Horatio Frederick Phillips

Aerofoils

Multiplane flying machines

• His 1893 Flying Machine had 50 lifting surfaces and used his patented "double-surface airfoils" in such a way as to produce an aspect ratio of 1:152, providing great lift at the sacrifice of stability. As a test vehicle, it was not designed to be manned, but was used to test lifting capability. Its maximum load was found to be 400 lb.
• His 1904 Multiplane was a development of the 1893 test vehicle in a configuration that could be flown by a person. It had 21 wings and had a tail for stability, but was unable to achieve sustained flight. Its best performance was 50 ft. A specially made replica of the 1904 machine appears in the opening sequences of the 1965 film Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines.
• His 1907 Multiplane, which had 200 individual airfoils and was powered by a 22 hp engine driving a 7 ft propeller achieved a 500 ft flight on 6 April 1907. This was the first flight of its kind in England, although it was preceded by the Wright brothers by several years.

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