A Wing and a Prayer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Heavier than air

Voice-over from Prof Avi Ashon (AA): "Powered flight occurs due to the lift created by air flowing over the wings. To create this airflow, the aeroplane has to be moving at speed. The faster the speed, the greater the lift. This speed is created by an engine (motor) driving at least one propeller. Without the speed, take off will not occur.

This is entirely different to balloons and other airships that fly due to the gas inside the envelope (balloon) being lighter than the surrounding air. Hence powered aeroplanes are known as 'heavier than air' vehicles."

Answer: Leonardo da Vinci

DH: What an experience! This man from the town of Vinci was indeed incredibly talented. In our conversation, he was adamant that understanding the world can be achieved by repeated experimentation, rather than simply reading from books. He did confide in me that this was a heresy at this time.

His studies of anatomy were groundbreaking and internationally famous and his sketches were so detailed! He talked fondly of his meetings with King Louis XII of France to discuss his science, especially the anatomical insights.

He described to me how he based his inventions on the four 'powers' - percussion, weight, force and movement.

Answer: Australia

DH: After having my transcript of the interview checked by Australian language expert, Prof Barry C. Rocker, I realized how unusual Mr Hargrave was. He was completely dedicated to the free exchange of scientific information rather than patenting inventions.

He published all of his important findings in the journal from the Royal Society of New South Wales, where others, including Alexander Graham Bell, picked up his ideas on improved wing design, lift to drag ratios and box kites. After the translation I now understand why he was so excited by his early unassisted kite flight in Stanwell Park in Wollongong in 1894. I'm delighted to see that his adopted country, Australia, featured him on their $20 note for nearly 30 years.

Answer: Biplane

DH: I asked Prof Ashon why almost all of the successful early flights used a biplane rather than a monoplane and he explained that there were two basic reasons: two wings provided more lift than a single wing and the two wings were structurally more sound. Due to the forces created during (attempted) takeoff, most early aviation pioneers found that the single wing was easily damaged or broke away from the fuselage.

In the biplane, the lower wing was attached to the fuselage, but the upper wing was above it and provided extra bracing via the wires or wooden struts connecting the wings.

It wasn't until the mid 1920s that monoplanes became more popular than biplanes.

Answer: It has a wide, long beach area with a central hill and strong regular winds

DH: When delving into the background to their successful flying exploits, Orville told me about the highly successful bicycle repair business that he had with Wilbur, which morphed into bicycle design. This provided the funding to explore their passion for flight.

The idea to use Kitty Hawk as their experimental base came after consultation with the United States Weather Bureau in Washington DC regarding likely locations with suitable winds. The winds did indeed assist with the world record flight that day in 1903 but it came at a price.

After that last flight and the subsequent end-over-end tumbling, the Wright Flyer was so badly damaged day that not even the sonic screwdriver could fix it! Realizing the importance of the plane, the Wright brothers boxed it up and sent it back to Dayton. Eventually it was given to the Smithsonian Institute for display.

Answer: Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC

DH: This is even more interesting and controversial than I first thought! Apparently the secretary of the Smithsonian at the time, Charles Walcott refused to acknowledge the Wright Brothers' feat, instead preferring to attribute the first powered flight to his predecessor Samuel Langley. Langley's non-piloted 'Aërodrome No. 5' flew for ¾ of a mile after being catapulted in 1896. His manned flights in 1903 were not successful.

In order for the Smithsonian to obtain the Wright Flyer from Orville's estate, they had to sign a contract that stated "Neither the Smithsonian Institution nor its successors, nor any museum or other agency ... or its successors shall publish or permit to be displayed a statement or label in connection with or in respect of any aircraft model or design of earlier date than the Wright Aeroplane of 1903, claiming in effect that such aircraft was capable of carrying a man under its own power in controlled flight." I think that such a contract is 'interesting' as it assumes that the law can dictate history!

Much more recently in 2013, the Connecticut State Legislature has enacted a law to recognize that German immigrant and Connecticut resident Gustave Weisskopf (Whitehead) made a controlled, powered flight in that state in 1901, although there is no photographic evidence of this flight (Note to self: return to 1901 and check this out!). This assertion also received the imprimatur of the editor of the authoritative Jane's "All The World's Aircraft".

Answer: Louis Blériot

DH voice-over: "Louis Blériot was much more than a highly skilled and successful pilot. Prior to his flying exploits, he was a highly skilled and successful inventor and aircraft designer. He designed and built a monoplane with tail controls similar to those still used a century later.

This aircraft, the Blériot VII, was first flown on 16 November 1907 and is widely recognized as the first successful monoplane. His 1909 cross-channel flight in the Blériot XI won a prize of £1,000 offered by the Daily Mail newspaper.

He was in a race to achieve this feat with compatriot Hubert Latham. Latham took off a week earlier than Blériot, but was forced to ditch in the Channel where he was rescued by an attendant French naval vessel. Latham had already organized a replacement aircraft and was waiting for suitable weather conditions when Blériot claimed the prize."

Answer: Interrupter gear that allowed machine-gun fire through the propeller

DH: I'll need to get Avi to explain this mechanism to the viewers. It's ingenious! AA voice-over: "The secret to firing though the propeller is to ensure that when the propeller blade is in the line of fire, the trigger for the gun is inactivated. This was achieved by using a raised cam on the propeller shaft which disengaged the trigger mechanism.

The original designer of the mechanism was disputed in the German courts for several decades. Nevertheless, the introduction of this technology enabled the pilot to simply 'point the plane' at the target rather than needing to worry about flying and gun aiming.

The period of over six months before the Allies also introduced a similar technology on the Western Front in 1916 was known as the 'Fokker Scourge'."

Answer: First non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean

DH: Found them! After filming their take-off in St John's, Newfoundland in Canada I tracked them to their landing in Clifden in County Galway, Ireland. I hope they're not too embarrassed to let me show footage of that landing. That inviting green landing field turned out to be a bog! On landing, the nose of the plane dived straight into the ground. Fortunately both men were uninjured and delighted to receive their share of the prize money and a knighthood a few days later from King George V. Perhaps the Daily Mail newspaper, and in this case the £10,000 prize for the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight, should take more credit for encouraging early efforts in aviation! I was saddened to learn that the Englishman Alcock died in a plane crash very shortly afterwards.

Answer: Gravity

DH: Cut back to Avi for his summary!

AA voice-over: "Flying is a never-ending battle between four forces: lift, thrust, drag and weight. As I explained earlier, lift is created by the lower air-pressure above the wing compared to below it. This causes upward movement through the atmosphere. Thrust is the forward movement of the plane created by the propeller. Countering the thrust is drag, which is the frictional force on the aircraft created by moving through air, slowing the plane's speed. Better, more aerodynamic, designs help to lower the drag. Finally, the weight of the aircraft which is a combination of its mass and the force of gravity, draws the aeroplane towards the ground. When the lift is insufficient to overcome the weight, gravity pulls the plane inevitably downward. Hopefully this is in a controlled manner, but in many cases, the descent is uncontrolled and the resultant crash can and did have devastating effects."