On 17 December 1903, at a little after 1030 in the morning, a winged contraption made of canvas, wood and wire began to move along a rail placed on a freezing, gale-lashed sand flat in North Carolina. As a tiny petrol engine strained to turn the machine's twin propellers, it gained speed and its wings began to generate lift. As the force increased and overcame the craft's weight, Orville and Wilbur Wright's Flyer took to the air.It remains one of the greatest moments in technological history. But with the success of that first flight of a powered, heavier-than-air craft - all 12 seconds of it - it would be tempting to think that the pair of Ohio bicycle mechanics had solved aviation’s engineering problems. But now, in the second century of powered flight, aviation engineers are still battling to find better ways to solve some of the very same problems the Wrights faced, and many others of which the pair could never have dreamed.Among the latter, the aviation industry is being pressed to tackle its growing emissions of greenhouse gases. Although planes are set to get lighter thanks to the use of advanced materials, and their engines will burn leaner, these reductions are more than offset by stupendous growth in air traffic predicted up to 2050. But at the seat-of-the-pants flying level, it turns out that there are some striking parallels between the Wright’s work at the beginning of the 20th century and the research going on now.
View: Full Article | Source: New Scientist