Horatio F.
Phillips, (1845-1926)
Horatio F. Phillips, of
England, began experimenting with lifting curved surfaces in
the 1880's. In 1893, he constructed a large device for
testing the effective lift of what he termed "sustainers"
(airfoils).
The "Phillips Flying
Machine," as it was known, was 9-1/2 feet tall and about 22
feet long, with 40 lifting surfaces. It was mounted on a
circular track 200 feet in diameter.
The Phillips Flying Machine For Testing Aerocurves, Harrow,
England - 1893
A two-bladed propeller
driven by a steam engine pulled the machine around the
track. The Phillips Flying Machine of 1893 was able to lift
its own weight plus 72 pounds (a total of 402 pounds) some
three feet, at a speed of about 40 m.p.h.
Phillips Flying Machines as reported in American Engineer
1892/93
Phillips continued to
experiment with wing designs, and built another flying
machine test rig in 1902, which had 120 wings and was
powered by a gasoline engine.
The Phillips Flying Machine For Testing Aerocurves, Harrow,
England - 1893
Phillips built his first
human-carrying machine, with 20 lifting surfaces, in 1904,
and was able to make at least one short hop of 50 feet. His
1907 machine had four banks of 50 wings each and an 8 foot
propeller. It was in this machine that Phillips made a
powered, although uncontrolled, flight of about 500 feet.
Phillips Patented Aerocurves - 1884 and 1891
As a result of his
experiments, Phillips was able to prove his hypothesis that
in a curved wing, where the curvature is greater on the top
surface than the bottom surface, the lift is generated
primarily by the upper surface. This proof had eluded Sir
George Cayley, although he suspected it to be true.
Phillips was a pioneer of
aerial engineering who took up where Cayley left off, and
began the systematic evaluation of curved surfaces meant for
aerial machines.
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