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power_of_evolution:evolution_engineering_comparison:energy_efficiency_of_wright_flyer [2022/09/21 07:37] (current) |
| ====== Energy efficiency of Wright Flyer ====== |
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| // Published 04 November, 2020; last updated 10 December, 2020 // |
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| <p>The Wright Flyer:</p> |
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| <li><div class="li">flew around 0.080-0.18m/kJ</div></li> |
| <li><div class="li">and moved mass at around .022 – .061 kg.m/J</div></li> |
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| ===== Details ===== |
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| <p>The <em>Wright Flyer</em> (<em>Flyer I</em>) was the first successful plane, built in 1903.<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-1-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-1-2729" title='&#8220;The&nbsp;<em><strong>Wright Flyer</strong></em>&nbsp;(often retrospectively referred to as&nbsp;<strong><em>Flyer</em>&nbsp;I</strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>1903&nbsp;<em>Flyer</em></strong>) was the first successful heavier-than-air powered aircraft&#8230;.The Wrights built the aircraft in 1903 using&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitka_Spruce">giant spruce</a>&nbsp;wood as their construction material.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Flyer#cite_note-NASM-2">[2]</a></sup>&#8220;</p> <p>“<em>Wright Flyer</em>.” In <em>Wikipedia</em>, October 30, 2020. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wright_Flyer&amp;oldid=986246127">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wright_Flyer&amp;oldid=986246127</a>.'><sup>1</sup></a></span></p> |
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| ==== Mass ==== |
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| <p>According to Wikipedia<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-2-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-2-2729" title='“<em>Wright Flyer</em>.” In <em>Wikipedia</em>, October 30, 2020. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wright_Flyer&amp;oldid=986246127">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wright_Flyer&amp;oldid=986246127</a>.'><sup>2</sup></a></span>:</p> |
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| <li><div class="li"><strong>Empty weight:</strong> 605 lb (274 kg)</div></li> |
| <li><div class="li"><strong>Max takeoff weight:</strong> 745 lb (338 kg)</div></li> |
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| ==== Energy use per second ==== |
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| === Fuel use per hour === |
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| <p>A 1904 article in the Minneapolis Journal says the plane consumed ‘a little less than than ten pounds of gasoline per hour’.<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-3-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-3-2729" title="&#8220;At the speed of 1200 revolutions per minute the engine develops sixteen-brake horsepower, with a consumption of a little less than ten pounds of gasoline per hour.&#8221; "><sup>3</sup></a></span> A pound of gasoline contains around 20MJ<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-4-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-4-2729" title='&#8220;Gasoline has an energy density of about 45 megajoules per kilogram (MJ/kg)&#8221;<br><br>“Energy Density of Gasoline &#8211; The Physics Factbook.” Accessed November 3, 2020. <a href="https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/ArthurGolnik.shtml">https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/ArthurGolnik.shtml</a>.<br><br>45MJ/kg = 20.4MJ/lb'><sup>4</sup></a></span> So we have:</p> |
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| <p>Hourly fuel consumption: 10lb/h x 20MJ/lb = 200MJ/h = 55kJ/s</p> |
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| <p>We don’t know how reliable this source is. For instance, a 1971 book, <em>The Write Brothers’ Engines and their Design</em> does not give data on fuel consumption in their table of engine characteristics for lack of available comprehensive data<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-5-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-5-2729" title='&#8220;No fuel consumption figures are given, primarily because no comprehensive data have been found. This is most probably because in the early flight years, when the Wrights were so meticulously measuring and recording technical information on the important factors affecting their work, the flights were of such short duration that fuel economy was of very minor importance.&#8221;</p> <p>Hobbs, Leonard S. <em>The Wright Brothers’ Engines and Their Design</em>. [For sale by Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.]; First Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971. <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38739/38739-h/38739-h.htm">https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38739/38739-h/38739-h.htm</a>.'><sup>5</sup></a></span>, suggesting that its authors did not consider the article strong evidence, though it is also possible that they didn’t have access to the 1904 article.</p> |
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| === Utilized motor power / efficiency === |
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| <p>To confirm, we can estimate the plane’s energy use per second by a second means: combining the claimed power (energy/second) made use of by the engine, and a guess about how much fuel is needed to deliver that amount of energy.</p> |
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| == Utilized motor power == |
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| <p>According to Wikipedia, the plane had a 12 horsepower (9 kJ/s), gasoline engine.<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-6-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-6-2729" title='&#8220;Since they could not find a suitable automobile engine for the task, they commissioned their employee&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Taylor_(mechanic)">Charlie Taylor</a>&nbsp;to build a new design from scratch, effectively a crude 12-horsepower (9-kilowatt)&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_engine">gasoline engine</a>.<sup><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Flyer#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup><br><br>“<em>Wright Flyer</em>.” In <em>Wikipedia</em>, October 30, 2020. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wright_Flyer&amp;oldid=986246127">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wright_Flyer&amp;oldid=986246127</a>.'><sup>6</sup></a></span> The 1904 Minneapolis Journal article put it at 16 horsepower (12 kJ/s), and Orville Wright, quoted by Hobbs (1971), puts it at ‘almost 16 horsepower’ at one point.<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-7-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-7-2729" title='&#8220;Speaking of the first engine, Orville Wright wrote, &#8220;Since putting in heavier springs to actuate the valves on our engine we have increased its power to nearly 16 hp and at the same time reduced the amount of gasoline consumed per hour to about one-half of what it was.&#8221;&#8221;</p> <p>Hobbs, Leonard S. <em>The Wright Brothers’ Engines and Their Design</em>. [For sale by Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.]; First Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971. <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38739/38739-h/38739-h.htm">https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38739/38739-h/38739-h.htm</a>.'><sup>7</sup></a></span> Hobbs says that at one point this engine achieved 25 horsepower, though this probably isn’t representative of what was ‘actually utilized’.<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-8-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-8-2729" title='&#8220;In the table, performance is given in ranges which are thought to be the most representative of those actually utilized. Occasionally performances were attained even beyond the ranges given. For example, the 4×4-in. flat development engine eventually demonstrated 25 hp at an MEP of approximately 65 psi.&#8221;</p> <p>Hobbs, Leonard S. <em>The Wright Brothers’ Engines and Their Design</em>. [For sale by Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.]; First Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971. <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38739/38739-h/38739-h.htm">https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38739/38739-h/38739-h.htm</a>.'><sup>8</sup></a></span> For that he gives a range of 8.25-16 horsepower.<span class="easy-footnote-margin-adjust" id="easy-footnote-9-2729"></span><span class="easy-footnote"><a href="#easy-footnote-bottom-9-2729" title='See first table in Appendix. It appears that the lower number is for the first flight, though this is confusing:</p> <p& |