Langley's merits and stupidity

It stands quietly in the early flight gallery on the first floor of the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Looking directly below and above the glider piloted by aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal at 1894, it is an original radial aircraft engine with a diameter of less than 4 feet, showing modesty. But don't ignore it. This little machine has a story to tell.

By the beginning of the 20th century, samuel pierpont langley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, had staked his reputation on the reputation that he would build the world's first electric car, not to mention tens of thousands of dollars.

Langley is not a visionary, but a serious scholar with a background in mathematics, architecture and astronomy. He is calm, scientific and needs a lot of staff. His memos often say "I long for ..." and his employees are clamoring to realize these wishes.

Inspired by 1886' s speech about the possibility of manned flight, he was badly bitten by insects. By 19 in the 1990s, he had made and tested many models, which were originally driven by rubber bands. He considered various engines-gasoline, carbonic acid gas, electricity and even gunpowder-but at that time, such engines might be too big, too dangerous or not strong enough. Finally, he decided to use a steam plane. After many failed attempts, he made two steam power models with gasoline as fuel, which flew beautifully. Two sunny days in 1896, one in May and one in1/month Bert, each small plane with a length of 16 feet flew out from their launch pad, a yacht on the Potomac River. The little steam engine roared merrily. They kept a steady course on the flat keel. One covers 3300 feet, and the other reaches 4200 feet, with a speed of 30 miles per hour.

Langley decided on a series of wing configurations-two sets of wings with almost equal wingspans were set in front and back, and he called his "airport" a large dihedral angle; That is to say, from the front, the wing forms a squeezed V-shape. This gives them flight stability.

Professor Langley should resign while he is ahead. However, his success in small-scale power flight strengthened his dream of building an airport capable of carrying people. As Octave Chanute, a friend of Langley's, pointed out, Langley has an "iron fist". One of his beliefs is that as long as those successful models are copied on a large scale, a "great airport" person can be created. In addition, it needs the powerful horsepower of light engines, which was a daunting prospect a century ago.

As the army and navy prepared for the 1898 Spanish-American War, Minister Langley's enthusiasm for flying aroused their interest. He wrote to a friend of Cornell University, saying, "An airport that can last for three hours at a speed of 30 miles per hour may have people trying to carry astronauts and some missiles." He also said that he needed some kind of gasoline engine (gasoline engines have made great progress in the past few years). When asked if his friend can recall a "morally trustworthy young man (good man)", he has some initiative and professional training.

In response, young Charles Matthews bravely appeared at the Smithsonian Institution. He is an excellent engineering student and will soon get a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. When he was chosen to meet Langley's requirements, he quickly went to Washington and got his degree in the absence.

One of Manley's first tasks is to supervise the construction of an outstanding gasoline engine, which was designed by Hungarian immigrant Stephen Marius Balser in new york. Balcer used to be a watchmaker in Tiffany Watch Factory, then studied engineering at night school and worked in a mechanical shop. 1894, when new york people stared at the first domestic car made in Balcer, the industry paid off. Now at the Smithsonian National Museum of History, this is a simple and solid plumbing project, which uses a small three-cylinder engine to rotate the rear axle.

Balcer's engine was light and powerful, which aroused Langley's interest. He signed a contract with Balcer for the world's first "aero-engine" to power the world's first manned aircraft. This engine has been built in a shop behind the Smithsonian Castle, and the Enid A. Haupt Garden is now pleasing to the eye.

In order to satisfy Langley's "thirst" for reducing weight and increasing power, Balcer assembled it into new york's five-cylinder engine. Now it is shown that Manley has made modifications in air and space. It is a rotating engine, just like his car engine: the whole engine revolves around the transmission shaft. However, it took Balser a long time to make it work properly or generate enough horsepower. Manley helped him, encouraged him, pushed him and tried to give him more money. Langley escaped the $50,000 appropriated by Congress. When Balcer made a fuss, he was on pins and needles.

Time dragged down. Month after month passed. Manley's notes to Langley show that the team is getting more and more depressed. July 1899: "It's hard for me to explain why one day Mr. Balcer thought that the existing cylinder could work, and the next day he thought that the engine must be rebuilt ..."

September 1899: "The engine of the big airport has not been completed, but Mr. Balcer promised to be ready before the 22nd of this month ..."

June 1900: "The gasoline engine contracted by Mr. Balcer in June1898+February 12 is neither accepted nor condemned at present."

In the same letter dated 19, Manley agreed to go abroad with Langley for a few weeks to investigate alternatives. In Europe, engineers advised them not to adopt this rotating design. For example, lubrication is a problem because a rotating engine obviously throws oil out of its center. When the cylinder rotates, oil accumulates at its outer end.

So, why did the idea of rotation attract the Langley team? On the one hand, its rotation cools the cylinder. Air cooling means water cooling without water tanks, pipes and pumps-an admirable way to lose weight. In addition, the rotation of the engine acts as a flywheel, which is the characteristic of some early engines and helps the engine run more smoothly.

However, with the passage of time, Balcer's engine appeared more problems, and Manley decided to follow the advice of Europeans. By the fall of 1900, he had given up the concept of Rotary. In September this year, he wrote to his boss who was still in Europe, saying that his recent efforts on aero-engines were to "keep the cylinder stationary and cool it with a temporary water jacket". He transformed Balcer's rotary engine into a stationary radial engine, which was cooled by water instead of air.

Finally, the problem began to subside, and the performance was improved, and it immediately turned from Balcer's 6-8 horsepower to Manly's 12- 16 horsepower radial version. There will be more tests and improvements. By March of 190 1 year, the output power of this star engine was about 18 horsepower, but Manley foresaw that more power was needed. Therefore, he replaced Balcer's heavy piston with a light piston with newly allocated funds, and increased the size of the cylinder. By March of 1903, the modified engine was rotating two propellers at a speed of 575 rpm. Manley wrote: "The engine itself weighs 120 pounds, which was developed on the basis of testing 52 braking horsepower ..." In the same letter to Langley, the young assistant wrote that he was very confident in the engine, "I intend to take the risk of using it in actual flight."

He didn't wait long. 1903 In the summer, Lan used a quarter-scale model to test flight and was ready. In September, this huge airport was located on a catapult on a big yacht in Potomac. The last adjustment seems to be Langley. After 17 years of hard work, I have achieved this goal. Now I'm 69 years old, and I can hardly reach it.

10 year 10 7, Manley climbed aboard, started the engine and ran at full speed. He lived with Balcer for five years. This is a compression machine. Its five cylinders radiate from the transmission shaft like stars, twisting to the peak of performance. Now, when its roar reaches the maximum sound, he signals the plane to release.

"This has been completed," Manley's report wrote. "Driven by the launch spring and propeller, the car began to run along the track …" Then: "I experienced a slight bump and immediately found that the machine was leaning forward and downward …"

Manley didn't have time to turn off the engine before launch. He was dunked, but he swam away safely. Most of the structures were crushed when the plane was launched. So is Langley. The press burst into laughter. The much-touted plane fell into the water like a mortar.

As the tragedy continued, Langley repaired his dream flying machine and was ready to try again. 1903 65438+On February 8th, Manley climbed back into the cockpit, accelerated the engine and gave a signal. And jumped into the Potomac River. The wings were broken in the airflow. This time, Manley almost drowned in the cold river. When he returned to the ship, he bombarded in blue language in front of all politicians invited to witness the victory. They were surprised. They shouldn't do this.

More than a week later, the Wright family flew to Katie Hawke and won the flight competition. Langley's mistake was to enlarge his small model without considering that the resistance would increase exponentially on the full-scale plane. Wright started as a full-scale glider and has been flying for many years. They know how to fly. Manley has no such experience-only courage.

But the wreckage of Langley has a great engine-made for a plane that can't fly. If this plane can fly, Manley's invention will be the world's first aircraft engine; Of course, it was made earlier, which is much better than the work of 12 horsepower that made Wright fly. Balser's original will be the first engine to spin in the air, which drives a large number of fighter planes in World War I. They have the same advantages as Balser, but they also have the same problems-the torque is difficult to control and the centrifugal force is difficult to keep lubrication. Castor oil is their choice of lubricating oil, and many early pilots in Fogg, Sophomore, England, or Nepote, France were upset by inhaling the smoke reflected by the rotating body.

Manley's improvement made the engine the first radial engine designed for flight in the world. Lindbergh flew many classic bombers and fighters to Paris in World War II, the same basic engine.

Langley was defeated and killed in 1906. Continuous exposure to the high temperature of metal products will damage Manley's health. He ran an engineering company in new york and died on 1927 at the age of 5 1. Balcer lived to 1940. Few people remember his name.

But the heartbreaking efforts of this completely different team continue in their brilliant gray engine. Pay attention to the luster on those big cylinders. Will that be the light of sweat? Or is it tears? "

It seems possible.