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Phillips Multiplane
These experiments were the first to conclusively prove that a cambered shape with greater curvature over the top than the bottom produced more lift than a flat airfoil. Fellow Englishman Sir George Cayley had first theorized this idea in the early 1800s, but it was the experiments of Horatio Phillips that brought widespread attention to curved airfoils.
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Shown above are sheets 1 and 2 of the instructions. Shown above is the exploded view of the Phillips Multiplane This Model is included on the
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The
theory of multiple lifting surfaces which had been put forward
between 1884 and 1891 was first given practical application by
an Englishman, Horatio F.Phillips, in 1904. The son of
a gunsmith, Horatio Phillips was born in 1845 in a suburb of London.
He reportedly became interested in aviation at a young age and
closely followed the research being conducted by the Royal Aeronautical
Society using a whirling arm and wind tunnel. Phillips felt he
could do better and had built his own wind tunnel by the early
1880s. His wind tunnel used a steam injector to suck air through
the apparatus and produced more reliable results than any other
wind tunnel of the day. Phillips soon began conducting experiments
exploring how curved airfoil sections generated lift.
The
importance of these landmark findings was quickly recognized and
nearly every subsequent experimenter with gliders or powered airplanes
adopted cambered airfoils. Among these inventors were Otto Lilienthal
in Germany as well as Samuel Langley and the Wright brothers in
America. Phillips too applied his expertise in airfoils as he
began building flying machines of his own.
