It is a little amusing that in 1866, when the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain (later to be bestowed with the “Royal” prefix) there were no aircraft, aeroplanes or airplanes – or at least none that could fly – only airships and balloons.
Whilst researching Major R.F.Moore (who designed and had built in Coventry what I shall refer to as a “flying machine”) it was interesting to find that he served on a Society Committe with one S.H.Page (also referred to as Mr. Handley Page) – this was called “The Wings Committee” that dealt with flight by use of what we now refer to as ornithopters*.
An article by Moore in “The Aeronautical Journal” (October, 1906?) titled “Wings versus Aeroplanes” (with the two dots over the first e in Aeroplanes showing it’s French? derivation) argueing the case for the winged machine (ornithopter) over aeroplanes (fixed wings). This was nearly three years after the Wright brothers first powered flight.
I quote – “Wings with their large spread and slow motion give more effective action on the air than the small blades of a screw propeller.”
Of course Americans also tend to use the term “planes” and I remember being told when I was a youngster “a plane is a flat surface, an aeroplane is a flying machine”.
Roger Smith
*anyone know the origins of the word ornithopter and when it came into use?
Sign In
