THE KNOWLEDGE MEDIA INSTITUTE

History of Flight

Key events

Flights of fancy

Models

Aerodynamics

How planes fly

Historical development

Aero-engines

Flyers

Cayley

Lilienthal

Phillips

The Wright Brothers

Santos-Dumont

Cody

Links

About FirstFlight

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Phillips - aircraft

The first model 'flyer' of 1893 had 40 narrow wings, and just lifted when driven round a circular track at 40mph by a steam engine.



The multiplane model of 1902 had 120 wings and was driven by a powerful petrol engine. It was capable of lifting 385 lbs in tethered flight.



The 1904 man-carrier had 20 wings and managed a short 'hop' of about 50ft.



The second man-carrier of 1907 had four rows, each with 50 wings, and an 8ft propeller. Phillips made an uncontrolled, powered hop of 500ft- the first in England.