Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II
by matthewdgreen on Friday July 15, 2022 @09:26AM
(#32107937)
Or rather, that development of the plane was waiting on the engine. The Wright brothers did all of their iteration and experimentation on relatively flat terrain flying close to the ground, which is how they were able to survive at least eight major crashes (and probably more minor ones.) Without an engine this kind of iterative experimentation seems almost impossible: you’d need to launch from a height, which means the first minor failure probably kills you and destroys the prototype.
And of course even if you survive the iterative development process, all you’ve got is a (largely) useless glider until the engine comes along and you can commercialize it.
Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II
by jodrellblank on Friday July 15, 2022 @12:22PM
(#32109758)
See the Caproni Transaero from 1921, with eight engines and nine wings it’s right from the time you are talking about - putting engines on a fixed wing solid plane body is possible but sufficient understanding of flight is still missing.
Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II
by dredmorbius on Friday July 15, 2022 @02:33PM
(#32111359)
Excellent example. And a beautiful failure to boot.
The only thing I would change is that this makes it seem like powered flight was waiting on the engine, when it was waiting on the plane.
One thing that struck me at the Museum of Flight in Seattle is how far advanced IC technology was while the Wright brothers were gliding in wooden contraptions. They had turbocharged v12 diesel engines and Benz was already making aluminum engines for cars before the Wright brothers made their first attempt.
I found it fascinating how as soon as flight was demonstrated, it only took a few years to go from a wooden prototype to a sophisticated machine with a very complex engine.
Bonus pic of some of those early engines https://i.imgur.com/mENnuHH.png