Lesson 7: A History of Aerodynamics - Part I
Section 2 – Myths, Legend, and Early Adventures of Flight
ANCIENT ASPIRATION
An ancient aspiration of man has been to leave the surface of the earth and freely soar above the valleys and mountains. Primeval fantasies of flight are deeply embedded in the early mythology of peoples in all parts of the world.
The thought of flight is closely tied to ideas of divinity. The gods live high above us. The Greek gods occupied Mt. Olympus in northern Greece, and the Christian god dwells in heaven. Heaven is considered a place high above the earth and its clouds.
Early dreams of flight involved the imitation of birds. The Greek god Hermes has short wings attached to his sandals and helmet. Statues of Nike, the goddess of victory, show large wings attached to her back. Christian angels, very similarly, are represented from the earliest times with wings.
MYTHOLOGICAL AVIATORS
One of the best known mythological aviators in the Western world is Daedalus, an inventor who is sometimes credited with making the first axe. His son, Icarus, is also known. Both have been pictorialized making their escape from Crete, the Mediterranean island where they were imprisoned.
Daedalus had made wings held together with wax. Incarus flew too high, and when the sun’s rays melted his wings, he fell.
There were also fliers in the sagas of the Norsemen. These include the Finnish blacksmith, Ilmienen, Wieland to the Germanic tribes. He is said to have fashioned metal wings to rise from the earth.
Shun, in the Far East, was the emperor of China around 2000 B.C. He was, according to legend, taught to fly by two princesses of the court, who seem to be the first recorded flight instructors.
Chinese writings in the 16th century B.C. describe a flying cart. This craft is later shown in a woodcut with wheels that are a cross between paddle wheels and propellers.
Early legends in India relay the tale of a flying wooden horse impelled by internal machinery which could carry a rider.
A winged human figure is depicted on the grave of Ramses II of Egypt. The folklore of Uganda in Africa includes flying men.
The flying carpet of the Orient and the broom on which witches ride have a long ancestry. Some of the latter possibly included a form of rocket propulsion.
Flying in mythology began to lead toward serious flight attempts based on the construction and testing of flying machines. Images of flying men appear in sculpture, paintings and prints, as well as vivid descriptions in books.
The magician Simon was said to have flown in a fiery chariot over the city of Rome during Emperor Nero’s time.
EARLIEST ATTEMPTS
Around the year 1020, Elmer, a Benedictine monk of the Abbey of Malmesbury in England, was said to have performed a spectacular glide with wings, beginning from the tower of the abbey. He broke his legs during the journey.
The Italian mathematician Batitta Dante reportedly flew a glider across the Lake of Trasimene in 1456. There were many stories of mechanical models of birds.
In the 4th century, B.C., Archytas of Greece described a model of pigeon with a pressure mechanism to make it fly. Copper birds that sang and soared are mentioned in Rome 500 A.D. An ingeniously devised flying eagle is said to have greeted the emperor Charles V in Nuremburg in 1541.
Flying ships appear in the paintings of Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch. They also portrayed animals and people in flight.
Imaginery travel by man began to extend to interplanetary space and the entire universe. As early as the 17th century, Johannes Kepler wrote a precursor of science fiction.
In Somnium, he told a story about a man who dreams that he is flying to the moon. He reports what he sees there, and this is considered to be the first scientific description of the moon’s surface.
MYTH AND IMAGINATION
Increased fascination with aviation came with the rapid development of science and technology after the end of the 17th century. Jules Verne, the famous science fiction writer, depicted a great airship, and foretold travel to the moon. Mythology still exists to present day with UFOs (unidentified flying objects).
In early flight, there were serious documented attempts to conquer the air that went beyond legend and imagination.
Kites were forerunners of airplanes. They are heavier than air and rise above the ground like airplanes. Many centuries ago, they made their first appearance in China and other countries in the Far East, continuing to remain popular. Large kites are believed to have been invented in China around 400 B.C. by Mo To Tzu. To Tzu constructed kites of light wood that flew tethered while leashed to the ground.
In 1749, the Scottish meteorologist Alexander Wilson, with the assistance of Thomas Melville, used kites to carry thermometers aloft to study the atmospheric temperature distribution.
In 1752, the great Benjamin Franklin experimented with kites in his daring and famous studies of lightning.
In contrast to Da Vinci’s ornithopters, flying machines that enable man to emulate birds with flappable mechanized wings, and with various kinds of gliders; comes the appearance of lighter-than-air craft such as balloons and ships.
ROGER BACON
In one of the earliest sources on the subject, English Franciscan monk, Roger Bacon, showed an understanding of Archimedes’ law of buoyancy. He suggested that a balloon could float on air just like a ship on water provided it was filled with a lighter substance than air.
Although he could not foresee the discovery of light gases such as hydrogen and helium, he also mentioned a flying machine with “artificial wings made to beat the air.”
