William O. Ayres' Aerial Machine
An etching of William Orville Ayres’ Aerial Machine, conceptualized in 1885. This image was published in the May 9th issue of Scientific American from 1885, on page 291.
Lately I’ve been researching ideas for flying machines throughout history, and it’s proven to be a fascinating, and at times humorous, endeavor. There have been myriad ideas and inventions for flying machines over the years, and this one caught my eye for various reasons. It’s a design by William Orville Ayers from 1885, and it’s called the New Flying Machine. Ayers was a physician who was interested in the natural sciences, particularly ornithology (the study of birds). This interest in birds no doubt expanded to flight, and ultimately led to the design for a flying machine pictured above.
Ayers’ strategy for generating lift was two-fold. First, compressed air from two black cylinders would drive a pair of motors that spin four vertical propellers. This compressed air was controlled through a regulator by the operator’s left arm. Second, the operator could mechanically power the machine. His right arm spins a disc that then spins a propeller directly behind his head, providing horizontal thrust for forward and backward movement. In addition, the operator could pedal with his feet to spin two more vertical propellers, located lower down on the machine.
It’s a bit unfair to critique an invention from the late 1800’s based on today’s technology and knowledge, but I’m going to do it anyway because it’s interesting to ponder. Also, a part of me smiles every time I look at the above image because of the sheer chaos that would ensue once the machine is powered up. The amount of force required to lift the ensemble off the ground would put great stress on the propellers, as they would need to spin dangerously fast. This would create multiple problems for the operator. The first is noise. Anyone who’s been near a helicopter would understand that wind-powered propellers are deafening when they are up to speed. The second is wind. The operator would be caught inside a cacophony of wind and compressed air, which would quickly send his hair and clothes into chaos. The third is the danger from the fast-moving propeller blades. The calm expression on the operator’s face would quickly be replaced by terror once the propellers got up to speed, since a slip or a wrong move could mean he loses a limb. It’s a chaotic scene to imagine, and it seems like something out of a Charlie Chaplin film.
In the end, designs like this serve to show how humans were thinking about powered flight long before we were able to achieve it. The most outlandish designs came before we had an understanding about the atmosphere and the physics to make flight possible, as the above example shows. It’s a testament to our innate need to escape the surface of the Earth that a doctor who was interested in birds would put so much thought into designing a machine to make a human fly. Still, there it is for us to look back on and smile at today.
Read more about other ideas for flying machines here.