Editing History of aviation (section)

==Primitive beginnings==
{{Main|Early flying machines}}

{{For timeline|Timeline of aviation}}

===Tower jumping===
[[File:Daedalus und Ikarus MK1888.png|thumb|[[Daedalus]] working on [[Icarus]]' wings]]
Since ancient times, there have been stories of men strapping birdlike wings, stiffened cloaks, or other devices to themselves and attempting to fly, typically by jumping off a tower. The Greek legends of [[Daedalus and Icarus#Daedalus and Icarus|Daedalus]] and [[Icarus]] are some of the earliest known.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wells|first1=H. G.|title=The Outline of History: Volume 1|date=1961|publisher=Doubleday|page=153}}</ref> Others originated in ancient Asia<ref>[[Book of Han]], Biography of Wang Mang, 或言能飞, 一日千里, 可窥匈奴.莽辄试之, 取大鸟翮为两翼, 头与身皆著毛, 通引环纽, 飞数百步堕</ref> and the European Middle Ages. During this early period, the concepts of lift, stability, and control were not well understood, and most attempts resulted in serious injuries or death.

The [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] scientist [[Abbas ibn Firnas]] (810–887 AD) attempted to fly in [[Córdoba, Spain]], by covering his body with [[vulture]] feathers and attached two wings to his arms.<ref name="LynnWhite" /><ref name=SA>{{cite journal |title=First Flights |journal=[[Saudi Aramco World]] |date=January–February 1964 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=8–9 |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196401/first.flights.htm |access-date=8 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503200416/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196401/first.flights.htm |archive-date=3 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The 17th-century [[Algeria]]n historian [[Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari]], quoting a poem by [[Muhammad I of Córdoba]]'s 9th-century court poet Mu'min ibn Said, recounts that Firnas flew some distance before landing with some injuries, attributed to his lacking a tail (as birds use them to land).<ref name="LynnWhite">[[Lynn Townsend White, Jr.]] (Spring, 1961). "Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator: A Case Study of Technological Innovation, Its Context and Tradition", ''Technology and Culture'' '''2''' (2), pp. 97–111 [101]</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Moolman |first=Valerie |title=The road to Kitty Hawk |date=1980 |publisher=Time-Life Books |others=Time-Life Books |isbn=978-0-8094-3260-8 |series=The Epic of flight |location=Alexandria, Va}}</ref> In the 12th century, [[William of Malmesbury]] wrote that [[Eilmer of Malmesbury]], an 11th-century Benedictine monk, attached wings to his hands and feet and flew a short distance,<ref name="LynnWhite" /> but broke both legs while landing, also having neglected to make himself a tail.<ref name=":2" />

Many others made well-documented jumps in the following centuries. As late as 1811, [[Albrecht Berblinger]] constructed an [[ornithopter]] and jumped into the [[Danube]] at Ulm.{{sfn|Wragg|1974|p=}}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}

===Kites===
[[File:Fier Drake (1634 kite woodcut).png|thumb|left|Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book ''[[The Mysteryes of Nature and Art]]'']]
The [[kite]] may have been the first form of man-made heavier-than-air aircraft.<ref name="wings-tom" /> It was invented in [[China]] possibly as far back as the 5th century BC. by [[Mozi]] (Mo Di) and [[Lu Ban]] (Gongshu Ban).{{sfn|Deng|Wang|2005|p=122}} Evidence to support this finding stands with materials commonly found and ideal for kite building located in China.  These are materials such as "silk fabric for sail material, fine, high-tensile-strength silk for flying line, and resilient bamboo for…framework"<ref name=":4" /> The reason these materials were so perfect for building kites is largely due to the structure of the materials themselves. Bamboo being a strong, hollow material, largely resembled the hollow bones in birds, which allow for less weight, making flight easier. Some kites were fitted with strings and whistles to make musical sounds while flying.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cambodiaphilately.blogspot.com/2010/01/amazing-musical-kites.html |title=Amazing Musical Kites |website=Cambodia Philately |access-date=7 January 2014 |archive-date=13 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813023023/http://cambodiaphilately.blogspot.com/2010/01/amazing-musical-kites.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/07/21/104991903.pdf|title=Kite Flying for Fun and Science|year=1907|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=14 June 2018|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802201440/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/07/21/104991903.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://subvision.net/sky/planetkite/asia/cambodia/khmer-kitebook.htm#VariousKinds |title=Khmer Kites |first1=Sim |last1=Sarak |first2=Cheang |last2=Yarin |website=Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Cambodia |year=2002 |access-date=7 January 2014 |archive-date=3 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503233930/http://www.subvision.net/sky/planetkite/asia/cambodia/khmer-kitebook.htm#VariousKinds |url-status=live }}</ref> Ancient and mediaeval Chinese sources describe kites being used to measure distances, test the wind, lift men, signal, and communicate and send messages.{{sfn|Needham|1965a|p=127}} Later designs often depicted images of flying insects, birds, and other beasts, both real and mythical.

Kites spread from China around the world. After being introduced into the rest of [[Asia]], the kite further evolved into the [[fighter kite]], which has an abrasive line used to cut down other kites. The most notable fighter kite designs originated in [[India]] and [[Japan]]<ref name=":4" />

====Man-lifting kites====
[[Man-lifting kite]]s are believed to have been used extensively in ancient China for civil and military purposes and sometimes enforced as a punishment. An early recorded flight was that of the prisoner [[Yuan Huangtou]], a Chinese prince, in the 6th century AD.<ref>Hallion (2003) page 9.</ref> Stories of man-lifting kites can be found in Japan, following the introduction of the kite from China around the seventh century AD. For a period, there was a Japanese law against man-carrying kites.<ref name="pelham">Pelham, D.; ''The Penguin book of kites'', Penguin (1976)</ref>

=== Rotor wings ===
The use of a [[Helicopter rotor|rotor]] for vertical flight has existed since 400 BC in the form of the [[bamboo-copter]], an ancient Chinese toy.<ref name="Gordon">{{cite book|last=Leishman |first=J. Gordon |title=Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics |series=Cambridge aerospace |volume=18 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-85860-1 |pages=7–9 |url=http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~leishman/Aero/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713201846/http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~leishman/Aero/history.html |archive-date=13 July 2014 }}</ref><ref name="Donahue">{{cite book |first=Topher |last=Donahue |title=Bugaboo Dreams: A Story of Skiers, Helicopters and Mountains |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qWMmlUE7ZB0C&pg=PA249 |year=2009 |publisher=Rocky Mountain Books Ltd |isbn=978-1-897522-11-0 |page=249}}</ref> The similar "moulinet à noix" (rotor on a nut) appeared in [[Europe]] in the 14th century AD.{{sfn|Wragg|1974|p=10}}

===Hot air balloons===
{{Main|Hot air balloon}}

Since ancient times, the Chinese understood that hot air rises and applied the principle to a type of small [[hot air balloon]] called a [[sky lantern]]. A sky lantern consists of a paper balloon under or just inside which a small lamp is placed. Sky lanterns are traditionally launched for recreation and during festivals. According to [[Joseph Needham]], such lanterns were found in China since the 3rd century BC. Their military use is attributed to the general [[Zhuge Liang]] (180–234 AD), who is said to have used them to scare the enemy troops.{{sfn|Deng|Wang|2005|p=113}}

There is evidence that the Chinese also "solved the problem of aerial navigation" using balloons, hundreds of years before the 18th century.{{sfn|Ege|1973|p=6}}

=== Renaissance ===
{{See also|Early flying machines#The Renaissance}}
[[File:Leonardo Design for a Flying Machine, c. 1488.jpg|thumb|left|One of Leonardo's sketches]]

Eventually, some investigators began to discover and define some of the basics of rational aircraft design. Most notable of these was [[Leonardo da Vinci]], although his work remained unknown until 1797, and so had no influence on developments over the next three hundred years. While his designs are rational, they are not scientific.{{sfn|Wragg|1974|p=11}} He particularly underestimated the amount of power that would be needed to propel a flying object,<ref name=time/> basing his designs on the flapping wings of a bird rather than an engine-powered propeller.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Durant|first=Will|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/869434122|title=Heroes of History: A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Age|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7432-2612-7|location=New York|pages=209|oclc=869434122|author-link=Will Durant|access-date=18 January 2021|archive-date=7 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307231132/https://search.worldcat.org/title/869434122|url-status=live}}</ref>

Leonardo studied bird and bat flight,<ref name=time/> claiming the superiority of the latter owing to its unperforated wing.<ref>{{cite book |last=Da Vinci|first=Leonardo |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=Pamela |title=The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=New American eLibrary|year=1971 |page=107}}</ref> He analyzed these and anticipated many principles of aerodynamics. He understood that "An object offers as much resistance to the air as the air does to the object."{{sfn|Fairlie|Cayley|1965|p=163}} [[Isaac Newton]] later defined this as the [[Newton's third law|third law of motion]] in 1687.

From the last years of the 15th century until 1505,<ref name=time>{{cite book |last=Wallace |first=Robert |title=The World of Leonardo: 1452–1519 |publisher=Time-Life Books |location=New York |year=1972|orig-year=1966 |page=102}}</ref> Leonardo wrote about and sketched many designs for flying machines and mechanisms, including ornithopters, fixed-wing gliders, rotorcraft (perhaps inspired by [[whirligig]] toys), parachutes (in the form of a wooden-framed pyramidal tent) and a wind speed gauge.<ref name=time/> His early designs were man-powered and included ornithopters and rotorcraft; however, he came to realise the impracticality of this and later turned to controlled gliding flight, also sketching some designs powered by a spring.<ref name="popham">{{cite book |last=Popham |first=A.E. |title=The drawings of Leonardo da Vinci |publisher=Jonathan Cape |edition=2nd |year=1947}}</ref>

In an essay titled ''Sul volo'' (''On flight''), Leonardo describes a flying machine called "the bird" which he built from starched linen, leather joints, and raw silk thongs. In the ''[[Codex Atlanticus]]'', he wrote, "Tomorrow morning, on the second day of January 1496, I will make the thong and the attempt."<ref name=":0" /> According to one commonly repeated, albeit presumably fictional story, in 1505 Leonardo or one of his pupils attempted to fly from the summit of [[Monte Ceceri]].<ref name=time/>