Social Notes
PLANE
-the theory of the airplane’s flight is different from the theory of the ornithopter’s flight
-the plane’s flight comes from aerodynamics
-drag, thrust, weight and lift are the forces of aerodynamics
-the weight counters lift and thrust counters drag
-thrust comes from engines that are like rockets and shoot forces to go forward
-thrust from airplanes can also be air turbines that also shoot air
-the thrust must be stronger than drag to move forwards
-drag comes from the air molecules that hit the airplanes as it is trying to move forward
-the more surface that the air hits the more drag
-airplanes are designed to have as little drag as possible
-the wings of the airplanes provide lift
-the wings are designed in an airfoil design
-the airfoil design is when the top of something is curved and the bottom is flat
-the air above the airfoil wing moves faster because of the airfoil design and the curve
-the air in the bottom is slower moving
-that means the air above the wing has less pressure than the air below the wing
-that causes the wing to lift, therefore lifting the plane
-the lift must be stronger than the weight to fly
-each force is important
-if the drag is gone than the planes keeps on going and can never stop
-if the weight is gone than the plane goes up and cannot come down
-if the thrust is gone than the plane will stop
-if the planes stops than the air doesn’t go through the wings and make the wings lose the support of
higher pressure and will plummets to the ground
Ornithopter
--Leonardo Da Vinci made some mistakes
-One of them was the Ornithopter
-the Ornithopter was a flying machine that was originated by Leonardo
-Ornithopters are flying machines that are supposed to fly by flapping wings
-there are some main reasons the ornithopter couldn’t lift off
-Leo thought that a man would have the sufficient muscle to flap the wings like a bird
-the wing flapping pattern was off too
-Leo thought that a bird flew by flapping wings down then back to lift then thrust
-what birds actually did was tip the end of the feathers up then flap their wings down, as they flap the
wings down they move the feathers fast so the tips of the feathers are tipped down, that equals thrust
-then as the bird goes forward the tip the feathers down so the wing front is tipped up so the air goes
under the wings and lift the bird
-some birds ride thermals which are pillars of warm air that lift the birds
-men also do not have the right co-ordination to fly
-the co-ordination involves reading the thermals, wind, tailwind, head wind, and a lot of other things
that humans can’t do
-In the fifteen-hundreds when Leonardo was alive the basics of aerodynamics were not understood
-the material in the ornithopter was too heavy because of the limited technology in the renaissance
-even though Leonardo's flight system was sophisticated with a head harness that which operated a
combination rudder and elevator, the ornithopter could not fly
-in one of Leonardo's drawing, the pilot would lie down on a frame and with his feet in stirrups, when
the pilot moved his legs together, the wings would flap down
-for the upstroke, a hand lever was drawn on the right front
-Leonardo wrote down the possibility of using spring for the upstroke or sliding the legs up and down for
the flapping, assisted by the arms
- Even though Leonardo started with extremely imaginative and impractical designs of the wing flapping
ornithopter eventually he made a type of glider that still flapped a little bit, still, he made lots of
progress yet the idea of wing flapping did not die for a long time
Synthesis
In the life of the brilliant reconnaissance man, Leonardo Da Vinci, he created, painted, sculpted and
invented an assortment of items. All of which were new, creative, and brilliant and many of them too
advanced for the age and era of his time, this was the downfall of many of his invention. The Mona Lisa,
the air screw, his war machines are all of his genius. But everybody makes mistakes. As skilled as he was
a biology, botany, painting, physics and inventing new theories, he could not complete all of his
inventions with the material of his time. The wood, twine, wire, nails and fabric could not be created
into a flying machine. In these paragraphs I will explore the wonders of two supposed flying machine.
The first is the modern airplane; the second is one of the attempts of flying by Leonardo, the
ornithopter. I will first explore the modern airplane and then explore the ornithopter and compare the
two, and find if the ornithopter affected the evolution of flight of the airplane.
The Air Plane
The airplane flies by the rules of aerodynamics, and is different than the theory of the ornithopter’s
flight. The four important forces of aerodynamic are thrust, drag, lift and weight/gravity. Thrust
counters drag and lift counters weight/gravity. Thrust is the force of going forward, the thrust from
airplanes come from either rockets or propeller. Drag comes from the matter or mass resisting the
thrust. Mainly the drags from airplanes come from the air molecules that hit the plane and the weight
on the wheels, the weight makes the wheels have resistance. The planes are designed to have the least
drag as possible; they do this by designing the plane to expose fewer surfaces to the still air. The thrust
must be more powerful than the drag for the airplanes to move forward.
The other set of ever-fighting aerodynamic forces are lift and weight/gravity. Lift is the most important
force. Without it, airplanes would not be airplanes; it would just be a big awkward gigantic form of
transportation. The wings create the lift for this machine. Lift can also be from spring, or other forms of
forces that can lift an object. The wings are designed in an airfoil design. The airfoil design is an object
that is formed so the top of the object is curved and the bottom is flat. The airfoil design allows the air
underneath the wing to move more slowly than the air on top of the wing which means the air pressure
under the wing is higher than the air pressure on top of the wing, this forces the wings to move up
which brings the body of the plane to move up with it. The weight/gravity counters the lift. The greater
the mass of the plane and the mass of the objects in the plane, the more weight/gravity there is on the
plane which equals more lift needed for the plane to fly.
Now you are probably thinking, ‘oh, those pesky little forces of drag and weight/gravity.’ Well stop
thinking that, each force is important. If drag did not exist then the plane would go on forever in one
direction and would never stop. If gravity/weight did not exist then the plane, and everything else that is
not nailed, bound or connected to the ground somehow, would then float into space and never reach
anything. This is the theory of the plane’s flight.
This the Airfoil Design
Ornithopter
Ornithopters are machines that are supposed to fly by flapping wings. The ornithopter might have a
frame where the pilot and engine will enter then flap wings connected to the frame or just, strap on
some wooden wings and flap. No versions of an ornithopter that can carry a live person have yet been
found, invented or discovered. There are many reasons for the failure of a working ornithopter. All of
the existing ornithopters none have been made that allow men to flap it easily. Leonardo’s ornithopter
had such heavy wings that scientists say that a strong, grown man could flap the wings, maybe once. So
reason number one is that ornithopter wings are way too heavy.
Also, Leonardo based the pattern of the ornithopter’s flight on his theory of how birds flap their wings.
He got the theory completely wrong, he thought that birds flapped their wings down to lift and as they
flapped their wing up they would flap it back for a “forward force.” Remember this is the renaissance
were almost none of the basics of aerodynamics were understood, not even by of the smartest man,
Leonardo. You will all know the basics of aerodynamics because you read the section on airplanes. So
reason number two for failure is because of the incorrect wing flapping pattern. What actually happens
is as their wings are about to stroke down the tips of the feathers are pointing up and as birds flap their
wings down the tip of the feathers move down more than the rest of the wing. This equals thrust, then
the bird goes forward and as it does the wings are in an airfoil design so birds gain lift. Birds are very
light because of their small size and hollow bones.
Men also do not have the right coordination to fly. The coordination involves reading thermals, which
are pillars of warm air from the sun, headwinds, tailwinds, winds and a lot of other things that humans
are not sensitive enough to read or calculate in the maximum time, so reason three for failure will be
man’s inability at flying and coordination.
In one of Leonardo’s drawings, there is a picture of a pilot on a frame with his feet in stirrups, when the
pilot moves his legs together; the motion will activate a series of simple machines that will flap the
wings down. For the upstroke, a hand lever was drawn on the front right. Leonardo also wrote the
possibility of using a spring or sliding the legs up and down assisted by the arms for flapping the wings.
Even though Leonardo’s plan for the ornithopter was extremely sophisticated with head harnesses that
operated a combination rudder and an elevator the ornithopter with his exact plan will unfortunately
never fly.
The Comparison
I think that the means of flying from the airplane and the ornithopter is completely different. The thrust
comes from flapping wings backwards or a jet engine or a propeller, lifting by flapping wings down or
wings that make the pressure different on top to lift. The difference is never ending! The planes hold
many passengers, the ornithopter carries one person. The plane actually flies and uses technology and
engines, the ornithopter doesn’t fly and uses a person as an engine, and there are many possibilities.
But I believe that the ornithopter did affect the modern plane. The main connection is that the
ornithopter inspired people to try to make flying machines that eventually died off the flapping wings
and on to engines and gliders. I bet the Wright brothers did hear of an ornithopter and created the
airplane that evolved into the modern plane today.