Horatio Frederick Phillips (1845[1] – 1924) was an English aviation pioneer, born in Streatham, Surrey. He was famous for building multiplane flying machines with many more sets of lifting surfaces than are normal on modern aircraft. However he made a more lasting contribution to aeronautics in his work on aerofoil design.[2]
Phillips devised a wind tunnel in which he studied a wide variety of aerofoil shapes for use in providing lift. The tunnel was unusual in that the gas flow was provided by steam rather than air.[2]
By 1884 he was able to register his first patent, and more were to follow. He demonstrated the truth of George Cayley's idea that giving the upper surface greater curvature than the lower accelerates the upper airflow, reducing pressure above the wing and so creating lift.
Multiplane flying machinesedit
1904 Flying Machine
Phillips believed that multiple stacked wing planes (or "sustainers" as he called them), in "Venetian blind" configuration, offered advantages.
His 1893 Flying Machine had 50 lifting surfaces and used his patented "double-surface airfoils" in such a way as to produce an aspect ratio of 1:152, providing great lift at the sacrifice of stability. As a test vehicle, it was not designed to be manned, but was used to test lifting capability. Its maximum load was found to be 400 lb (180 kg).[3]
His 1904 Multiplane was a development of the 1893 test vehicle in a configuration that could be flown by a person. It had 21 wings and had a tail for stability, but was unable to achieve sustained flight. Its best performance was 50 ft (15 m).[4] A specially made replica of the 1904 machine appears in the opening sequences of the 1965 film Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines.
1907 Flying Machine
His 1907 Multiplane, which had 200 individual airfoils and was powered by a 22 hp (16 kW) engine driving a 7 ft (2.1 m) propeller achieved a 500 ft (150 m) flight on 6 April 1907. This was the first flight of its kind in England, although it was preceded by the Wright brothers by several years.[4][5]
Though successful, the 1907 model showed poor performance compared to more conventional contemporary types. This caused Phillips to end his attempts at manned flight.[6]
Referencesedit
^. U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Archived from the original on 23 September 2006.
^ abWragg, D.W.; Flight before flying, Osprey, 1974
horatio, frederick, phillips, 1845, 1924, english, aviation, pioneer, born, streatham, surrey, famous, building, multiplane, flying, machines, with, many, more, sets, lifting, surfaces, than, normal, modern, aircraft, however, made, more, lasting, contribution. Horatio Frederick Phillips 1845 1 1924 was an English aviation pioneer born in Streatham Surrey He was famous for building multiplane flying machines with many more sets of lifting surfaces than are normal on modern aircraft However he made a more lasting contribution to aeronautics in his work on aerofoil design 2 Contents 1 Aerofoils 2 Multiplane flying machines 3 References 4 External linksAerofoils editPhillips devised a wind tunnel in which he studied a wide variety of aerofoil shapes for use in providing lift The tunnel was unusual in that the gas flow was provided by steam rather than air 2 By 1884 he was able to register his first patent and more were to follow He demonstrated the truth of George Cayley s idea that giving the upper surface greater curvature than the lower accelerates the upper airflow reducing pressure above the wing and so creating lift Multiplane flying machines edit nbsp 1904 Flying MachinePhillips believed that multiple stacked wing planes or sustainers as he called them in Venetian blind configuration offered advantages His 1893 Flying Machine had 50 lifting surfaces and used his patented double surface airfoils in such a way as to produce an aspect ratio of 1 152 providing great lift at the sacrifice of stability As a test vehicle it was not designed to be manned but was used to test lifting capability Its maximum load was found to be 400 lb 180 kg 3 His 1904 Multiplane was a development of the 1893 test vehicle in a configuration that could be flown by a person It had 21 wings and had a tail for stability but was unable to achieve sustained flight Its best performance was 50 ft 15 m 4 A specially made replica of the 1904 machine appears in the opening sequences of the 1965 film Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines nbsp 1907 Flying MachineHis 1907 Multiplane which had 200 individual airfoils and was powered by a 22 hp 16 kW engine driving a 7 ft 2 1 m propeller achieved a 500 ft 150 m flight on 6 April 1907 This was the first flight of its kind in England although it was preceded by the Wright brothers by several years 4 5 Though successful the 1907 model showed poor performance compared to more conventional contemporary types This caused Phillips to end his attempts at manned flight 6 References edit Horatio Phillips U S Centennial of Flight Commission Archived from the original on 23 September 2006 a b Wragg D W Flight before flying Osprey 1974 A History of Aeronautics by E Charles Vivian a b Horatio Phillips amp Multiplanes Aerospaceweb org Gibbs Smith Charles H 3 April 1959 Hops and flights a roll call of early powered take offs Flight p 469 Angelucci E and Matricardi P World Aircraft Origins World War 1 Sampson Low 1977 External links editGuide to Horatio Philips Letter to Octave Chanute August 25 1909 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center nbsp This biographical article related to aviation is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article about an engineer inventor or industrial designer from England is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Horatio Frederick Phillips amp oldid 1049917959, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
