Ingenious

Ingenious

Elvin Setiawan s3115089

Otto Lilienthal



Most people believed that Wright brothers are the one who creates the concept of airplane, that’s an absolute false statement. The truth is Wright brothers are the one creates a working airplane model but not the concept, he was inspired by a lot of other highly trained civil engineer. Perhaps the most influenced person to Wright brothers is Otto Lilienthal (Centennial of flight, 2007).

Otto Lilienthal was born on 23 May 1848 at Anklam, Germany. While his life long pursuit was flight, Lilienthal was also an inventor and devised a small engine that worked on a system of tubular boilers. His engine was much safer that the other small engine at the time. This invention gave him the financial freedom to quit his job and focus on aviation. His brother Gustav was living in Australia at the time, and Otto did not partake in any aviation experiments until his brother’s return in 1886. Lilienthal ran a small factory and with his brother Gustav persued the study of flight which had been an interest since his childhood.

At the factory, they did a research about bird. His research is precisely describing the flight of birds, especially of storks, and used polar diagrams for describing the aerodynamics of their wings. Lilienthal acknowledged that birds could fly with their special construction of the skeleton, differences in specific gravity, and birds have the ability to sustain and alter their position in the air. This proved that the nature of human were not capable of flying on their own. It was therefore the purpose of Lilienthal, by using his mechanical abilities to solve the problem of human flight. In 1873, Lilienthal told about his research through lecture at ‘Business Association Potsdam’, his lecture topic is ‘Theorie des Vogelflugs / Theory of Bird Flight’. This is the first time Lilienthal demonstrates his theory to public (Lilienthal Musem, 1997).

Through years he developed his idea and comes up with the early aeroplane model in 1886. This model is very much bird’s wing alike. There is no photograph is documented for this model, this image below is the original hand drawn by Lilienthal himself.

From the earlier aeroplane model, he developed further and created a series of flight experiments. Derwitzer was the first glider version, it was made in 1891. This is a breakthrough for him; it is the first successful manned aeroplane in the world. From this early aeroplane model, he learned by shifting body weight, Lilienthal was also able to achieve a degree of directional control.

After the first flight, Lilienthal makes a report on dangerous flight situations, the limits of bird flight imitation and the use of natural winds as he has experienced these in his practical experiments; “What is the most ingenious man-made flying apparatus in comparison to those wings powered by natural emotion? ... The imitative wing of man is and always will be ... a poor instrument and still I can confirm by use of synthetic flying apparatuses that practise and experience will do their part in order to remove, step by step, certain imperfections and to raise considerably the security in dealing with the wind” (Lilienthal Museum, 1997).

In order to get the correct scene for flight experiments, Lilienthal built an artificial hill out near Berlin in 1894 and from natural hills, in the Rhinow region. At these hills, he made over 2000 flights. The following list is series of flight experiments models that he used at natural hill and artificial hill; Derwitzer Glider 1891, Sudende Glider 1892, Maihohe Rhinow Glider 1893, Small Wing Flapping Machine 1893-1896, Normal Gliders 1894, Sturmflugelmodell / storm wing model 1984, Vorflugelapparat 1895, Small Biplane 1895, Big Biplane 1895, Big Wing Flapping Machine 1896 (Lilienthal Museum, 1997).

Lilienthal suffered a number of crashes in his experiments, but his glider could only reach low speeds and altitudes. On 9 August 1896, an unexpected gust of wind fractured his wing and he fell from a height of 17 m, breaking his spine. He died the next day, saying, “Kleine opfer mussen gebracht werden! / Small sacrifices must be made!” He was buried in a distinct grave at Lankwitz public cemetery in Berlin (Wikipedia, 2007). Image at the top of this page is the last stance photograph taken of Otto Lilienthal before he died.

After the death of Lilienthal, the Wrights faith in Lilienthal’s work was absolute as they started their work. Almost every piece of their scientific approach to flight can find a standard in Lilienthal’s work; theories based on observation, design based on reliable data, experiments carried out in controlled environments and recorded in detail. When they began to question his experimental data following the disappointing flights of 1901, they began their wind tunnel experiments to confirm his work, not to disapprove it. At the conclusion of their experiments, Wilbur even wrote, “I am led to think that Lilienthal himself had noticed that there was a discrepancy between his glides and his tables, at small angles especially” (Centennial of flight, 2007).

There is no direct impact from Otto Lilienthal to social, but without Lilienthal’s research and sacrifice, perhaps the Wright Brother could not finished their master piece that changed the world.



References:



* Lilienthal Museum 1997, Otto Lilienthal’s Aeronautical Bibliography, accessed 15 May 2007 http://www.lilienthal-museum.de
* Lilienthal Museum 1997, The aeroplane models of Lilienthal, accessed 15 May 2007 http://www.lilienthal-museum.de
* Wikipedia 2007, Otto Lilienthal, accessed 15 May 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org
* Centennial of Flight 2007, Lilienthal’s Experiments, accessed 15 May 2007 http://www.centennialofflight.gov