Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II

Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II by zabzonk on Friday July 15, 2022 @07:48AM (#32107120)

I think that what you say is probably true, but things like thermal-riding or slope-soaring gliders would have been very useful (for the military, if nothing else) before the invention of the IC engine.

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Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II by dane-pgp on Friday July 15, 2022 @09:17AM (#32107849)

As discussed further down, kites were indeed seen as useful for the military in the late 19th century. Wikipedia says[0]

> In the early 1890s, Captain B.F.S Baden-Powell ... developed his "Levitor" kite, a hexagonal-shaped kite intended to be used by the army in order to lift a man for aerial observation or for lifting large loads such as a wireless antenna.

A glider may not have been suitable for carrying an antenna, but aerial observation via glider is an idea that must have occurred to people in the army, even before the invention of the IC engine.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-lifting_kite

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Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II by Ekaros on Friday July 15, 2022 @07:50AM (#32107134)

Big questions is getting those to air, what you actually do with them and then how to solve communicating from them. Just think of how very early WW1 planes were actually used.

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Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II by zabzonk on Friday July 15, 2022 @07:53AM (#32107156)

At the speed armies moved back in the (say) 15th century, this would probably not been such a problem, but I take your point.

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