Centennial of Flight 2003 : Australian Aeromodellers Tribute

Aeromodellers of the Past 200 Years

Updated March 11, 2007

Index

George Cayley (1773-1857) - [P]
John Stringfellow (1799 - 1883)
Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834 - 1906)
Clément Ader (1841-1926)
Victor Tatin (1843 -1913)
Charles Renard (1847 - 1905)
Alphonse Pénaud (1850 - 1880) - [P]
Lawrence Hargrave (1850 -1915)
Chuhachi (Tyuuhaci) Ninomiya (1866 - 1936)
Edwin Alliot Verdon Roe (1877 - 1970)
Reginald Denny (1891 - 1967) - [P]
Sydney Camm (1893-1953)
Jack Northrop (1895 - 1981)
Reimar (1915 - 1993) and Walter Horten
Jack Douglas Hearn (1920-)

[P] incl. downloadable plans from this site.

For links to other plans first see Paul Dunlop's site Model Flying Machines

George Cayley (1773-1857)

This site regards George Cayley's seminal glider of 1804 (from a design of 1799), as the true beginning of aviation and indeed aeromodelling. With this glider he established the basic concepts of the aeroplane, concepts that in theory still hold true today. [Ed.]

George Cayley's glider, 1904 (replica)

"In 1799 Sir George Cayley (1773-1857), of Brompton, Yorkshire, England, was first to document the aerodynamic forces of flight, pitch, roll, and yaw with a diagram on a small silver disk. He was the first to realize that a cambered airfoil is more efficient than a flat surface. His 1804 glider had adjustable tail surfaces to control the direction of flight.

He tested and measured the lifting properties of various surfaces by attaching them to a whirling arm. He recognized the importance of having the wing at the correct angle in relation to the airflow (angle of attack), as well as the fact that superposed wings (bi- or triplane design) gave maximum lift with minimum structure weight." http://www.ohtm.org

Read more about George Cayley

George Cayley's glider, 1904

Download a 1/5 scale plan (1 x vertical A4 page) of Cayley's Glider of 1804

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John Stringfellow (1799 - 1883)

John Stringfellow's model Triplane, 1868

John Stringfellow's model Triplane on display
at the Crystal Palace Exhibition, London, 1868

Read about John Stringfellow

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Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834 - 1906)

Samuel Langley's 1896, 1/4 scale 'Aerodrome', 1903

Smithsonian

Download a 1000pixel image

Read about Langley's Aerodromes at David Dodge's site including his superb model of Langley's Aerodrome of 1903. The site also has two pages of images of Langley's rubber powered models. You can also read about Samuel Langley on this site

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Clément Ader (1841-1926)

Clément Ader's model of the late 1880s

Download a 1000pixel image

Read about Clément Ader

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Victor Tatin (1843 -1913)

Victor Tatin compressed air powered model, 1879

Download a 1500pixel image

Read about Victor Tatin

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Charles Renard (1847 - 1905)

Model of the electric powered airship "La France"
Renard and Krebbs, c.1884

ftp.die.net/mirror/historic

Download a 750pixel image

Read about Charles Renard

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Alphonse Pénaud (1850 - 1880)

Pénaud's Planaphor(e) (Planophore), 1871

Download a 1000pixel image

Pénaud's Planaphor(e) (Planophore), 1871

http://www.amars.hpg.ig.com.br

Download a half scale plan or full scale plan of the Planaphor(e) of 1871

Read about Alphonse Pénaud

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Lawrence Hargrave (1850 -1915)

Flying Machine No.6, 1888
Single cylinder, compressed-air engine No. 12, 1890

Shaw, W. Hudson and Ruhen, Olaf, 1977, p.61

The first Australian model aircraft were built by Lawrence Hargrave in the 1880s. These compressed air models were created to test his theories on 'flapping flight' for 'man carrying' aircraft. In the first years of the 20th century he and his son Gregory (d.1915 at Gallipoli) also experimented with gasoline, rotary engined models.

Read about Lawrence Hargrave

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Chuhachi (Tyuuhaci) Ninomiya (1866 - 1936)

Chuhachi (Tyuuhaci) Ninomiya's models, c.1893
Top Model : the 'Tamamushi' : Jewel Beetle, Gold Beetle, Gold Bug
Bottom Model : the 'Crow'

http://www.islands.ne.jp

Read about Chuhachi Ninomiya

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Edwin Alliot Verdon Roe (1877 - 1970)

Edwin Alliot Verdon Roe's model of 1908

Download a 750pixel image

Read about AV Roe

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Reginald Denny (1891 - 1967)

Reginald Denny and his 'Radioplane' RP-1, 1935

http://technosport.narod.ru

Reginald Denny's 'Lt'l Dennyplane Jr.' of 1938

Download a 1/2 scale plan of the 'Lt'l Dennyplane Jr.' of 1938
3 x vertical A4 pages : Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Download a full scale plan [1.6Mb] of the 'Lt'l Dennyplane Jr.' of 1938

Read about Reginald Denny

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Jack Northrop (1895 - 1981)

Jack Northrop's Flying Wing, Patent Model, 1939

Download a full page article incl. sketches

Read about Jack Northrop

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Reimar (1915 - 1993) and Walter Horten

Walter Horten's model flying wing, 1929

Read about Reimar and Walter Horten

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Sydney Camm (1893-1953)

Sydney Camm

Twin Pushers and Other Free Flight Oddities

Sir Sydney Camm lived in Windsor in his childhood at No. 10 Alma Road, with his brother Fred Camm, the Editor of the famous 'Practical...' series of magazines. His father, was an excellent carpenter and joiner and must have instilled in Sydney an interest in handwork, accuracy and quality. Before leaving The Royal Free School in 1908, aged 14, he spent hours whittling propellers for model aeroplanes. The brothers became sufficiently competent in building reliable model aeroplanes that they supplied Herberts' Eton High Street shop. Their models of biplanes and monoplanes were advertised as "Will Really Fly", and "Will Rise from the Ground".