Available online
Description
The programme provides a potted history of serious attempts at man powered flight together with a general insight into the problems encountered.
The programme provides a potted history of serious attempts at man powered flight together with a general insight into the problems encountered.
| Module code and title: | T351, Materials under stress |
|---|---|
| Item code: | T351; 02 |
| First transmission date: | 06-03-1976 |
| Published: | 1976 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:30 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Ted Smith |
| Contributors: | A.(Adrian) Demaid; Nick Reid |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Archive film; Bending; History of man-powered flight; Modern aeroplane; Shear centre; Torsion |
| Footage description: | Film shots of Puffin II in flight. Adrian Demaid introduces the programme. Still shot, scale drawing, and film shots of Mufli, a man powered aircraft first flown in 1935 with assisted take off. Commentary by Demaid. Still shot, scale drawing and film shots of Pedaliante, circa 1935. Commentary by Demaid. Still shot, scale drawing and film shots of Sumpac, first flown in 1961. Commentary by Demaid. Shot of Puffin I in a hangar. Film shots of Puffin I in flight. Commentary by Demaid. Still shot, scale drawing and then a 1970 newsreel film of Jupiter flown by John Potter. Potter is interviewed after landing. Shots of John Potter in a hangar at Cranwell with Mercury and Jupiter aircraft. He lists the aims of the R.A.F. Manpowered Flight Group of the 1970s. Potter goes on to discuss the technical details of the power requirements of a man-powered aircraft and how this is achieved in Jupiter. He also explains the Jupiter control system while an apprentice demonstrates. Potter, with Jupiter, explains the technical details of the Jupiter wing. He points out the wing components (ribs, spars, skin, etc) and explains the loads which are carried by each. Potter goes on to list the disadvantages, mainly weight, of this wing design. Potter goes on to examine Mercury, a later generation man-powered aircraft. He lists the specifications, explains how the aircraft is controlled and then examines the wing structure in detail. Potter gives his view of the future design of man-powered aircraft. Nick Reid performs an experiment using four models of wing beams (I beam, box beam, circular tube beam, and circular tube with a slit cut in) to demonstrate the best shape for resisting bending and then twisting. Adrian Demaid performs an experiment with a model wing beam section in which the beam is subjected to bending and twisting at the same time. He defines shear centre and then explains with the aid of a diagram, the physics of the shear centre. Credits over shots of Jupiter in flight. Postcript: Film shots of Gossamer Condor at the end of its Kramer prize winning flight. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71865 |
| Production number: | 00525_5253 |
| Videofinder number: | 1371 |
| Available to public: | no |
