In fact, it is easy to answer Camier Fleming's question: When airplanes were developed to solve the problem of human flight. With the practical application of electricity, people can expect that the date of solving this problem will not be too long.
1783, the brothers Mon Golfi created the world's first hot air balloon in the style of Mon Golfi. Physicist Charles made the first hydrogen balloon. Long before that, some adventurous people fantasized about conquering space with machinery. Therefore, the earliest inventors did not consider using equipment heavier than air-limited by the material level of their time. What they are thinking about is how to make airplanes through lighter-than-air devices or imitate birds to realize air transportation.
It is said that Icarus, the arrogant son of Daedalus, succeeded in flying, but when he flew near the sun, his wings glued with wax melted.
You don't need to go back to the ancient times in myths and legends, and you don't need to say taranto de Ashitas, or even Dante de Berus and Leonardo da Vinci; The shadow of machines sailing in the atmosphere can also be found in the works of Guidotti and others.
After more than 200 years, inventors began to emerge in large numbers.
1742, the Marquis of Bacqueville made a wing system. He broke his arm in a test flight on the Seine.
1768, Dongpo, a device with lifting propeller and propelling propeller came out.
178 1 year, Milwin, the architect of Prince Baden, built a machine imitating the action of straight-winged insects to resist the airship just invented at that time.
1784, Ronova and Bienvault built a propeller machine started by a clockwork.
1808, Austrian Jacques Degen made a test flight.
18l0 years, Denio of Nantes published a pamphlet, which put forward the principle of "heavier than air".
Later, from 18 1 1 to 1840, many researches and inventions by Belinda, Vigar, Saarti, du bois and Cagnard de latour appeared.
1842, Englishman Henson invented the oblique wing and steam-driven propeller.
1845, Kosu invented the helicopter propeller.
1847, Camier Weil invented the bird wing propeller.
1852, Letour invented the controlled parachute system, and he himself died in the experiment. In the same year, Michelle Lu made a glider with four rotating wings.
1853, Berenik invented an airplane propelled by a traction propeller, Vosan Shardana invented a controllable kite, and George Gorey put forward an aircraft scheme using a gas engine.
From 1854 to 1863, Joseph Polina (who has won many patents for aviation inventions), Leon, Carlingford, Le Bree, Di Dempler, Brett (the propeller he invented can rotate forward and backward respectively), Smith, Barnafili, Crosner and others emerged.
1863, with Nadal's unremitting efforts, the association "More important than air" was finally established in Paris.
Inventors tested their machines there, and some of them have obtained patents, such as Ponton Damekur's steam propeller, La Landelle's oblique wing with umbrella propeller combination system, flying boat of Louvre, Esterno's mechanical bird, Groover's lever traction wing. Greatly mobilized people's enthusiasm, inventors have made great inventions, and mathematicians have calculated all the data that can make air transportation a reality, such as: Burkal, Lebri, gofman, Smith, Stefilo, Prigent, Dancia, Pomet and De La Bauze, Muwa, Beno, Nobel, Yulo de Werner, Aschenbach, Garapen and Dishes. Imagine, create, develop and improve the aircraft, until one day, an inventor creates a powerful engine that can be installed on these aircraft, and these aircraft will show their talents.
Please meditate patiently on these numerous names. We will briefly introduce the development of aircraft before Andrew robl the conqueror. It is the unremitting exploration of these predecessors that has enabled Robl to design the most perfect aircraft in the world so far. Although he disdains those stubborn balloon pilots, he sincerely admires those pioneers who are "heavier than air", whether they are British, American, Italian, Austrian or French. Moreover, it was on the basis of the French experimental results that he made improvements, which finally made the albatross come out and he was able to soar in the blue sky.
Indeed, whether in practice or in theory, air is obviously a very solid support. The circular parachute with a diameter of 1 m can not only slow down the landing speed, but also make the parachute lose its acceleration, which is a fact and accepted by the public.
It is also convincing that in high-speed motion, the effect of gravity is basically inversely proportional to the square of speed, so it becomes minimal.
And as we all know, the larger the weight of flying animals (although the flying speed of such animals is not fast), the smaller the necessary wingspan area to support them.
Therefore, flying tools should make full use of these natural laws to imitate birds, which is called "the magical species of air movement" by Dr. Marley of the French Academy of Sciences.
Generally speaking, there are three types of machines that can solve this problem.
1. Propeller, or screw machine: In fact, it is just some propellers with vertical axes.
2. Grasshopper machine: It is a machine that tries to imitate the natural flight of birds.
3. Planes: Actually, they are some inclined planes, much like kites, except that the propellers are pulled or pushed horizontally.
All these systems still have some staunch defenders today.
And Andrew robl after repeated screening, decided to choose the last one.
Grasshopper machine-mechanical bird, undoubtedly has its advantages. Mr. Renault's experiment in 1884 proves this point. But as someone pointed out, we can't copy everything in nature. The locomotive doesn't work very well, and the steamboat is not a copy of the fish. The former has wheels instead of legs, and the latter has propellers instead of fins, but they all walk well. In addition, the flight movements of birds are ever-changing, how to find out every detail of it? Didn't Dr. Marley ever guess that when a bird's wings are raised, its feathers will scatter to let the air pass? It's hard to say how to artificially invent a machine to imitate such an action.
In addition, there are many successful fact records in the aircraft series. Propeller with oblique wings can produce upward lift when it acts on the atmosphere. Some small-scale experiments show that besides the weight of the machine itself, the load that can be mastered is directly proportional to the square of the speed. This result is extremely important, and its advantages are even more beneficial than that of an airship moving at a constant speed.
In Robl's view, the most direct method is the best. Therefore, the use of propellers called "St. Alice" by Wilton Society members is enough to meet all the power required by the aircraft, and some propellers can meet the vertical needs, so that the machine can be suspended at any height; The other part meets the horizontal direction to make it move forward smoothly and quickly.
Indeed, from a theoretical point of view, making a propeller with a short pitch and a large middle area, as Victor Tatan said, can be said to be a "close call".
If the grasshopper machine imitates a bird flapping the air downward with its wings, it will use the air reaction to rise. That propeller is lifted by cutting air obliquely with its propeller blades, just as it is lifted through an inclined plane. In fact, these blades are spiral, not turbines, and the rotation of the propeller will make it move along the axis. If the axis is vertical, it will move vertically; If the shaft is horizontal, it will move horizontally.
Robl's entire flying machine has these two functions.
Specifically, it can be divided into three main parts: platform, lifting propulsion mechanism and computer room.
Platform-this is a big frame 30 meters long and 4 meters wide, just like the most standard ship deck with kicking spurs. Below the deck is a solid round shell, which contains engines, powder guns, control devices and tools, as well as a general warehouse for various materials, including fresh water tanks on board. On the edge of the platform are some small pillars connected by barbed wire, and the pillars are equipped with railings as handrails. There are three cabins above the platform, one as a lounge and the other as a computer room. The middle cabin is equipped with drivers for all lifting devices, the front cabin is equipped with drivers for front propulsion devices, and the rear cabin is equipped with drivers for rear propulsion devices. All three machines have their own unique startup methods.
In the first cabin building in front, there is also a storage room, a kitchen and a crew cabin. There are also several cabins in the aft cabin, one is the engine room and the other is the dining room; In the glass cabin above, the helmsman drives the plane through a powerful steering wheel. The portholes of the engine room building are all tempered glass, which is 10 times stronger than ordinary glass. Although the engineer has been very handy in operating the machine, it can be gentle and gentle when landing, but a set of spring damping system is installed under the shell to cushion when landing.
Lifting device and propulsion device-On the platform, 15 shafts are vertically placed on each side, with 30 shafts on both sides and 7 higher shafts in the middle, just like a ship with 37 masts, except that there are no sails on the masts, but propellers. Two propellers are placed horizontally on each shaft, with short pitch and diameter, which can rotate at ultra-high speed. The motion of each axis is relatively independent. Every two opposite shafts rotate in opposite directions, so this design is a necessary measure to prevent the plane from spinning. This can not only ensure that the propeller rises continuously along the vertical air column, but also will not lose its balance in the horizontal direction.
In this way, there are always 74 lift propellers in the whole aircraft. The three blades of each propeller are fixed by a metal ring, which is equivalent to a flywheel to save power. Two four-blade propellers are installed on the horizontal shafts at the head and tail of the hull, with opposite directions and extremely long pitch, which rotate in different directions to generate horizontal propulsion. The diameter of both propellers is longer than that of the lift propeller, and the rotation speed is also extremely high.
In a word, this aircraft adopts the advantages of Kosu, La Landelle, Ponton Delta Cour and other systems at the same time, and it is more perfect after the improvement of Robl. Especially in the choice and application of power, Robl is a real "inventor".
——Robl, the power part, does not use water vapor or other liquid vapor, compressed air or other elastic gas to generate the power for other aircraft to ascend and move forward, nor does it generate explosive mechanical force through the mixed reaction of different substances. He uses electricity, which will become the driving force of the soul of industrial society in the near future. Moreover, his electricity comes not from generators, but from batteries and storage batteries.
But what are these dry batteries made of? What is the acid that makes it produce current? It's Robl's secret. As for the battery, what are the performances of its cathode plate and anode plate? None of this is known. The reason why engineers don't apply for patents is self-evident. In a word, it is an indisputable fact that the efficiency of dry batteries is extraordinary, and the acid used for storage batteries hardly evaporates and freezes. Its performance has left Fuer Theron Walkman battery far behind. In short, the current intensity is rare in the world, and the power it produces can be said to be inexhaustible. No matter what happens, it can provide the necessary power for the propeller and make the aircraft get enough lift and driving force.
But it must be reiterated here: Robl did all this alone. However, he kept it a secret himself. If Uncle Prudence and Phil Evans can't solve this mystery, it seems that this secret will become an eternal mystery.
Because of its low center of gravity, there is no need to worry about the stability of the aircraft. In the horizontal direction, it will not tilt to a frightening degree, let alone worry about overturning.
Finally, what is the material of this plane in Robl (it is really appropriate to call it "albatross" by plane)? Even Phil Evans' hunting knife can't be opened, and even Uncle Prudence can't tell what it is. What is this? -That's paper!
Over the years, the paper industry has made gratifying progress. Adhesive-free paper can become a stronger substance than steel by sticking it, soaking it in starch and then pressing it with a hydraulic press. This material can be used as pulleys, rails or train wheels. The wheels it makes are even stronger and lighter than metal wheels. Robl needs this strong and light material to make his space bus.
Hull, frame, cabin building and cabin are all made of paper made of straw. After high pressure treatment, this paper becomes like metal, and even extremely difficult to burn. For a machine that wants to fly at high altitude, this latter point must not be ignored. As for the various parts of the lifting and propulsion device, such as the shaft and blades of the propeller, it is made of gelatin, which is a strong and flexible fiber. This material has strong plasticity, does not decompose in most gases and liquids (acid or gasoline), and has the best insulation performance. Therefore, it can give full play to its advantages when used in the electrical part of albatross.
Rob, engineer Tom Turner, foreman, a mechanic and two assistants, two helmsmen and a chef, there are eight people in all. This is the crew, enough to handle this aerial camera. The plane is equipped with firepower for hunting and fighting, fishing gear, electric lights, observation instruments, a compass and sextant for determining the course, a thermometer, various barometers (some are used to measure the flying height and some are used to measure the change of atmospheric pressure), a climate change prediction tube for forecasting storms, a small bookcase, a portable printing machine, and a door (60 mm) placed in the middle of the deck, which can rotate around the axis and load shells from the gun tail. A warehouse for storing gunpowder, shells and detonators, an electric heater, and a batch of food (including canned food, pork and vegetables, plus several barrels of brandy, whisky and gin) are put in a special storage room. In short, it's enough for a flight that doesn't land for several months. That's all the supplies and food on the plane, including the most famous bronze.
In addition, there is a light rubber boat in the engine room, which will not sink easily and can be used by 8 people in rivers, lakes or calm seas.
Is Robl also equipped with a parachute in case of emergency? No. He doesn't think this kind of thing will happen on the albatross. The shafts of all propellers are independent of each other. Even if a part of the propeller stops running, the other propellers will still run as expected. As long as half of the propeller is turning, it is enough to make the albatross fly normally.
As Andrew robl the conqueror declared to several of his new guests (reluctant guests):
"With it, I became the owner of the seventh part of the world. This one-seventh is bigger than Africa, Asia, America and Europe, and the chairman and secretary of Oceania are not convinced. In the future, thousands of Ikaria people will come to Ikaria to live in this air. "