#WingWednesday 20 feb

[aleex 551]

 

 

[Dominique_K 10,149]

Of course, the person who picked up the quote knew that Lilienthal died flying a glider of his own design. Or not

[Chock 17,769]

4 hours ago, domkle said:

Of course, the person who picked up the quote knew that Lilienthal died flying a glider of his own design. Or not

Yup, kind of an ironic choice of quote and let's hope it is not prescient where MSFS2020 is concerned.

Nevertheless, Lilienthal's construction of the glider in which he was killed was not actually faulty itself, the accident in which he was fatally injured was simply a function of the control method it utilised, and it was this which led to the accident. Of course one could regard this as a flaw in itself, but that very control system is still in widespread use in both hang gliders and some microlights, it being weight shift rather than three-axis control as found in most fixed wing aeroplanes. In Lilienthal's accident, he got into a steep dive (possibly a stall) and this meant that either getting his weight back far enough to pull out of a dive, or having enough altitude to reach flying speed before doing so if it was a stall, meant that he simply ran out of room before hitting the ground since it occurred at an altitude of around 50 feet.

Pioneers such such as Lilienthal were daring flyers and they took risks and could be a bit showy at times, which of course has its dangers. This was the case with Anthony Fokker too; if you see pictures of him flying his early machines such as the ironically named Fokker M1 Spin (which means Spider), you can see that he wasn't averse to looping at very low altitude as we can see in this picture of him pulling up from a loop:

And on the subject of quotes from Lilienthal, here is the tale of one which perhaps might be a more fitting choice for those slaving away on making MSFS2020. Lilienthal broke a neck vertebra in the crash and fell into unconsciousness soon after, dying in hospital the following day despite the efforts of a prominent surgeon who like Lilienthal, was himself a pioneer in his own field - Ernst von Bergmann. One of the interesting things about this incident, which may possibly be apocryphal - but then again many of the best and most fitting tales are - is that Lilienthal's final words were: 'Opfer müssen gebracht werden', which translates as 'sacrifices must be made'.

Those are the very words you can find inscribed on Lilienthal's grave and fitting they are too, given that Wilbur Wright said of Lilienthal's pioneering efforts: 'Of all the men who attacked the flying problem in the 19th century, Otto Lilienthal was easily the most important.'

Edited February 20, 2020 by Chock

[Krakin 5,764]

Hmmm...yup, still a good quote lol.

[RALF9636 1,956]

Interesting. According to wikiquote this quote is widely misattributed to Lilienthal but actually was a statement by Ferdinand Ferber - a French flight pioneer who died in a biplane crash in 1909 - dedicated to Lilienthal in 1898.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal

 

[Chock 17,769]

4 minutes ago, RALF9636 said:

Interesting. According to wikiquote this quote is widely misattributed to Lilienthal but actually was a statement by Ferdinand Ferber - a French flight pioneer who died in a biplane crash in 1909 - dedicated to Lilienthal in 1898.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal

 

Yup, as noted, it may very well be a misquote or an apocryphal tale, but it's a good one all the same. I'm inclined to surmise that Lilienthal's last words were more likely to be 'oh bugger' or perhaps, 'ow, my neck hurts like hell' 🤣

[RALF9636 1,956]

6 minutes ago, Chock said:

Yup, as noted, it may very well be a misquote or an apocryphal tale, but it's a good one all the same. I'm inclined to surmise that Lilienthal's last words were more likely to be 'oh bugger' or perhaps, 'ow, my neck hurts like hell' 🤣

Actually according to the German Wikiquote his last words were:

"Ich muss etwas ausruhen, dann machen wir weiter." ("I have to rest a little, then we are going to continue.")

https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal

 

[Dominique_K 10,149]

Lilienthal was a great and daring man but the quote, true or not, is indeed ironic and, more generally, doesn't make much sense anyway. 

 

[Claviateur 789]

Probably an adapted version of the quote could use the word "Flight Simulator" 😋

Edited February 20, 2020 by Claviateur

[LHookins 3,103]

It's a little like the "There are three traditions in the British navy" quote attributed to Winston Churchill.  When asked about it, he said he didn't say those words but wished he did. 😄

Seeing a quote by Otto Lilienthal gave me a warm fuzzy feeling whether he was the author of the quote or not.

Hook

 

[LHookins 3,103]

8 hours ago, Chock said:

Lilienthal's last words were more likely to be 'oh bugger'

"Hold my beer."