This page seems to indicate it was G Spratt who gave the needed info
to the Wright Bros to build the wind tunnel. Who knows who is right
?
http://www.456fis.org/GEORGE%20_A._SPRATT.htm
Steve Carlisle
I don't think that per se had anything to do them with building a
wind tunnel. A wind tunnel can measure lift and drag separately or
together.
The best book I have found so far on the Wright Brothers is "The
Wright Brothers Legacy" by Walt Burton & Owen Findsen. 224 pages.
2003 ISBN 0-8109-4267-4
Many many old photos up until Orville died in 1948 and several years
after that.
Paul Lamar
I seem to have generalized on the wind tunnel, Spratt provided info
to build gauges so that the wind tunnel would be effective, so the
pages indicate. The Wrights and G Spratt were truly aviation
pioneers.
Steve Carlisle
In another great book about the Wrights called "On Great White
Wings" Culick & DunMore 171 pages. George Spratt is mentioned on
page 68. He was a colleague of Chanute. Octav Chanute,s workis well
known in early aviation. The Wrights had a lot of early
correspondents with him.
George Spratt made him self useful by laying the take off rail.
Then he packed up and left thinking the Wrights would not fly that
year.
Then Chanute himself showed up for awhile and left.
Then they flew :-)
Paul Lamar
Paul, yes I have read some books also, and some of them were garbage,
where they ended up. It seems there are many who believe Spratt made
a bigger contribution, than what you say. Lots of Wright and Spratt
correspondence to back up the position, Maybe there is a webpage out
there to prove these claims totally bogus !
Steve Carlisle
In Summary: 1. Wilbur, in his February 1902 letter to Chanute, must
have backdated the date he said they built and used their "special"
tangent angle instrument. This backdating would have the effect of
eliminating any suspicion that they had used Spratt’s design as the
inspiration for their own instrument if that question should ever
arise. However Wilbur, in his 1909 letter to Spratt did admit they
had built a new tangent angle instrument (not saying why) of a
"different design" than Spratts. It could only have been built after
they knew their tangent angle data was wrong and well after they had
received Spratt’s letter.
2. Throughout their lives neither brother ever mentioned their first
set of tangent angle data that they crossed out. Yet it was an
important event, they had to discard 40% of their total data. They
would have realized that any discussion of the problem would have
invited questions of what had happened and how they solved the
problem. As Spratt wrote to Orville in 1922, "I do not see how you
can give a correct account of this without bringing yourselves to
open censure".
3. The design of their tangent angle instrument was kept totally
secret until 1939 and then Orville gave only written description. A
complete description was not revealed until 1946.
4. The letter Spratt sent to the Wrights on November 21, 1901 in
which he showed them his design was not in the Wright files when
their papers were released for examination after Orville’s death. It
is only because Spratt sent an identical letter, photograph and
drawing to Chanute that we know the details of the Spratt design and
can compare the two.
5. The notes the Wrights must have kept during their wind tunnel
experiments have never been found. They would confirm when the final
tangent angle instrument was built and probably show sketches. These
notes must have existed because their sister, Katharine, mentions
them in her December 15, 1901 letter to their father.
6. The Wrights never revealed the details of their wind tunnel
experiments and Orville, after Wilbur’s death, would not cooperate
with any author who attempted to examine this aspect of their work.
7. Finally, The Wright’s promise in 1909 to give Spratt credit for
his contributions was never fulfilled. Quite the opposite, while
admitting to him in private they owed him a debt, in public they made
every effort to conceal his contributions.
Steve Carlisle
Why would the Wrights do that? They acknowledge the help from at
least a half dozen other people including Langley. There was a lot of
their research that they kept secret or failed to document.
Why would they single out one person? They mentioned some people that
attempted to take credit for their success but Spratt was not one of
them. Herring is a good example.
In a book called "How We Invented The Airplane" first published in
1953. Dr. Spratt was mentioned along with Mr. Huffaker on page 17 in
conjunction with the movement of the center of pressure. Much of the
book was written by Orville.
This book has been republished by Dover Publications in 1988.
Much of this book is in Orville's own words and some was written in
1920. On page 18 Dr Spratt is mentioned again in conjunction with an
instrument the Wrights made to measure the ratio of lift to drag. It
was Dr. Spratt suggestion.
This sounds like a lot of BS to me. Probably the descendent's of
Dr. Spratt are trying to expand his contributions to the invention of
the airplane when the Wrights are not around to defend themselves. It
had nothing to do with the actual invention of the airplane. It is a
lot more than the shift in center of pressure. The primary problem
was the control of the aircraft.
This is not the first time this has happened.
The stupid legislators of Connecticut officially recognized some one
else as the first to fly who was experimenting with air craft in that
period. Several people got off the ground with propellers but the
French immediately recognized the Wrights as the inventor of the REAL
airplane once they saw "VeelBare" fly. This is because the Wrights
solved the (well known at the time) control problem. The French
were fascinated by "VeelBare" as they called Wilbur.
The Brazilian's showed up at Osh Kosh one year with a replica of
Alberto Santos Dumont box kite airplane and claimed he invented the
airplane. You can image how that went over :-) That airplane "flew"
in straight line for several hundred feet but could not turn.
What books have you read on the Wrights?
Paul Lamar
Paul, just this, The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough. Not much
on Spratt in there. Spratt was the inventor of the Controlwing, a
much simpler, safer aircraft, that never really caught on. The drones
use the FreeWing concept, very similar to the ControlWing. You may
likely now all that .
Steve Carlisle
You got me there. What is a control wing?
Paul Lamar
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