Timeline for Compressed air instead of steam in a steam engine, would that allow powered flight?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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| Sep 18, 2023 at 16:20 | history | edited | Jerry Coffin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 17, 2023 at 9:07 | comment | added | releseabe | I am reminded of Flight of the Phoenix wherein the German engineer and the Captain discuss powered flight that occurred in the mid 19th (a rubber band-powered model). People were very optimistic about powered flight and expected to use steam engines to do it around 1850 -- one guy went from tethered model to trying to raise money for passenger service I think even in the 1840s. Admirable optimism. | |
| Sep 17, 2023 at 9:02 | comment | added | releseabe | Thanks for the details. Perhaps the Wrights thought, Sure, we could use compressed air but we are looking for a longer flight time. And gasoline engines were indeed already available and far from exotic by 1900. But if the goal was simply a flight of any length, perhaps the Wrights could have been beaten by years. I do know of prior claims and also Wright innovations that had nothing to do with engines. | |
| Sep 17, 2023 at 1:34 | history | answered | Jerry Coffin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |