). The sketch that showed a weight shifting pilot did not clearly indicate that he would also shift weight for pitch control. They also used a continuous power input from a lead rope which is clearly not evident in photos of the Wright's 1902 glider.

One thing that bothered me was the altitudes they reached. After some close calls in 1901 the Wrights kept their altitude under 20 feet for most of their glides for safety reasons, perhaps that lesson has been lost in the intervening 100 years.

As for the crossbow team, they came up with a design and then went looking for suitable materials? The tensile strengths and elastic modulii of many woods are easily available and many CAD programs include stress analysis software which would have allowed them to model the crossbow in 3D and analyze it for exactly the kind of failure they encountered. Failing that, why didn't they use yew or willow which were the bow woods of choice in that era?

It was, however, an excellent program well worth watching and has prompted a lot of interesting discussion. Their program on trebuchets spurred a major revival of midieval siege machines created for fun and profit.

It is interesting to speculate on the effect of public demonstrations of Leonardo's glider in it's own era. Would it have spurred technical progress or would all involved be burned as witches?

EricGoedkoop · 4 October 2005, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wind In The Wires

It is interesting to speculate on the effect of public demonstrations of Leonardo's glider in it's own era. Would it have spurred technical progress or would all involved be burned as witches?

Indeed. Leonardo "designed" quite a few things that were never built or demonstrated. Perhaps one of his greatest gifts was knowing when to keep his mouth shut?

Jim Bruton · 8 October 2005, 06:03 AM

any good websites depicting this exact model you are talking about and that was built and shown to fly? would love to see it....

13 October 2005, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Bruton

any good websites depicting this exact model you are talking about and that was built and shown to fly? would love to see it....

I also saw the PBS episode last night. The glider they made was beautiful and I would love to find the plans they built it from online. The only planes I have been able to find are for a version that had "flapping" wings. The PBS version was fixed-wing... if anyone can find a link, please post it.

-Jake