Alexander Graham Bell and the Kite
Alexander Graham Bell and the Kite
Alexander Graham Bell is most famous for the invention of the telephone. However, few people know of Bell’s great passion for both aeronautics and kites. Bell’s kite designs contained a variety of geometrical shapes and different elements including rotors and winged flying wheels. Bell experimented with man carrying kites to further his knowledge of man assisted flight. While working on the telephone, Bell mentioned to his partner that their next big project would be to design, build, and successfully fly a flying machine. Bell chose to begin his experiments testing light weight wind supported designs before testing human powered flight trials. In 1894, Bell began experimenting with wings and propellers. When he is successful, he moves onto helicopter models. Bell finally decided that a kite would be the most stable structure for human flight. His kite flying drew in populations to his city. Many people gathered to watch his trials and enjoy themselves. Many of Bell’s kites were created using the tetrahedron. Bell found the tetrahedron to be very lightweight and strong at the same time. Many tetrahedron cells were placed together to produce a large kite. Some of Bell’s kites were built to be over seventy five feet tall. One of Bell’s early kites was made of 1,300 tetrahedral cells and was called Frost King. When Frost King accidentally lifted one of its handlers over thirty five feet above the ground, Bell concluded that a much larger kite with an engine could easily carry a man. Bell got to work designing and building the kite that would carry a man. The first problem Bell ran into was figuring out how to increase the size of the kite without increasing the weight of the kite. His conclusion was a triangular box kite made of tetrahedral cells. When Cygnet was finished in 1907, Bell decided to test how well it could be controlled by a man on board. Cygnet was a much larger version of Frost King, containing
Alexander Graham Bell is most famous for the invention of the telephone. However, few people know of Bell’s great passion for both aeronautics and kites. Bell’s kite designs contained a variety of geometrical shapes and different elements including rotors and winged flying wheels. Bell experimented with man carrying kites to further his knowledge of man assisted flight. While working on the telephone, Bell mentioned to his partner that their next big project would be to design, build, and successfully fly a flying machine. Bell chose to begin his experiments testing light weight wind supported designs before testing human powered flight trials. In 1894, Bell began experimenting with wings and propellers. When he is successful, he moves onto helicopter models. Bell finally decided that a kite would be the most stable structure for human flight. His kite flying drew in populations to his city. Many people gathered to watch his trials and enjoy themselves. Many of Bell’s kites were created using the tetrahedron. Bell found the tetrahedron to be very lightweight and strong at the same time. Many tetrahedron cells were placed together to produce a large kite. Some of Bell’s kites were built to be over seventy five feet tall. One of Bell’s early kites was made of 1,300 tetrahedral cells and was called Frost King. When Frost King accidentally lifted one of its handlers over thirty five feet above the ground, Bell concluded that a much larger kite with an engine could easily carry a man. Bell got to work designing and building the kite that would carry a man. The first problem Bell ran into was figuring out how to increase the size of the kite without increasing the weight of the kite. His conclusion was a triangular box kite made of tetrahedral cells. When Cygnet was finished in 1907, Bell decided to test how well it could be controlled by a man on board. Cygnet was a much larger version of Frost King, containing