登陆注册
15401500000055

第55章

Manly then had the several parts of it, which he deemed hopeful, transported to Washington, and there at the Smithsonian Institution he labored and experimented until he evolved a light and powerful gasoline motor.In October, 1903, the test was made, with Manly aboard of the machine.The failure which resulted was due solely to the clumsy launching apparatus.The airplane was damaged as it rushed forward before beginning to soar; and, as it rose, it turned over and plunged into the river.The loyal and enthusiastic Manly, who was fortunately a good diver and swimmer, hastily dried himself and gave out a reassuring statement to the representatives of the press and to the officers of the Board of Ordnance gathered to witness the flight.

A second failure in December convinced spectators that man was never intended to fly.The newspapers let loose such a storm of ridicule upon Langley and his machine, with charges as to the waste of public funds, that the Government refused to assist him further.Langley, at that time sixty-nine years of age, took this defeat so keenly to heart that it hastened his death, which occurred three years later."Failure in the aerodrome itself," he wrote, "or its engines there has been none; and it is believed that it is at the moment of success, and when the engineering problems have been solved, that a lack of means has prevented a continuance of the work."It was truly "at the moment of success" that Langley's work was stopped.On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the first successful experiment in which a machine carrying a man rose by its own power, flew naturally and at even speed, and descended without damage.These brothers, Wilbur and Orville, who at last opened the long besieged lanes of the air, were born in Dayton, Ohio.Their father, a clergyman and later a bishop, spent his leisure in scientific reading and in the invention of a typewriter which, however, he never perfected.He inspired an interest in scientific principles in his boys' minds by giving them toys which would stimulate their curiosity.One of these toys was a helicopter, or Cayley's Top, which would rise and flutter awhile in the air.

After several helicopters of their own, the brothers made original models of kites, and Orville, the younger, attained an exceptional skill in flying them.Presently Orville and Wilbur were making their own bicycles and astonishing their neighbors by public appearances on a specially designed tandem.The first accounts which they read of experiments with flying machines turned their inventive genius into the new field.In particular the newspaper accounts at that time of Otto Lilienthal's exhibitions with his glider stirred their interest and set them on to search the libraries for literature on the subject of flying.As they read of the work of Langley and others they concluded that the secret of flying could not be mastered theoretically in a laboratory; it must be learned in the air.It struck these young men, trained by necessity to count pennies at their full value, as "wasteful extravagance" to mount delicate and costly machinery on wings which no one knew how to manage.

They turned from the records of other inventors' models to study the one perfect model, the bird.Said Wilbur Wright, speaking before the Society of Western Engineers, at Chicago:

"The bird's wings are undoubtedly very well designed indeed, but it is not any extraordinary efficiency that strikes with astonishment, but rather the marvelous skill with which they are used.It is true that I have seen birds perform soaring feats of almost incredible nature in positions where it was not possible to measure the speed and trend of the wind, but whenever it was possible to determine by actual measurements the conditions under which the soaring was performed it was easy to account for it on the basis of the results obtained with artificial wings.The soaring problem is apparently not so much one of better wings as of better operators."** Cited in Turner, "The Romance of Aeronautics".

When the Wrights determined to fly, two problems which had beset earlier experimenters had been partially solved.Experience had brought out certain facts regarding the wings; and invention had supplied an engine.But the laws governing the balancing and steering of the machine were unknown.The way of a man in the air had yet to be discovered.

The starting point of their theory of flight seems to have been that man was endowed with an intelligence at least equal to that of the bird; and, that with practice he could learn to balance himself in the air as naturally and instinctively as on the ground.He must and could be, like the bird, the controlling intelligence of his machine.To quote Wilbur Wright again:

"It seemed to us that the main reason why the problem had remained so long unsolved was that no one had been able to obtain any adequate practice.Lilienthal in five years of time had spent only five hours in actual gliding through the air.The wonder was not that he had done so little but that he had accomplished so much.It would not be considered at all safe for a bicycle rider to attempt to ride through a crowded city street after only five hours' practice spread out in bits of ten seconds each over a period of five years, yet Lilienthal with his brief practice was remarkably successful in meeting the fluctuations and eddies of wind gusts.We thought that if some method could be found by which it would be possible to practice by the hour instead of by the second, there would be a hope of advancing the solution of a very difficult problem."The brothers found that winds of the velocity they desired for their experiments were common on the coast of North Carolina.

同类推荐
  • 续修台湾县志

    续修台湾县志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 金陵琐事

    金陵琐事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 海内十洲记

    海内十洲记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 戴东原先生轶事

    戴东原先生轶事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 古今译经图纪

    古今译经图纪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 方舟待行然别湖

    方舟待行然别湖

    浩渺的然别湖,连着市井味十足的宿州和繁华雍容的上京,湖边的无定寺白羚出没,牵出周渔思和戴家叔侄的一段孽缘。方、周、戴家的恩怨情仇也在一湖两地间演绎。妙龄乐女周渔思背负着怎样的秘密和屈辱,跟随曾经陷害她的方秀珏入戴家侍郎府,又会与戴家东府的三位小姐产生怎样的纠葛?戎州的空空儿又会以怎样的身份强势回归?戴永杲和戴不胜叔侄对周渔思的情思是真是假?瑞王和端王的权力割据又是怎样牵连着戴永肃和戴永昊之间的兄弟恩怨?一叶小舟,一对白衣璧人,一嘘一叹一思迁……
  • 宇宙超级庄园

    宇宙超级庄园

    开新书《科技唐朝》,请大家去收藏支持啊,这本是感觉超好的一本,相信大家一定会喜欢!下面点击直接进去。
  • 我的霸道冰山老公

    我的霸道冰山老公

    一个女孩子叫慕欣怡,他转到新学校,雪樱中学,她幸运的分到了三班,并且和三个校草,王晨南邵,秦霖,安昀飞在一个班级,他们每个人都有着迷死人不偿命的脸庞。这个班级还有这个校园最漂亮的女生,就是校花沐柔,虽然她表面看起来乐观向上,但是也有一段不可回首的过去。慕欣怡这个普通的女孩,和他们每个人都逐渐成为好朋友,霸道的王晨南邵和她擦出了怎样的火花呢?。。他们的爱情会不会一路顺风呢?请大家多多关注《我的霸道冰山老公》
  • 最美的年纪遇到最美的你

    最美的年纪遇到最美的你

    王源、王俊凯、易烊千玺三人,无意中遇到了艾萱儿、阮桐、尹雯菁。就是这个偶然的机会,使他们成为了彼此最重要的人。可他们是无人不知的TFBOYS,却为了她们不惜一切甚至去打架。还因此招来了更多黑粉。但是,艾萱儿不知为何凭空消失,不辞而别。王俊凯为了寻找她,会经历什么,会怎么样?艾雪儿最后会回到他、与闺蜜们的身边吗?
  • 超神的英雄们

    超神的英雄们

    一笔一划、描绘出一个我心中的完美世界:英雄联盟
  • 铁十字的光辉

    铁十字的光辉

    他,本来不是这个世界的人。但是,既然他来到了这个地方,无论是为了自己,为了报恩,还是为了改变一些人的命运,他必须要做些什么。从1923年11月的慕尼黑啤酒馆,到1933年8月2日魏玛共和国谢幕,他更多的是一个见证者;从1936年3月7日之后,他正式进入到这个世界的历史舞台上,当然暂时还是配角……但是他不在意这些,因为他知道,自己无论是见证者,是配角抑或总有一天会成为主角,他的命运,已经逐步与德意志第三帝国越发紧密。他不想历史重现,只能依靠自己的双手,去扭转有可能会维持原状的命运。而他,认为能够让他改变这种命运的,就是让铁十字释放出它本应该有的光辉。
  • 凯源玺之恋爱手册

    凯源玺之恋爱手册

    三小只碰到了三个四叶草,会擦出怎样的火花呢?(作者第一次写小说,若有不对之处请提出,我必改正)
  • 我和校花是同桌

    我和校花是同桌

    我们不是流氓,只是一群学生我们肆意挥霍着青春,但却坚持着自己的底线我们可以用图钉扎女生的屁股但在女同学受到欺负的时候我们会毫不犹豫的挺身而出我们喜欢漂亮的女生也喜欢漂亮的女老师这一切都没有错因为我们正青春
  • 大燕歌

    大燕歌

    赳赳老秦,复我河山。血不流干,死不休战。西有大秦,如日方升。百年国恨,沧海难平。天下纷扰,何得康宁?秦有锐士,谁与争雄?!这是一个如日方升的帝国,这是一个御五国而有余的强国,这是一个秦国称霸的时代。关中有锐士,山东有豪杰。群雄竞相争,盟约罢又起。英雄出吾辈,合纵退强秦。列国竞相逐,杀人当盈野。人命如草芥,弱者嚎悲歌。这又是一个弱肉强食的时代。但这又是一个英雄的沉吟的时代:男儿不问身后事,只求可否歌一曲。醉酒起舞看吴钩,唱我浮游生如梦,舞我干戈雄似铁。争雄力尽死沙场,耻与老死相为伍;是非成败转头空,不论成败论英雄。哈,哈,哈痛快,痛快,不枉一生男儿行!
  • 轮回灭世邪女

    轮回灭世邪女

    上一世是为弟而亡,这一世为寻弟而变强。女主有一个蠢萌的爹,可是却因为自已国家灭亡,家人离世,她尝尽人生欢禾,尝尽人生悲痛;受过一人之上万人之下的光荣,受过众人的打骂,当她主魄归来,这片天地由她主载。