Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Engineers, Mechanics, and Other Scholars Better Skip This Chapter

When will human beings stop crawling on the ground, live in the blue sky and enjoy the tranquility of space? About Camille.The answer to this question of Flamarion (Note: 1842︱1925, French astronomer.) is very simple: wait until the progress of the machine allows humans to solve the problem of flight.In recent years, as electricity has become more and more practical, it is expected that the problem will eventually be solved. In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers (note) created the world's first Montgolfier-style hot air balloon, and physicist Charles created the first hydrogen balloon.And long before that, some adventurous people fantasized about conquering space with the help of machines.In other words, the earliest inventors did not contemplate the use of lighter-than-air devices, and the state of physics of their time did not allow such an imagination.What they think about is how to achieve air transportation by means of heavier-than-air tools or imitation of birds.

(Note) That is Joseph.Montgolfier (Joseph Montgolfier, 1740︱1810) and Etienne.Montgolfier (Etienne Montgolfier, 1745︱1799) two brothers, French inventor.It is generally believed that the hot air balloon was invented by the two brothers in 1783. Daedalus' son, the arrogant Icarus, did just that, only his waxed wings melted as he flew near the sun. There is no need to go back to the age of myths and legends, and there is no need to talk about Taranto.De.Ashitas (Note: about 430 BC︱348 BC, an Italian mathematician and astronomer. It is said that he invented screws and pulleys, and made many automatic puppets, including one that could fly pigeons.), even Dante.De.Belluz, Leonardo.Ideas about machines navigating the atmosphere can be found in the works of Da Vinci, Guidoti and others.Two and a half centuries later, inventors began to emerge in droves.In 1742, the Marquis of Barkerville made a wing system; he broke his arm on a test flight over the Seine.In 1768, Pockton designed a device with a lifting propeller and a propulsion propeller.In 1781, the architect of the Prince of Baden, Milwein, built a machine that imitated the movements of straight-winged insects to compete with the airship that had just been invented at that time.In 1784, Ronois and Bianvoni tested a wind-up propeller machine.In 1808, the Austrian JacquesDegen conducted flight tests.In 1810, Denio of Nantes published a pamphlet proposing the principle of being heavier than air.Later, from 1811 to 1840, there were Bellinger, Vicar, Sarti, Dubocher and Garnier.De.A series of studies and inventions by Latour et al.In 1842, the British Henson invented the oblique wing and the propeller driven by steam; in 1845, Kesu invented the helicopter propeller;Weir invented the bird feather propeller; in 1852, Le Tier invented the controllable parachute system, and he himself died in the experiment. In the same year, Michel.Lu invented a glider with four rotary wings; in 1853, Berenik invented an aircraft propelled by a traction propeller, and Watson.Sardana invented the controllable kite, George.Goron proposed a flying machine with a gas engine.From 1854 to 1863, appeared again like Joseph.Paulina (who has several patents for aeronautical inventions), Blaine, Carlingford, Le.Bree, Dee.Dumpler.Brett (whose invention of the lifting propeller can be rotated separately in opposite directions), Smith, Panafier, Crosnier and others.In 1863, thanks to Nadal's efforts, the Heavier-than-Air Association was finally established in Paris.Inventors experimented with their machines there, some of which were patented: such as Ponton.Damecoul's steam propeller.Lalandelle's oblique-wing parachute-propeller combination system, Louflier's flying boat.Estelno's mechanical bird, Grover's lever tractor wing.Enthusiasm was mobilized for all: inventors inventing, calculators crunching all the numbers that would make air transport a reality.Bulkar, Le.Brie, Goffman, Smith, Stuart Huffero, Prijan.When Jarr.Bomei and De.Rapoz, Muwa.Benoy, Nobel, Yu Luo.De.Vernave, Aschenbach, Galapon, Dischesna, Don Durand, Balizel, Dieued, Melekisev, Forlanini, Brieri, Tatan , Dondrieu, Edison, etc. Some of them use wings, some use propellers or oblique wings, and they are imagining, creating, developing, and perfecting their flying machines.Someday, some inventor creates a powerful and light engine that can be fitted to these flying machines, and these flying machines will actually fly.

Readers, please excuse this lengthy list.Should not the stages of the development of the flying machine before Robier the Conqueror reach its pinnacle be described?Without the groping and experimentation of these pioneers, could this engineer have designed such a perfect flying machine?Certainly not!Although he looks down on those who stubbornly only want to build airships, he is highly respected by those who advocate that flying machines should be heavier than air, such as the British, Americans, Italians, Austrians, and French. dear.Especially the French, it was on the basis of their labor results, he improved, and finally invented and manufactured the Albatross flying machine, which enabled him to travel in the sky.

Doves should fly in the sky!shouted a staunch supporter of the cause of aviation. You should step on the atmosphere like your feet on the earth!Another ardent supporter of the career of flying echoed. If there are trains running on the ground, there should be trains running in the sky!Said one of the loudest ones, with a megaphone calling out to New and Old Worlds. Indeed, both experiments and calculations have proved very clearly that air is a very reliable support.A circular parachute with a diameter of one meter can not only slow down the descent, but also make the descent lose acceleration.This is a well-known fact.

It is also well known that in high speed motion, gravity becomes insignificant since its effect is essentially inversely proportional to the square of the velocity. And it is also known that the greater the mass of flying animals (although such animals do not fly fast), the correspondingly smaller the wing area necessary to support them. Therefore, the means of flight should make use of these laws of nature to imitate the flying bird, that wonderful species which Dr. Marais of the French Academy of Sciences calls air movement. In general, the machines that solve this problem can be divided into three categories:

one.Propellers, or propellers: Actually, these are just propellers with vertical axes. two.Grasshoppers are machines that try to fly as birds naturally fly. three.Flying machines, in fact, are just some sloping planes, much like kites, except that they are pulled or pushed by propellers in the horizontal direction. All of these systems had, and even still have, some determined adherents to their end. After much consideration, Robier decided to abandon the first two systems. Grasshopper machines and mechanical birds undoubtedly have their advantages.M. Reynaud's experiments in 1884 proved this.But as someone pointed out, it is impossible to imitate nature as it is.The locomotive is not a copy of the rabbit, nor is the steamship a copy of the fish.The former had wheels instead of legs, and the latter had propellers instead of fins, but they both walked well.The flying movements of giant birds are so complicated, how to figure out its flight mechanism?Didn't Dr. Marley conjecture that the feathers of a bird's wing open up to let the air pass when it is lifted up?Such a movement, it is very difficult to artificially build a machine to imitate it.

Besides, it is an undoubted fact that there are already many good records in flying machines.The slope of the propeller acts on the atmosphere in such a way as to generate upward momentum.Experiments with small installations have shown that the load, that is, the load at the disposal of a person in addition to the weight of the machine itself, increases with the square of the speed.This is extremely advantageous, even more so than a longboat moving at a constant speed. Robbier felt that the easiest way was the best way.So the propeller, which the Weltonians reproached with the joking name of St. Alice, was sufficient to satisfy all the needs of his flying machine, with one part for keeping the machine in the air, and the other part for quick and safe flight. to push the machine forward.

Yes, in theory, with a propeller with a short pitch but a large blade area, you can use a propeller like Victor.Lifting a body of infinite weight with a minimum of force, as Mr. Tartan said. Whereas a grasshopper generally rises by forcing the air down in imitation of the flapping of a bird's wings, a propeller rises by obliquely cutting the air with the blades of its propeller, as if ascending on an inclined plane.These are actually helical, not turbine-like blades, and the rotation of the propeller moves the propeller axially.If the axis is vertical, it will move vertically; if the axis is horizontal, it will move horizontally.

Engineer Robier's entire flying machine only has these two functions. Precisely, it can be divided into three main parts: platform, lifting and propulsion mechanism, engine room. The platform is a frame structure thirty meters long and four meters wide, resembling an authentic ship deck with spur-like points.Below the deck is a round shell with solid bones, which includes machines for producing power, baggage compartments, control devices, tools, and a general warehouse of various materials and miscellaneous goods including the fresh water tank on board.The platform is surrounded by small pillars, connected by barbed wire, with railings on them as handrails.There are three cabins above the platform, some of the small rooms in the cabin are used as bedrooms, and some are used as machine rooms.The middle cabin houses the machines that drive all the hoists, the front cabin houses the drives for the forward propulsion units, and the rear cabin houses the drives for the rear propulsion units.All three machines have their own unique way of starting.In the first cabin at the front, it also includes the pantry, galley and crew cabin.There are several cabins in the aft cabin at the stern, one is the engineer’s room and the other is used as a dining room; in the glass cabin above, the helmsman controls the aircraft through a powerful steering wheel.The portholes of the cabin are all equipped with tempered glass, which is ten times stronger than ordinary glass.Although the engineer is already very comfortable in manipulating the machine, and the landing can be done smoothly and softly, a spring system is installed under the shell to cushion the landing.

Fifteen shafts are placed vertically on each side of the hoist and propulsion platform, thirty in total on both sides, and seven taller ones in the middle. It looks like a ship with thirty-seven masts, except that the masts Instead of sails, it's the propeller.There are two propellers placed horizontally on each shaft, with relatively short pitch and diameter, which can be used for surprisingly high-speed rotation.Each axis moves independently of the other axes.The directions of rotation of every two shafts are opposite, and this design is a necessary measure to prevent the aircraft from spinning.In this way, the propeller can continuously rise along the vertical air column without losing balance in the horizontal direction.The result is a total of seventy-four lifting propellers throughout the craft.The three blades of each propeller are held in place by a metal ring that acts as a flywheel to save power.The front and rear of the hull each have two four-bladed propulsion propellers mounted on horizontal axes in opposite directions with extremely long pitches, each rotating in different directions to generate propulsion.Both propellers have a longer diameter than the lift propeller, but are equally capable of spinning at extremely high speeds.

In a word, this flying machine inherits at the same time Kosu, Lalandelle and Pontoon.The characteristics of the various systems of Damecourt and others have been improved through the improvement of Robier.Especially in the selection and application of power, Robier is worthy of the title of inventor. The power part Robier neither uses water vapor or other liquid vapor, nor compressed air or other elastic gas to produce the power of his aircraft to rise and advance, nor does he mix different substances to produce explosive mechanical force to obtain his flying machine. power.He used electricity, the driving force that would one day be the soul of the industrial world.Moreover, he did not use any generators to produce electricity, only dry cells and accumulators.But what are the components of these batteries?What acid is the acid that makes it generate electricity?This is Robier's secret.As for the storage battery, what is the nature of its cathode plate and anode plate?None of this is known.It is self-evident why engineers deliberately do not apply for patents.All in all, the undeniable result is that dry cells are remarkably effective, and the acid used in the accumulator is almost completely non-evaporating and non-freezing.Its performance has put Fur.Cyron.Volkmar accumulators are left far behind.In a word, the intensity of the current was unprecedented at that time.The electric power generated by it can be said to be unlimited, no matter what the situation is, it can provide power for the propeller, so that the flying machine can get enough lift and propulsion. It is necessary to repeat here: all this was done by Robier alone.But he himself is tight-lipped about it.If the chairman and secretary of the Welton Society can't reveal the secret, maybe this secret will never be known to the world. Because of its low center of gravity, it is needless to say that the aircraft is stable. In the horizontal direction, it will not tilt to a frightening degree, and there is no need to worry that it will capsize. The last thing to say is what material Rober's flying machine (the flying machine is really a good name for the Albatross) is made of.This kind of Lin Phil.Evans' pocket knife couldn't cut through it, and even Uncle Prudang couldn't tell what kind of material it was made of.It is paper. The paper industry has come a long way over the years.The unadhesive paper is soaked in dextrin and starch, and then pressed by a hydraulic press to become a substance as hard as steel.This material can be used to make pulleys, rails, and train wheels.These wheels are even stronger than metal wheels and are lightweight.This strong, lightweight substance was exactly what Robier needed to build his aerodynamic vehicle.The hulls, frames, cabins, and cabins are all made of straw-based paper. After high-pressure treatment, this paper becomes like metal, and even becomes incombustible.For a machine meant to fly at high altitudes, this latter point should never be underestimated.As for the various parts of the lifting and propulsion equipment, such as the shaft and blades of the propeller, it is made of gelatin, a strong and flexible fiber, as a raw material.The substance is easy to shape and doesn't decompose in most gases and liquids (acids or gasoline), not to mention its insulating properties.Therefore, it is very valuable to use it in the electrical part of the Albatross. Engineer Rob Bill, foreman Tom.Turner, a mechanic, two assistants, two helmsmen, and a cook, a total of eight people, this is all the members of the crew, which is enough to handle the entire operation of this aerodynamic vehicle.The equipment on the aircraft is equipped with hunting weapons, war weapons, fishing gear, electric lights, observation instruments, compass and sextant to determine the heading, thermometers to understand the temperature, and various barometers (some are used to measure the altitude of the flight, and some are used to measure the atmospheric pressure. change), a climate change prediction tube for predicting storms, a small bookcase, a portable printing press, a cannon placed in the center of the deck (which can rotate around its axis, cannonballs are loaded by the breech, and has a caliber of 60 mm), a storehouse for gunpowder, Storehouses for shells and detonators, a heating furnace powered by batteries.A stock of food in a special storeroom (canned food, pork, vegetables, plus barrels of brandy, whiskey, and gin) was, in short, enough for a flight without landing for several months.These are all the supplies and food on the aircraft, and of course the famous horn. Also in the cabin is a lightweight, unsinkable dinghy for eight people on a river, lake or calm sea. Did Robier also have a parachute in case of distress?No.He doesn't think such accidents will happen.All propeller shafts are independent of each other.Even if some propellers stall, the others will continue to spin.As long as half of the propellers are turning, it is enough to maintain the flight of the Albatross. As Robier the Conqueror later said to his new (and reluctant) guests: With it, I became the master of the seventh part of the world.This seventh part, which is bigger than Australia, Oceania, Asia, America and Europe, in the future there will be thousands of Ikarians coming to this air Ikaria (note: located in the Greek Aegean Sea. Legend has it that Icarus fell here, hence the name.) came to live.