Why Didn't the Wright Brothers Invent the Helicopter?

John Savard wrote:

Why didn't the Wright Brothers invent the helicopter?

Their engine didn't have the power-to-weight ratio needed.

Paul

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 12:08:27 GMT, in a place far, far away,
lid (John Savard) made the phosphor on
my monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that:

Why didn't the Wright Brothers invent the helicopter?

Because it's a much more technically difficult problem. Da Vinci
invented it conceptually, but couldn't build one, and no one at the
turn of the twentieth century had the capability to do so, either.

Why are the Wright brothers more celebrated than the Montgolfier
brothers?

Didn't the Montgolfier brothers invent flight, while the Wright
brothers just added a small detail - heavier-than-air flight?

It's not a small detail. It's the difference between flight, and
practical, useful flight.

Is it
because the Wright brothers are Americans, while the Montgolfier
brothers are French?

No.

Oh, that was a rhetorical question?

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 12:08:27 GMT, lid
(John Savard) wrote:

Why didn't the Wright Brothers invent the helicopter?

If they had what would Igor Sikorsky have invented then.



Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Kites rise highest against
the wind - not with it."
Winston Churchill

"Christopher" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 12:08:27 GMT, lid
(John Savard) wrote:

Why didn't the Wright Brothers invent the helicopter?

If they had what would Igor Sikorsky have invented then.

Is the inventor the one that comes up with the idea, or makes it work ?
Becase there were people thinking about helicopters long before.

-kert

"Christopher" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 12:08:27 GMT, lid
(John Savard) wrote:

Why didn't the Wright Brothers invent the helicopter?

If they had what would Igor Sikorsky have invented then.

The airplane you ninny!

He'd have said.. "what's this with putting the prop on TOP? Let's put it in
front! It'll make things easier."




Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Kites rise highest against
the wind - not with it."
Winston Churchill

I've heard that Sikorsky tried to invent the helicopter before WWII, but he
didn't have the engines for it. Airplane engine technology improved greatly
during the war so he could complete his invention.

" It's not a small detail. It's the difference between flight, and
practical, useful flight.

I agree. It is the difference between floating and flying.