Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, DLR baut das erste Serien-Flugzeug der Welt nach 2017. Retrieved: 3 March 2017. therefore making the idea of heavier-than-air aircraft a reality. Newspapers and magazines published photographs of Lilienthal gliding, favourably influencing public and scientific opinion about the possibility of flying machines becoming practical.
Lilienthal's work led to his developing the concept of the modern wing. His flight attempts in 1891 are seen as the beginning of human flight and the "Lilienthal Normalsegelapparat" is considered the first airplane in series production, making the Maschinenfabrik Otto Lilienthal in Berlin the first airplane production company in the world. He has been referred to as the "father of aviation" and "father of flight".
On 9 August 1896, Lilienthal’s glider stalled and he was unable to regain control. Falling from about , he broke his neck and died the next day.
In 1867, Lilienthal began experiments in earnest on the force of air, but interrupted the work to serve in the Franco-Prussian War. Returning to civilian life, he was a staff engineer with several engineering companies and received a patent, his first, for a mining machine. He founded his own company to make boilers and steam engines.
On 6 June 1878, Lilienthal married Agnes Fischer, daughter of a deputy. Music brought them together; she was trained in piano and voice while Lilienthal played the French horn and had a good tenor voice.Anderson 2001, p. 157. After marriage, they took up residence in Berlin and had four children: Otto, Anna, Fritz, and Frida. "Otto Lilienthal." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2004. Retrieved: 7 January 2012. Lilienthal published his famous book Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation in 1889.
The filing of a U.S. Patent in 1894 by Lilienthal directed pilots to grip the "bar" for carrying and flying the hang glider. "Flying-Machine Otto Lilienthal. Patents. Retrieved: 16 November 2012. The A-frame of Percy Pilcher and Lilienthal echoes in today's control frame for hang gliders and ultralight trike aircraft. Working in conjunction with his brother Gustav, Lilienthal made over 2,000 flights in gliders of his design starting in 1891 with his first glider version, the Derwitzer Glider, until his death in a gliding crash in 1896. His total flying time was five hours. "From Lilienthal to the Wrights." Otto Lilienthal Museum. Retrieved: 8 January 2012.
At the beginning, in the spring of 1891, Lilienthal managed the first jumps and flights on the slope of a sand pit on a hill between the villages of Derwitz and Krielow in Havelland, west of Potsdam (). This is the site of man's first flight. Later he made his flight attempts on an artificial hill near Berlin and above all in the Rhinow Hills.
In 1891 Lilienthal succeeded with jumps and flights covering a distance of about . He could use the updraft of a wind against a hill to remain stationary with respect to the ground, shouting to a photographer on the ground to manoeuvre into the best position for a photo. In 1893, in the Rhinow Hills, he was able to achieve flight distances as long as . This record remained unbeaten for him or anyone else at the time of his death.
Lilienthal did research in accurately describing the flight of birds, especially storks, and used polar diagrams for describing the aerodynamics of their wings. He made many experiments in an attempt to gather reliable aeronautical data.
Lilienthal made many attempts to improve stability with varying degrees of success. These included making a biplane which halved the wing span for a given wing area, and by having a hinged tailplane that could move upwards to make the flare at the end of a flight easier. He speculated that flapping wings of birds might be necessary and had begun work on such a powered aircraft.
While his lifelong pursuit was flight, Lilienthal was also an inventor and devised a small engine that worked on a system of tubular . "Documentation of the only preserved Lilienthal engine" Otto Lilienthal Museum. Retrieved: 12 February 2018. His engine was much safer than the other small engines of the time. This invention gave him the financial freedom to focus on aviation. His brother Gustav (1849–1933) was living in Australia at the time, and Lilienthal did not engage in aviation experiments until his brother's return in 1885.Runge and Lukasch: Erfinderleben. Die Brüder Otto und Gustav Lilienthal. Berlin 2007.
There are 25 known Lilienthal patents. "Patent archives of the Museum." Otto Lilienthal Museum. Retrieved: 12 February 2018.
In 1892, Lilienthal's training area was a hill formation called "Maihöhe" in Berlin-Steglitz, Berlin. He built a high shed, in the shape of a tower, on top of it. This way, he obtained a "jumping off" place high. The shed served also for storing his apparatus.Chanute, O. "The Flying Man." Progress in Flying Machines. Retrieved: 16 November 2012.
In 1893, Lilienthal also started to perform gliding attempts in the "Rhinower Berge", at the "Hauptmannsberg" near to Rhinow and later, in 1896, at the "Gollenberg" near to Stölln.Seifert and Waßermann: Otto Lilienthal. Leben und Werk. Eine Biographie. Hamburg 1992: pp. 73–80.
In 1894, Lilienthal built an artificial conical hill near his home in Lichterfelde, called Fliegeberg (lit. fly hill). "The man who jumped off hills: Otto Lilienthal's Fliegerberg." journeytoberlin.com. Retrieved: 8 January 2012. It allowed him to launch his gliders into the wind no matter which direction it was coming from. The hill was high. There was a regular crowd of people that were interested in seeing his gliding experiments.Shlomovitz, Netanel. "Before the Beginning." Israeli Air Force. Retrieved: 8 January 2012.
In 1932, the Fliegeberg was redesigned by a Berlin architect Fritz Freymüller as a memorial to Lilienthal. "From Lichtenrade to Lichterfelde Süd" (in German) Berlin.de. Retrieved: 8 January 2012. On top of the hill was built a small temple-like construction, consisting of pillars supporting a slightly sloping round roof. Inside is placed a silver globe inscribed with particulars of famous flights. Lilienthal's brother Gustav and the old mechanic and assistant Paul Baylich attended the unveiling ceremony on 10 August 1932 (36 years after Otto's death).
Lilienthal was a member of the Verein zur Förderung der Luftschifffahrt, and regularly detailed his experiences in articles in its journal, the Zeitschrift für Luftschifffahrt und Physik der Atmosphäre, and in the popular weekly publication Prometheus. These were translated in the United States, France and Russia. Many people from around the world came to visit him, including Samuel Pierpont Langley from the United States, Russian Nikolai Zhukovsky, Englishman Percy Pilcher and Austrian Wilhelm Kress. Zhukovsky wrote that Lilienthal's flying machine was the most important invention in the aviation field. Lilienthal corresponded with many people, among them Octave Chanute, James Means, Alois Wolfmüller and other flight pioneers.
Paul Beylich, Lilienthal's glider mechanic, transported him by horse-drawn carriage to Stölln, where he was examined by a physician. Lilienthal had a fracture of the third cervical vertebra and soon became unconscious. Later that day he was transported in a cargo train to Lehrter train station in Berlin, and the next morning to the clinic of Ernst von Bergmann, one of the most famous and successful surgeons in Europe at the time. Lilienthal died there a few hours later (about 36 hours after the crash).
There are differing accounts of Lilienthal's last words. A popular account, inscribed on his tombstone, is "Opfer müssen gebracht werden!" ("Sacrifices must be made!"). The director of the Otto Lilienthal Museum doubts that these were his last words. Otto Lilienthal was buried at Lankwitz public cemetery in Berlin.
Guinness World Records recognizes Otto Lilienthal as the first person recorded to be fatally injured in a glider accident.
Before its closure in 2020, Berlin's then busiest airport, Berlin Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport, was named after him.
In September 1909, Orville Wright was in Germany making demonstration flights at Tempelhof aerodrome. He paid a call to Lilienthal's widow and, on behalf of himself and Wilbur, paid tribute to Lilienthal for his influence on aviation and on their own initial experiments in 1899.
In 1972, Lilienthal was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. .
In 2013, American aviation magazine Flying ranked Lilienthal No. 19 on their list of the "51 Heroes of Aviation". "51 Heroes of Aviation" Flying. Retrieved: March 24, 2019
A German Air Force tanker, Airbus A310 MRTT registration 10–24, has been named "Otto Lilienthal" in his honour.
The Lilium Jet, a prototype German EVTOL (eVTOL) electrically powered airplane and the company which designed it, Lilium GmbH, were named after him.
An authentic replica of the Normalsegelapparat made by the Otto Lilienthal Museum has been investigated by the German Aerospace Center in wind tunnel and flight tests. The results prove that the glider is stable in pitch and roll and can be flown safely at moderate altitudes.[13] Video of the first flight of the replica of Otto Lilienthal’s biplane glider Retrieved: 15. Febr. 2020.
In 1989, a Soviet-era Ilyushin IL-62 passenger jet was flown to Gollenberg, and landed in a nearby field. It now serves as a museum of early flight, and has been named 'Frau Agnes' (German for Lady Agnes), after Lilienthal's wife. The back of the aircraft operates as a registry office, decorated for marriages. The jet previously served with East Germany's state airline Interflug.
Projects
Derwitzer Glider 1891 25
(later 18)108
(later 84)6.6 12.8 18 Wing curvature: 1/10 of length. Südende Glider 1892 31 158 8.2 3.3 24 Wing curvature: 1/20 of length. Maihöhe Rhinow Glider 1893 22 or 23 150 8.2 14.3 20 Small Ornithopter 1893–1896 22 129 8.2 5.5 Weight with CO2 cylinder: 10 kg. Normal soaring apparatus 1894 22–23 140–146 7.9 / 8.2 16.1 – 17.4 20 At least nine gliders sold.
Original gliders or fragments are preserved in museums in London, Moscow, Munich and Washington.Sturmflügelmodell 1894 20 104 6.6 14.8 Original can be seen at the Technisches Museum Wien. Vorflügelapparat 1895 29 204 9.8 18.4 Small Biplane 1895 19.7 / 17.1 104 / 105 7.2 / 6.9 15.7 Large Biplane 1895 21.6 / 20.7 146 / 112 7.5 / 7.5 16.1 Big Ornithopter 1896 27.9 188 8.2 17.4
Test locations
Worldwide notice
Final flight
Legacy
In popular culture
Gallery
Derwitz, 1891
File:Otto is going to fly.jpg|Lilienthal preparing for a Small Ornithopter flight,
16 August 1894
File:More_otho_flying.JPG| Vorflügelapparat,
29 May 1895
File:Lilienthal in flight.jpg|Normal soaring apparatus with the enlarged tail,
29 June 1895
See also
Notes
Bibliography
External links
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