Horatio Frederick Phillips

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Horatio Frederick Phillips (born 1845 in Streatham^[1] - 1924) was an early aviation pioneer from Great Britain. He was famous for building multiplanes with many more sets of lift surfaces (sustainers, as he called them) than we would consider normal on modern aircraft.

[edit] Flying machines

• His 1893 Flying Machine had 50 lift surfaces and implemented Phillips' patented "double-surface airfoils" in such a way as to produce an aspect ratio of 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 lift capabilities (it eventually was tested at 400 lbs of maximum lift).^[2]
• His 1904 Multiplane expanded on the 1893 test vehicle in a configuration that could be flown by a person. It utilized 20 wings and had a tail for stability, but was unable to achieve sustained flight.
• His 1907 Multiplane, which had 200 individual airfoils, was the first successful powered flight conducted in Great Britain, on 6 April 1907.^[3]

Phillips ended his attempts at manned flight after that, and died in 1924.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Dictionary/Phillips/DI113.htm
2. ^ A History of Aeronautics, by E. Charles Vivian[1]
3. ^ http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0232.shtml