Dave, for a moment of peace:
Is this unique to you?
No, i believe Martians analyse themselves very carefully too.
And your dictionary is....?
Somewhere under the pile of helicopter books.
Have you read your Prouty, page 7?
Yes, i have dutifully read the entire book. My memory occasionally needs refreshing, and has been so for pages 69-72.
Are you saying that Cornu did not fly his model?
As i wasn't there i can't say. All of the evidence seems to indicate that he was very close to success, but was a little ahead of his time.
Are you saying that he was ignorant of scaling?
The Wright brothers did not initially know about Reynolds number scaling for turbulent flow, nor did many pioneers of the era. I doubt Cornu realised initially either. Aerodynamics has come a long way since.
And that data is?
As stolen from C. Beaty on the linked thread for 8H12 aerofoil.
What i am saying is that you have come to the conclusion about Cornu's machine having a rotor FM of 0.7 by using a modern aerofoil. Since the actual aerofoil would not have given the same lift/drag performance then this conclusion is wrong. I am more inclined to believe Leishman's estimate of an FM of 0.5. If you allow the pulley system to work without slippage this still means the helicopter was slightly underpowered.
The final proof of how close Cornu got is that photo of the rear of the machine in the air, but there are no photos of sustained hover. There were likely moments of occasional wheels off hover from gusts of wind, but it appears it would not quite sustain a hover.
Still an achievement for 1907.