Flying has been a dream of mankind since ancient times. In ancient times, our ancestors dreamed of flying into the sky like a bird. Therefore, angels with wings and gods flying in the clouds and mist also appeared in people's fantasies. The sages
Knowing that you can't achieve anything by fantasy alone, you need to work hard on your own, so there are people who flap their wings and try to imitate the flight of birds.
Of course, since the Renaissance, people have also known that it is impossible to fly by manpower, and must rely on machines. So Leonardo da Vinci had a draft design of an aircraft, and then people tried to find solutions from machines.
Of course, the emergence of the internal combustion engine gave people who wanted to fly into the sky a better choice.
The small town of Pavia, located southwest of Milan, lives a good life relying on the bustling city of Milan. The residents of the town like to grow vegetables and fruits and bring them to Milan to sell, and live a happy and comfortable life.
But today, the town of Pavia was very lively. Everyone happily went to a wasteland in the southwest of the town because someone was building an aircraft here.
Yes, it is a machine that can fly. It is such a rare thing that everyone rushes over. There are probably as many as a thousand people around here, and this also shows that watching the excitement is popular everywhere, and even more
Not to mention the late 19th century when entertainment activities were barren.
And with so many people surrounding them, it was very stressful for Duilio Siegel and Gerardo Cani.
"Duilio, didn't you tell me not to be so public? Why do I feel like there are almost a thousand people here? If this fails in public, how will it end?"
"Don't ask me, how did I know there were so many people today? I just said it casually. This aircraft is the result of our years of hard work, so you can't have more confidence. Now it's better to keep an eye on the aircraft and don't let anyone touch it."
It wasn't the first time that the two of them had been watched by people while flying, but it was the first time that so many people were watching. There were so many people, and they were afraid of any accidents.
After the two of them hurriedly drove people around the test flight site, the sharp-eyed Siegel patted his partner on the shoulder.
"Look, a reporter from Milan Daily News is here. Let's go up to him."
Blake looked at the huge flying machine in front of him and felt lucky. This time the headline should be mine. Fortunately, he listened to his friend Gil's advice and came to see it. This was really worth the 6 lira carriage money.
, thinking of this, Blake raised the camera in his hand and took a few pictures of the flying machine.
"Hello, are you Blake reporter from Milan Daily News?"
A voice pulled Blake back from the photo session.
"Yes, I am."
Blake looked at Siegel and Carney appearing in front of him.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Duilio Siegel. Next to me is my partner Gerardo Carni. The aircraft you photographed was made by us."
Faced with Siegel's introduction, Blake immediately understood. He quickly took out a paper and pen and said, "Hello, Mr. Siegel and Mr. Carney, I'm sorry, I was created by the two of you just now."
This aircraft is shocking. Now can you tell me about the process of manufacturing this aircraft?"
Faced with Blake's question, after the two looked at each other, Siegel said, "No problem, it's a long story..."
In Siegel's account, he, the youngest son of a lord, has had a fantasy about flying since he was a child. Later, he even read Otto Lilienthal's concept drawings of aircraft, and he never forgot about flying. Later, he
While studying at the University of Milan, I met a like-minded partner, Carni, the son of a construction engineer.
What happened next was simple. The two people who both wanted to fly naturally began to pursue their dreams after graduation. The first funding for the two came from Siegel’s father, Lord Siegel Sr. The old Lord provided himself with
Fifty thousand lire was invested in the son's dream, and they later raised another 30,000 lire from others.
With this funding, the two began their dream of flying. They first studied flight models and built three flight models and a glider in the first year.
Then he used the natural wind outlet of the Como Pass to experiment with his own flight model and glider, and collected a lot of data.
The following year, the two developed two gliders and tested them with different wings. During the experiment, they corrected some erroneous flight data and designed a wing cross-section shape with greater lift.
In the third year, the two began to develop a real aircraft, Pioneer 1. This aircraft was 6.17 meters long, with a wingspan of 6.78 meters, and was equipped with a 12-horsepower gasoline engine. Unfortunately, this aircraft represented the two people's hard work.
The aircraft had a bad start and did not fly at all.
Although Pioneer 1 failed to succeed, the two did not give up at all. First, they looked for the reason. After some research, the two thought it was insufficient lift. Faced with this reason, they chose to expand the wingspan of the new Pioneer.
No. 2, directly compared to No. 1's wingspan of 15.51 square meters, has increased by one and a half times to 41.17 square meters.
Of course, just increasing the wingspan is not enough. The two also made major changes to Pioneer 2, so Pioneer 2 is very different from Pioneer 1.
Now Pioneer 2 is 6.94 meters long, with a wingspan of 13.3 meters and a height of 2.95 meters. It has a double-layer wing and is equipped with a 15.6-horsepower four-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine.
Regarding Siegel's narration, reporter Blake kept taking notes and asked some questions from time to time. Faced with these questions, Siegel also answered them one by one, and the conversation between the two was very harmonious.
"I hope you will be successful."
After asking the questions, reporter Blake gave his blessing.
"Thanks."
At this moment, reporter Blake suddenly asked, "By the way, can I ask, who is driving this flying machine today?"
"It's me."
Siegel replied. "To ensure a successful flight, I dropped to 102 pounds."
Well, this is indeed a warrior who works hard for his dream of flying. He can lose so much weight. He thought he was already so thin.
Seeing this, reporter Blake picked up the camera again and said, "Can I take a picture of you? Stand next to the machine and take a picture."
"no problem."
"Crack!"
With a flash of fluorescent pink, the famous photo of the tall and lanky Seagal standing next to Pioneer 2, wrapped in a windbreaker, became.
Later, Siegel was lying on the Pioneer wearing a fur hat. Yes, he was lying on his stomach. In order to make the flight successful, even Siegel lost weight. What is the seat?
Then Carney started the engine, and there was a roar of the gasoline engine, and the propellers on both sides of the nose began to rotate rapidly.
Another four people pushed up from the wings to give the Pioneer better acceleration.
With help from others, the pioneer's speed became faster and faster, and soon everyone felt a lightness in their hands, and at the same time a burst of cheers rang out from the surrounding onlookers.
Pioneer 2's guide wheel left the ground.
"It's flying!"
Blake's camera snapped, recording such a great moment. With the help of mechanical power, mankind finally left the ground for its first flight, and Siegel became the first human pilot.
The two people's test flight in Pavia was very successful. Pioneer 2 flew in the air three times in total. The longest flight lasted 1 minute and 49 seconds and flew a distance of 389 meters.
On the same day, Milan Daily reported this grand flight with a front-page headline.
