Horatio Frederick Phillips (1845 – 1924) was an English aviation pioneer, born in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. He was famous for building multiplane flying machines with many more sets of lifting surfaces than are normal on modern aircraft. However he made a more lasting contribution to

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

in his work on

aerofoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more lift than drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foils of similar function designed ...

design.Wragg, D.W.; ''Flight before flying'', Osprey, 1974

Aerofoils

Phillips devised a wind tunnel in which he studied a wide variety of

shapes for use in providing lift. The tunnel was unusual in that the gas flow was provided by steam rather than air. By 1884 he was able to register his first patent, and more were to follow. He demonstrated the truth of

George Cayley Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific ...

's idea that giving the upper surface greater curvature than the lower accelerates the upper airflow, reducing pressure above the wing and so creating lift.

Multiplane flying machines

Phillips believed that multiple stacked wing planes (or "sustainers" as he called them), in "Venetian blind" configuration, offered advantages. * His 1893 Flying Machine had 50 lifting surfaces and used his patented "double-surface airfoils" in such a way as to produce an

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

of 1:152, providing great lift at the sacrifice of stability. As a test vehicle, it was not designed to be manned, but was used to test lifting capability. Its maximum load was found to be . * His 1904 Multiplane was a development of the 1893 test vehicle in a configuration that could be flown by a person. It had 21 wings and had a

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

for stability, but was unable to achieve sustained flight. Its best performance was . A specially made replica of the 1904 machine appears in the opening sequences of the 1965 film '' Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines''. * His 1907 Multiplane, which had 200 individual airfoils and was powered by a engine driving a propeller achieved a flight on 6 April 1907. This was the first flight of its kind in England, although it was preceded by the

Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

by several years. Though successful, the 1907 model showed poor performance compared to more conventional contemporary types. This caused Phillips to end his attempts at manned flight.Angelucci, E. and Matricardi, P.; ''World Aircraft – Origins-World War 1'', Sampson Low, 1977.

References

External links

Guide to Horatio Philips, Letter to Octave Chanute August 25, 1909
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
British aviation pioneers English engineers 1845 births 1924 deaths Phillips {{England-engineer-stub