Horizon, Thursday 11th at 21:00hrs.
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Horizon, Thursday 11th at 21:00hrs.
Horizon at 21:00hrs.
Percy Pilcher. The first ever plane designer.
Tonight, Thursday 11th December at 21:00 on
BBC2 is a programme on Percy Pilcher
who in 1899 designed a triplane but was never
allowed to fly it.
Tonight's programme shows a replica being built
and put to the test.
Percy Pilcher. The first ever plane designer.
Tonight, Thursday 11th December at 21:00 on
BBC2 is a programme on Percy Pilcher
who in 1899 designed a triplane but was never
allowed to fly it.
Tonight's programme shows a replica being built
and put to the test.
Join Date: Dec 2001
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I've just watched the program and was rather disappointed they stretched their case too far. I've no problem with people trying to do this sort of thing, in fact I would have jumped at the chance to be involved with the building of such a "replica", but overall I felt they changed too much to really prove anything.
If I understood correctly...
No drawings exist of the machine they built for the program. They worked what it might have looked like from drawings of another plane with 4 wings. I wondered why they didn't build the plane with 4 wings that they have drawings for?
They filled in large triangular cut-outs in the trailing edge to increase the area.
They added wing warping and even then control looked marginal (perhaps due to lack of any yaw control?).
They added a seat to make the weight shift control work better.
They used a modern motor and fuel not a copy of his original. (Aside: Do drawings of his motor exist?).
All in all they did what Glenn Curtis tried to do to the Langley machine all those years ago.
Anyone want to build a replica of Penauds amphibian of 1876? Drawings exist (see below). It has elevators, a rudder, contra-rotating props and even retractable undercarriage
http://www.flyingmachines.org/pengau5.jpg
If I understood correctly...
No drawings exist of the machine they built for the program. They worked what it might have looked like from drawings of another plane with 4 wings. I wondered why they didn't build the plane with 4 wings that they have drawings for?
They filled in large triangular cut-outs in the trailing edge to increase the area.
They added wing warping and even then control looked marginal (perhaps due to lack of any yaw control?).
They added a seat to make the weight shift control work better.
They used a modern motor and fuel not a copy of his original. (Aside: Do drawings of his motor exist?).
All in all they did what Glenn Curtis tried to do to the Langley machine all those years ago.
Anyone want to build a replica of Penauds amphibian of 1876? Drawings exist (see below). It has elevators, a rudder, contra-rotating props and even retractable undercarriage
http://www.flyingmachines.org/pengau5.jpg
Join Date: Sep 2001
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My thoughts entirely.
Everything was based on, well we spotted the problem, so I am sure Percy would too. Even if we have had 103 years more experience.
But it was still an interesting program. I had no idea the guy existed before. Fair play to the bloke for what he achieved
Everything was based on, well we spotted the problem, so I am sure Percy would too. Even if we have had 103 years more experience.
But it was still an interesting program. I had no idea the guy existed before. Fair play to the bloke for what he achieved
