Even in these early days the interest in aëronautics appears to have been widespread. It is recorded that a British king named Baldud succeeded in flying over the city of Trinovante, but unfortunately fell and, landing on a temple, was instantly killed. In the eleventh century a Benedictine monk built a pair of wings modelled upon the poet Ovid’s description of those used by Daedalus, which was apparently a very uncertain model. The aviator jumped from a high tower against the wind, and, according to the record, sailed for 125 feet, when he fell and broke both his legs. That he should have attempted to fly against the wind, by the way, indicates some knowledge of aircraft.
If we may trust the rude folklore of the Middle Ages, the glider form of airship which anticipated the modern aëroplane was used with some success a thousand years ago. An inventor named Oliver of Malmesburg, built a glider and soared for 370 feet, which would be a creditable record for such a craft even in our day. A hundred years later a Saracen attempted to fly in the same way and was killed by a fall. The number of men who have given their lives to the cause of aviation in all these centuries of experiment must be considerable.
Meanwhile the kite and balloon had long been in use in China. There is no reason to doubt that kites were well understood and even put to practical use in time of war as early as 300 B. C. A Chinese general, Han Sin, is said to have actually signalled by kites to a beleaguered city that he was outside the walls and expected to lend assistance. And a French missionary visiting China in 1694 reported that he had seen the records of the coronation of the Emperor Fo Kien in 1306 which described the balloon ascensions that formed part of the ceremony.
The fifteenth century was the most active period in aëronautical experiments before our own. A number of intelligent minds worked at the problem and notable progress was made, although all fell short of flying. Even in the light of our present knowledge of aëronautics we must admire the thorough, scientific way the aviators went about their work five centuries ago. Many of their discoveries have been of great assistance to our modern aviators. Had these investigators possessed our modern machinery, of which they knew little or nothing, it is, very likely they would actually have flown.
One of the greatest of these investigators was Leonardo da Vinci, famous as architect and engineer as well as painter and sculptor. To begin at the beginning of the subject, he dissected the bodies of many birds and made careful, technical drawings to illustrate the theory of the action of wings. These drawings and descriptions are still preserved, and even to-day repay careful study. He also calculated with great detail the amount of force which would be necessary to drive such machines. Plans were prepared for flying machines of the heavier than air form to be driven by wings, and even by screw propellers, which was looking far into the future.
PLATE XIII.
A Serviceable Form Made of Wire.
Among all these early experiments the best record of actual flight was made by Batitta Dante, a brother of the great Italian poet. In 1456 Dante flew in a glider of his own construction for more than 800 feet at Perugia in Italy and a few years later he succeeded in flying in the same glider over Lake Trasimene. The glides made by the Wright Brothers while perfecting their machines seldom reached this length.
For several centuries it was believed that a lifting screw, if one could be built, would supply enough lifting power to support a heavier than air machine. Da Vinci experimented along this line for many years and even built a number of models with paper screws. This form of flying machine is called the helicopter. The plan was then abandoned for nearly five centuries and revived in our own century. The record of all the aviators and their experiments would fill many volumes.