#HoratioPhilips believed that the ideal airplane would have a large number of wings that could generate lift together. He began working on this project before the #WrightBrothers. Philips’s first step was to create his own wind tunnel, which ended up being one of the most powerful and efficient of his day. This allowed Philips to test a variety of #airfoil designs and decide which ones were worth pursuing.
In 1891, Philips filed for one of the first patents describing a modern wing shape and went about designing an #airplane. With wind tunnel tests demonstrating that many thin, high–aspect ratio wings would give enough lift, Philips made an unmanned #aircraft with a set of 50 wings. Mounted on an arm that would sweep the airplane on a circular track, Philips discovered that this arrangement could lift about 180 kilograms (400 lb). The airplane was very unstable even on the ground, but Philips was convinced that his #Multiplane design was the way forward.
It was not until 1904 that the first manned Multiplane was ready for testing. Powered by an unusual coal engine, the 1904 airplane had 20 wings stacked on top of each other. On the test flight, the plane took to the air for 15 meters (50 ft) before settling back to the ground.
Undeterred, Philips went about making a new airplane. This time, his Multiplane had 200 wings and looked more like a box than an airplane. During the 1907 test flight, the new Multiplane took to the air and flew for 150 meters (500 ft), completing the first #powered #flight in the United Kingdom. Although the flight was a historical success, the 1907 Multiplane was still plagued with stability issues and was nearly impossible to control in flight. Even though his airplanes did not work, Philips’s research on #airfoils was extremely influential on other #aviation #pioneers.
#history #historynerd #bizarre #listverse #themoreyouknow #pilot #planes #plane http://listverse.com/2015/10/18/10-outlandish-early-flying-machines/