In 1899, Scottish American engineer Alexander Graham Bell, the man best known as the inventor of the telephone, began investigating the possibility of powered flight. To wit:
Inspired by the box kites of Australian [aeronautical pioneer] Laurence Hargrave, Bell began to multiply the lift-providing cells, creating compound structures of multiple kites.The basic problem of creating flying objects is that as a body’s surface area is squared, its weight is cubed, limiting the maximum size and lifting capability. Over the course of years experimenting at his Nova Scotia laboratory, Bell discovered that a tetrahedron — a three-dimensional prism of four triangular sides — could be useful.
READ ON: Bell’s Tetrahedral Kites (Mashable)
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“as a body’s surface area is squared, its weight is cubed,”
Is this true if the body is essentially a two dimensional sheet of fabric?
Bell didn’t invent the telephone. Antonio Meucci did.
Came here to say this. Bell stole the idea from the patent office he worked in.
It does seem like Bell invented the hipster photograph though.
The common box kite was originally used as a means of drying wet string
Kites were simultaneously invented over two thousand years ago in China and Indonesia. They had recreational and military uses.
Do you think that the Chinese are a very cruel race?
The human race in all its ethnicities on every continent has shown a propensity towards cruelty.
Top 5 worst
1 China
2 North Korea
3 South Korea
4 North Vietnam
5 Cambodia
Honourable mention: Japan.
How did you calculate?
^he thought of all the Asians he hates
Anyway, what has this to do with kite design and kite flying?