Technology is amazing. Technology is one thing that is tricky to compete against. It changes every time with an introduction of a slightest adjustments or idea. An example is an evolution which took place in the aircraft design. The search for a more powerful and the more significant performing airplane is one of the factors which led to the invention of the multi-engine airframe formats. The driving assumption was that if one engine was good, then more than one would be better. The enthusiasm such as high performance and power of the flight that gave a chance to some simple machines, for instance, Write Flier, is what led to the invention of more powerful and the comfortable airplane which has stitched the world closer. The invention of the multiple engine aircraft was amazing.
The essential features which made it different from others were speed, safety, comfort, and economy. According to the statistics and research in this field, a forced landing was a prominent cause of airplane accident in history. This was a dominant issue and a solution had to be gotten. This was where the multiple engine came to birth. With numerous engine planes, the aircraft could fly with more than one engine. This thus provided a solution for engine failure problem. However, it has to be noted that a single engine was not in a position to fly when one engine is dead (Boyd, 2015). Thus, multiple engines became a necessity. But how was it achieved? This paper presents the history of the numerous engine planes. The article will discuss in details how this engine was invented and those who played a significant part in its invention.
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History of multiple-engine aircraft
Igor Sikorsky invented that multiple engine aircraft. Before he migrated to the USA, Igor was a well-known engineer who builds several helicopters, and was one of the Russian Aviation pioneers. Igor's significant invention was the multiple engine flight. During this time, people cast doubts on whether the numerous engine planes would fly. The building of the numerous engine planes commenced in the year 1913. It was around this time that Sikorsky stated putting his idea on the work. During this time, it was also a coincidence that Sikorsky was in charge of Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works which was an aircraft decision in Russia. Nobody even within this division thought that this crazy idea of multiple engines would work. Note, during this time, the proposed various engine aircraft had some additional weight. This made the total plane weigh nearly 13000lb. This was unbelievable weight, and nobody had faith that the plane would overcome this weight and fly on air! These doubts were based on the fact that nobody had tried such kind of idea before Igor. In fact, some of them even made jokes out of it citing the weight of ostriches which had acted as a great obstacle to their flight. However, all their negative comments and mistrust shook less Sikorsky. He had a determination to make this structure fly on the air like any other.
There were many assumptions which were aired and were used to challenge the idea which Igor came up with about the multiple engine planes. What was important is that Igor agreed with none of the ideas which were used to challenge his many engine plane ideas. Thaw first arguments against this approach were that synchronizing the multiple engines and also controlling it would be very challenging. They claim that controlling the two engines could even lead to further confusion which could lead to more aircraft accidents than ever. Further, the opponents also argue that a plane with two engineers more would be too big to get off the ground. According to them, the increasing lift was jug a matter of increasing the wing area. They thus concluded that this would be a huge mistake if Igor got on with his crazy idea. However, the determination Igor had proved wrong all these people and their theories.
On May 10 th the year 1913, Igor successfully launched a structured plan which he named the Grand. This was a plane which ran on two engines, and he tested the flight himself. The massive invention was widely covered by the media then. However, because most people could not imagine the plane with two engine flying; many thought that this was propaganda of the media houses. Further, most scientists witnessed the aircraft before it was launched or tested. Their major complains, and the reason why they were confident that the plane could not fly was the size of its wingspan. The wingspan which was approximately 92feet was extraordinary longer. No one had ever imagined that a plan could operate with such more extended narrow wings. They thought it could not work. The size of the wingspan which was used on this plane challenged the prevailing notion which reigned during this time. Then, people thought that what mattered most in aircraft was its wingspan. Any mistake in this area, therefore, would render the entire effort fruitless (Moulin et al., 2017). Also, they claim that the ratio of the length to that of width meant little aerodynamically. The central belief was that stubby and wide aircraft wings were the stable wings which could lift a plane off the ground and make it fly. On his one words, Sikorsky states that "One night when everyone had gone home, I looked at the broad, short wings for the Grand. I did not like the 'feel' of them, so we changed them to long and narrow. This horrified many people...Most were guessing. They did not know . I did not know either, but my intuition told me it would fly – why not?"
Why not? This was the question which many people asked themselves. The question got the right answer. The size of the wingspan was a significant factor in lifting the plane as many scientists in this field would later come to realize. It was the size of the wingspan which was used to make this flight that could produce a lift which could make such a plane fly. The plane indeed flew. It became the grandfather of all the current luxurious and big passenger-carrying planes that are seen today. Another unique feature of the Grand was its enclosed cabin. During this time, it was known as the balcony, and it would carry three to four passengers. It was not enclosed as it is today on the modern planes. The cabin had to seat of four passengers and three crew members. This was adopted in the modern plane which has their cabin full of coaches and luxuries seats with a birth room.
Note, during its invention; the Grand operated on two engines. The engine was located on each side of the wingspan. This made it the first plane to do so and was the basis of heavy criticism on its inventor. The plane operated with the two engines for some time before two more were added. It took two years as the plane was using the two engines before Sikorsky made another surprise on the plane. He added two more 100 HP power plants to the plan bringing the two engines to one pair on each of the wing sides. Many were surprised, but since they had already been beaten in the first round, they could not argue, they kept silent. Upon adding the engines, making the total to two pairs, Sikorsky decided to rebrand the plane. The name was changed to Risky Vital, translated as Russian Knight. The Russian Knight night was the hero. It made nearly 50 flights before it met its abrupt end (Schaeffer et al., 2017). The Russian Knight came to an end when one of the planes on the aircraft show had an engine problem. The engine fell right on top of the Russian Knight bringing it to an end. However, this did not bother the owner so much. The plane was smashed into several pieces. However, Sikorsky did not bother to repair it. Instead, he started the journey of coming up with its successor; this would later become the first plane which would be used in the military bombing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the history of the multiple engine aircraft is amazing. It was marked with significant doubts and uncertainty as it was built from nothing to something which changed the entire look of the airplanes. The thing that was amazing about this invention was its speed and the capacity. This made it different from others. More importantly, it disapproved the notion that one plane could not operate using more than one engine.
Annotated bibliography
Boyd, D. D. (2015). Causes and risk factors for fatal accidents in non-commercial twin-engine piston general aviation aircraft. Accident Analysis & Prevention , 77 , 113-119.
The main topic prevailing in this article is that twine engine in an airplane even though necessary, can still cause an accident as witnessed in many cases. Boyd has an advanced academic achievement in this field and has also published many articles thus making this document relevant. This article is used to summarize the history of the multiple engine aircraft.
Moulin, F., Mercier-Calvarias, F., & David, L. E. (2017). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/519,878 .
The article brings to light one reason behind the high speed witnessed in the multiple engine flight. This is called the thrust balancing. The authors have used different credible sources as references and have quoted other scholars in this article. This makes it reliable and less bias. The article has been used to justify some of the features of the multiple engine aircraft.
Schaeffer, J. M., Patel, J., & O'neill, E. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,567,091 . Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
This article claim that the rise in the plane accident was due to a single engine. The recommendation in the article is the application of the multiple engines. The authors are well schooled in this field. They have also used different sources, and thus, this work is credible. This article has contributed in narrating the history of the multiple engine aircraft.
References
Boyd, D. D. (2015). Causes and risk factors for fatal accidents in non-commercial twin-engine piston general aviation aircraft. Accident Analysis & Prevention , 77 , 113-119.
Moulin, F., Mercier-Calvarias, F., & David, L. E. (2017). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/519,878 .
Schaeffer, J. M., Patel, J., & O'neill, E. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,567,091 . Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
