Funing traditional air transport story

According to the Records of Suzhou Prefecture, in the Qing Dynasty (A.D.17th century), it took Suzhou craftsmen nearly ten years to build a flying car with a rotating flying wing. People sit in the chair of a "flying car", pedal with their feet and drive the rotor through machinery. The "flying car" actually flew over a small river more than a foot above the ground.

After Xu's "flying car" was built, it didn't get outside sponsorship and support, and his wife also complained. His family is getting poorer and more difficult, so he can't continue to improve his "flying car" After his death, his wife was heartbroken and burned the flying car in a rage. It's a pity that the world's earliest manned aircraft was lost.

According to the above simple historical records, it is estimated that Xu's "flying car" is a kind of rotary-wing helicopter driven by human feet. It is estimated that there are three technical reasons for the lack of final perfection: 1. The materials used in ancient times were mainly iron and wood, so the fuselage must be light. 2. After the helicopter leaves the ground, there is a rotation problem of the reaction force of the fuselage. It is estimated that it was not properly solved at that time. 3. The aerodynamic efficiency of the helicopter itself is relatively low, and the strength of the human body is too small, so no one has ever successfully developed a humanoid helicopter.

It is said that there was a rotor toy similar to "Bamboo Dragonfly" in China in the Ming Dynasty. It is not impossible for later generations to enlarge it and develop a humanoid helicopter. According to the above records, "-more than a foot from the ground, flying over a small river." It is estimated that when he stepped on the "flying car", he soon became very powerful. Probably on the commanding riverbank, he took off desperately and crossed a river more than ten meters wide in a semi-gliding state.

Nowadays, science and technology have improved a lot compared with the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Even ordinary people can buy aluminum alloy, stainless steel, plastic, epoxy resin and other light and strong materials, and there are many ready-made sports equipment and accessories that can be imitated and used for reference. Under such superior conditions to the ancients, is it possible for China people to build a human-driven "flying car" and repeatedly verify the legendary Xu Zhengming, even if it can fly over a horizontal distance of more than ten meters?

This horse has been obsessed with air flight since he was a child. He has studied the principle of aviation privately for many years and designed countless single-person aircraft. I know that under the current ordinary conditions, the maximum strength of ordinary people in a short period of time is only enough to make a "human plane" barely take off, and there is simply not enough strength to maintain flight; So this "human face" is called "jumping worm". The so-called success of ordinary people is nothing more than gliding and jumping a little further after taking off.

Last year was the centenary of human aviation, and Nanjing Laowu successfully tested a homemade amphibious plane. It is difficult for individuals to build a standard ultralight plane by private efforts, but it is still possible to build an ultralight special plane that can carry people into space. Human-powered aircraft is a kind of ultralight aircraft, and its motion characteristics are somewhat similar to those of bicycles. If you add a small engine, it will be an ultra-light aircraft. Just write and paste it here.

Several special human aircraft:

1. Self-propelled vehicle: Bicycles can be modified, and one or two thin-plate wings and human drag reduction fairings can be added to road sports cars. This human-powered plane is accelerated by stepping on wheels. After take-off, the wheels are suspended and no longer effective. The "flying car" glides a short distance in the air on its wings and then lands. This kind of "flying car" is more common in the early days of human flight. For example, 192 1, French athletes "jumped" over the distance of 1 1 meter, which is a typical bicycle with thin front and rear wings.

2. Conventional fixed-wing aircraft: The flight principle is similar to that of conventional powered gliders, and they are all made of special materials, which are designed strangely for efficiency. Generally, there are front and rear wings and fuselage, which are propelled by human-powered propellers, so they can continue to fly after takeoff. More successful is the "cicada albatross" designed by American Mike Gridi. It was driven by cyclist Allen at 1979, and it took more than two hours to fly over the 37-kilometer-wide strait between Britain and France.

3. Flapping-wing machine: It is said that the flapping-wing flight efficiency of birds is relatively high, and the power to maintain flight is only one tenth of that of conventional flight. Many of the earliest aviation aircraft were designed with flapping wings, so some people pinned their hopes for the success of human flight on flapping wings in the early years. However, human beings know little about the principle of flapping-wing flight of birds and have no experience in flapping-wing flight with complex wings. So far, there is no manned plane that can fly flapping wings, let alone rely on human flapping wings to fly.

4. Rotorcraft: It is much more difficult than conventional fixed-wing aircraft, and its structure and operation are much more complicated than conventional fixed-wing aircraft. It seems that there has not been a successful human rotorcraft crossing the Anglo-French Strait with winged aircraft for more than 20 years. I really don't know how Xu's "flying car" was made. Maybe it's just a wooden "jumping bug", which jumped a little bit in a crazy step, but it's also admirable and yearning.

Several take-off and flight forms of general fixed-wing manned aircraft;

1. Jump take-off: Most of them are bicycles with flying wings and fairings. The fuselage is light and thin, and the resistance is small. When the human stepped on the wheel desperately to accelerate to a higher speed, the wing was pulled up and slid off the ground for a certain distance. Because the wheel has no propulsion function after leaving the ground, it takes off a few feet by the forward kinetic energy of the fuselage, slides for more than ten meters and then lands. This kind of "flying car" is more common in early human aircraft.

2. Take-off with stored energy: It happened overseas in early years, such as installing rubber bands on pedals or installing batteries and motors on airplanes. When taking off, the kinetic energy saved by manpower in advance is released, helping the plane to get through the most difficult take-off stage. Doing so will complicate the aircraft structure and increase its weight; According to the actual test flight, it is better to add a small engine.

3. Gliding flight: the fuselage is very light and the gliding performance is very good. In a short distance, people "jump" off the ground on wheels and slide down on high platforms. Its "flying" distance depends not on human strength, but on the height of the high platform from the ground, or at the top of the mountain. In fact, this is a kind of glider that "takes off" by manpower, and sometimes it simply slides down the hillside to accelerate the take-off.

4. Conventional flight: the plane is extremely light and the wing design is particularly exquisite. By stepping on the propeller manually, the plane is gradually accelerated to take-off speed. The principle of this aircraft is similar to that of a powered glider, and it can continue to fly after leaving the ground; It's just that the design, structure and materials are very special, and the appearance design is also very strange to cater to the weak power of human beings, such as the one flying over the Anglo-French Channel.

Power structure and control of human-powered aircraft;

The maximum power that an average person can emit in one minute is about 1 horsepower, and the power that can be emitted in ten minutes is about half horsepower. Such a weak strength is just like riding a bike, but it is too difficult to take off. Generally, the power structure of human-powered aircraft is very close to that of bicycles, and the power is transmitted by pedals and chains. Different from bicycles, the conventional fixed-wing manned aircraft is propelled by propellers instead of wheels, so the chain drive system also needs steering and speed change mechanisms.

The flight control principle of human-powered aircraft is similar to that of conventional aircraft, but it needs to pay attention to skills in specific structural measures. More successful aircraft mostly adopt duck layout with high aerodynamic efficiency, which is similar to the control mode of glider. If it is just a bicycle-type human plane that jumps, takes off and taxies for more than ten meters, the structure and manufacture will be much simpler, and the operation and testing will be much simpler. It can even be that the airfoil is fixed in a moderate position and can "rush" in the air in a parabolic way. . .

Several "non-standard human flying car" schemes that amateurs can consider;

1. It is similar to the humanoid fixed-wing aircraft of "Jumping Bug": it can also be called "humanoid missile" or "humanoid flying car". If you don't plan to fly for a long time, you can use a light bicycle to modify it. Its take-off has five keys: first, the take-off speed. The second is the effective wing surface. The third is streamline modeling. The fourth is a good take-off site. The fifth is the physical strength of the madman. Bicycles can be made into missiles with wings. When they are desperately accelerating to the limit, they take off with wings, glide in the air for a short distance and then land on the ground. I believe its fun is much crazier than racing on the ground with manpower. If there is still "self-motivation", after the control performance test is stable, add a small engine with a propeller at the back, maybe you can try to be a pilot. )

2. Human paragliding similar to glider: it can also be called "power gliding" or "artificial assisted gliding". Although it is not planned to fly for a long distance, all structural measures are indispensable and can be developed by light bicycle materials. Its take-off has three keys: first, the windward speed. The second is the effective wing surface. The third is the take-off terrain. Scooters can be transformed into paragliders, which can take off from the ground with a little acceleration on the windward side of the hillside. Its main flight mode is similar to that of a glider, but it has a propeller driven by human power in the air, so it can have greater maneuverability and leave more space when gliding. (If the handling performance is stable, adding a small engine-driven propeller at the back is a standard power glider. )

3. Inflatable Parachute Machine: The biggest difficulty for a human-powered plane to take off is that the "plane" is too heavy, especially in the face of weak human physical strength, and the human-powered plane needs a larger flying wing area. As far as the current amateur conditions are concerned, the bigger the flying wing, the heavier the aircraft structure, which is the reason why many amateurs fail. In order to solve the problem of overweight wings, Belgin Company of the United Kingdom developed several parafoil machines in the early years, and kept the wings by inflating. Wings are made of special sealed textiles. The weight of the whole plane is less than 18KG, and it can take off smoothly after taxiing to the ground for 24MA.

4. Flying human airship: Since wing parachutes can achieve "maximum area/minimum weight" by inflating, people with conditions may wish to make "human aircraft" into "flying human airship"; Filling with hydrogen or helium, the buoyancy in the air can also reduce part of the weight of the fuselage and human body. In this way, as long as people's physical strength drives the horizontal propeller, the "flying human airship" can slowly maneuver. . .

Some problems faced by amateurs in developing "human-powered flying car" and flight test;

1. If we adhere to the mode of conventional aircraft, people's physical strength is far from enough. Therefore, the development of "human flying car" should be regarded as the development of "special ultralight aircraft", so that it is possible to succeed.

2. Before designing, we need to decide whether this thing is a "jumping bug" or a "glider". The structural design of jump takeoff and gliding flight is biased, and the ambiguous design is the most difficult to succeed.

3. In the preliminary design, many factors should be considered first, such as model, structure, strength, weight, lift and physical strength. If you work hard by physical strength, you will only "jump around" at most.

4. Amateurs must have the following conditions to develop a "human-powered flying car": innovative design with high IQ, extraordinary high-quality materials, essential funds, precise and accurate handicrafts, patient and long-term production, serious and responsible assistants, absolutely windless weather, open and flat venues, skilled and cautious driving skills and extraordinary physical strength; If you mess around with any of them, you will lose everything in an instant. Therefore, before making up your mind to prepare for all this, don't easily enter the implementation state.

5. Some people are afraid of falling to death when they say the word "airplane", which is also the main reason why many flying enthusiasts Ye Gong Long Hao dare not touch it; In fact, the little thing "human flying car" is super OK if it can fly, and it will not be as dangerous as a real plane test pilot; In case of falling, it is estimated that it is riding a mountain bike, and the injury is extremely limited. Don't worry about it first. If a boxer can really throw an S, it should go down in history. )

6. In order to take off, we must reduce our own weight. The structure of most human-powered aircraft is very thin, and it can even be said to be like a paper kite. Faced with such a fragile aircraft, we need to be very careful when assembling and moving, especially to prevent the aircraft from being damaged during transportation. We need some responsible technical assistants. The same is true of flight tests. Don't think that you just have to step on it hard. There are still many driving technical problems here, and it is not appropriate for an careless person to touch it.

7. Arrangements for the "afterlife": Some people may not think of this, but several flying heroes who made their own planes in Nanjing in their early years eventually faced the trouble of having nowhere to fly, or having nowhere to store large planes after the flight test, and the relevant departments came to interfere and demanded fines during the flight test. These are the embarrassments of the predecessors after their success in building airplanes, and they are also one of the reasons why many flight enthusiasts are unwilling to take action to build airplanes.

The above is just a brief summary. In fact, many problems such as information, energy, time, venue, funds, materials and so on. What is needed for private development of human-powered aircraft is endless, even if hundreds of thousands of words are written. Post a brief introduction here to collect the same hobbies. If you are interested and willing to rack your brains to be a volunteer, you might as well make an appointment to get together.