Future generations will definitely have no feeling when they see such a short gliding distance. Of course, not only future generations, but also the few people who saw it at the scene were not excited enough.
Because it is really too short, just over two hundred meters. The only ones dancing were the two Laite brothers, who flew once or twice in the sky.
The photographer they invited took the photo, and the Lite brothers were quite excited: "Maybe our success will become sensational news!" But it is a pity that, at least for a few years, their invention will not receive much attention. Pay attention to.
Cars have been developing rapidly for more than 20 years, but they are still not mainstream, let alone airplanes.
Li Yu is the only one who truly understands the value of airplanes, but he can't help at the moment. When he was observing just now, he was just wondering if he could get a small airplane and fly it in a few years.
Anyway, it was a dream that was basically impossible for him to realize in his previous life, but now he does have a good chance. After all, the difficulty of driving an early aircraft is completely different from that of later aircraft. The most important thing to consider is safety.
It is precisely because of safety issues that this matter must be pushed back. It will take at least ten years for aircraft technology to be basically mature.
It can be seen from some of Li Yu's patent applications that Li Yu attaches great importance to safety and quality, because this is the most common thinking mode of later generations.
After more than a century of development and competition, the industrial design of later generations has reflected sufficient humanistic care. Product managers have dug their heads to study ergonomics and user convenience.
At the beginning of the 20th century, more considerations were still about profits, which was a bit like barbaric growth. This is also a hidden advantage of Li Yu's thinking of later generations.
Even if you don’t understand design, the subtle impact of modern society on every modern person is beyond what people can imagine at this time.
After the test flight, Li Yu and others came to Laite Brothers' company and laboratory. ——It’s Laite Bicycle Company.
They did not receive any financial assistance and were able to afford the expensive flight tests by relying on the money they earned from selling bicycles.
It's very similar to the joke I mentioned about Mazda in the later automotive world: "When you have money, you build rotary engines. When you don't have money, you sell cars. When you make money, you continue to build rotary engines." The Lite brothers are similar. They didn't sell any bicycles. , but it is their hobbies that really make them successful.
Li Yu looked around and soon learned that the Laite brothers had initially solved the problem of lift and power to drive the aircraft forward.
"I think you can continue to increase the power, which will also help improve the lift." Li Yu said. One sentence hit the point, and his brother Wilbur said: "Mr. Li Yu, you are indeed an academician of the Royal Society. We have had this idea many times, but now we can't find a better engine." Li Yu He nodded and said: "There is indeed no dedicated aircraft engine now. Although I can provide an engine with a higher horsepower, the weight will inevitably increase, which will inevitably affect your weight layout in the aircraft design."
"These are all problems that must be faced. More horsepower is always needed," said his brother Orwell,
"We are confident that we can increase the distance and altitude of the flight." Of course he understands how much impact weight has on aircraft design, and even the two brothers have been strictly controlling their weight in order to fly the aircraft.
Nowadays, the take-off weight of airplanes is only this small. If a person weighs more than one or two kilograms, there will be a lot of pressure.
Brother Wilbur Wright asked: "Is it possible to build an engine with high horsepower and light weight?" Li Yu said: "There will be in the future, but the development of new engines will take some time. After success, I will still I will give you one for free." Li Yu had studied fluid mechanics, which was a professional course at that time, but he had not studied aerodynamics specifically, so he was powerless about the design details of the aircraft.
But he is better at engines. Wilbur Wright said excitedly: "It's such an honor. You are the first person I have ever seen who supports our flight test so much!" Li Yu said with a smile: "It's just an engine. By the way, you still need Test how to balance and control the aircraft and land smoothly after it takes off." Orwell Wright said: "What you mentioned are all key points, and our future tests will focus on these." But only relying on For the two brothers, there will not be any big breakthrough in the development of aircraft, and they will have to wait until all sectors of society pay enough attention to it.
Just like cars, although they have not yet defeated horse-drawn carriages and become mainstream, they have received a lot of attention. There are companies in almost all countries in Europe and the United States conducting continuous research and development. It is a thriving sunrise industry.
The treatment of aircraft in the early years was much worse. Even after the successful test flight, there was very little newspaper coverage, because most newspapers once doubted its authenticity.
Only Li Yu narrated it in the latest issue of his own "Sce", and conducted popular science on the principles of aircraft lift and control, and then made a certain future outlook.
Thanks to his reputation in the scientific community, readers finally have some understanding, but more readers think this is
"Science fiction sequelae", someone named Li Yu's Star Wars series has been circulated more, and one of them once mentioned
The concept of "spaceship". Everyone looks at airplanes just like they looked at "Frankenstein" by the famous female writer Mary Snow, the mother of science fiction, decades ago.
Or from the Li Yu Star Wars series
"robot". Anyway, it feels impossible.
"fantasy". However, Li Yu was not in a hurry, it was a normal reaction of the public. ——When they returned to New York, Xie Yuxi had already applied for two automobile patents: seat belts and rearview mirrors.
Li Yu then telegraphed the status of the patent to Ford and Henry Leland in Detroit, as well as Maybach and Carl Benz in Germany.
Unexpectedly, several senior figures in the automotive industry have shown considerable importance to rearview mirrors, but consider seat belts to be dispensable.
Maybach even responded directly: "Rearview mirror technology is an unparalleled invention for improving the driver's field of vision!" Karl Benz also sent a request, hoping to purchase the right to use this patent.
Ford in Detroit is currently developing automobiles and immediately stated that it would add rearview mirrors to future production.
Anyway, they all think that rearview mirrors are of great benefit. Li Yu has written several technology licensing contracts. In the future, major car companies will only need to pay corresponding patent royalties to use this technology.
Major car companies will definitely be happy to adopt it, because Li Yu's design is already very complete and there is not much room for improvement.
Li Yu lamented that it was still satisfying to rely on technology to make money, which can be said to be once and for all. No wonder Qualcomm can make huge profits from 5G usage fees in later generations.
For example, for a mobile phone that costs about 4,000 yuan, Qualcomm can earn nearly 100 yuan from patent fees alone, not counting chip and baseband costs.
This is the huge profit that comes from mastering patents. That’s why Li Yucai wants to follow Bosch’s route and first become a core technology supplier in the upstream of the automotive industry.
As for seat belts, since the speed of today's cars is not high anyway, Ford and others believe that there will be no major casualties.
The only one who showed some interest was Porsche. He was a racing enthusiast and had heard about a previous racing driver who saved his life by using a belt to secure himself.
So Porsche sent a telegram asking for some seat belts. Li Yu knew that the advancement of this technology would take some time, so he didn't ask Porsche for a penny and mailed a few messages to him for free.
Just treat it as product promotion fee. It won't be long before the speed increases and everyone will know how important seat belts are.
——After traveling across the ocean, the article published in the Journal of the Physical Society was finally seen by the European academic community. Originally, European academic circles disdained to read American science magazines, but because it was written by Li Yu, I had to read it.
As Lord Kelvin who raised the two dark clouds, this was also the first time I saw someone say
The view that "the speed of light remains constant is a basic principle and does not need to be proved". Li Yu's quotation of the story about Newton and Apple is not difficult to understand for those with physical literacy.
After all, no one really thought about proving why apples don't fly into the sky. It’s all as it should be!
But even Lord Kelvin still felt that the problem of the constant speed of light violated Galileo's classic transformation. In the eyes of most people, two people walking in the same direction must be faster.
The key is that this is also consistent with daily observations. It’s a contradiction, it’s so contradictory! Lord Kelvin said to the President of the Royal Society: "You know astronomy. He once mentioned that it takes eight minutes for the sun's light to reach the earth. What do you think?" President Huggins said: "Although I know it is not realistic, But I would rather believe what Newton said. There is action at a distance. In an instant, no, it doesn't take time to reach the earth, because this can avoid many problems." Lord Kelvin said: "I'm afraid the problem cannot be avoided. Light does have speed. It cannot be called action at a distance. But once it is true, it is really chilling to think about his previous articles about extragalactic galaxies." After all, Huggins specializes in astronomy, and after thinking about it, he said: "You are referring to the light reaching us. It takes tens of thousands of years here?" Lord Kelvin said: "Yes, if so, light is too slow, so I think the speed of light will not be only this little." President Huggins said: "From Michelson's data Look, the speed of light in vacuum is a basically certain value." Lord Kelvin sighed: "So it's really confusing!" The two studied it for a long time, but in the end they couldn't come up with a reason.
Michelson and Morey's experiment has been done many times in many universities and research institutions, and everyone is unanimously sure that there is no error.
Many people have expressed doubts, but really don’t know why. Not only did Lord Kelvin feel unbelievable when he saw Li Yu's words at this moment, but the performances of all walks of life in Europe were similar.
Mach said bluntly: "I have never seen such a lazy theory! You can't find the reason, and you say it can't be proved? It's really unworthy of the titles of Li Yu and various academicians." Mach supporter Ostwald Said: "This is completely hindering the progress of science, because he actually wants us to accept the fact that there are dark clouds in the physical sky. It is a great insult to physics! It is like saying that there is no murderer when a detective cannot find it. Average." These two are also old opponents.
However, their voice in the academic world is not small. Mach has already become famous, and Ostwald will win the Nobel Prize in a few years.
Fortunately, Li Yu also has supporters. Mr. Boltzmann had a very bad relationship with Ostwald and immediately wrote an article to retaliate: "Please read the article carefully. Li Yu did not simply throw away the article without any reason." Rather than drawing an absurd conclusion, it should be seen as a scientific introduction." Ostawald and Boltzmann had been fighting for more than ten years over atomic theory. The Divine Controversy cannot be compared, but it was also very famous in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Another super celebrity, Planck, commented on the debate between the two: "These two rivals are equally witty and have fluent answers; each other is very talented." Planck is really interesting, and he was a witness to both debates. , it feels like witnessing two eras.
But the difference is Ostwald's
"Energy theory" is really hard to come by, and in a few years everyone will know that atomic theory is correct. Therefore, the debate between him and Boltzmann was lackluster.
It has to be evenly matched to be interesting. Although Einstein lost the debate with Bohr, some of the ideas put forward by him and his camp can be said to have promoted the development of quantum mechanics on a large scale.
Just like that sentence
"God does not play dice", even
"Schrödinger's cat" was also proposed to refute Bohr. Well, yes, Schrödinger, as the elder of quantum mechanics, sided with Einstein and opposed quantum mechanics in the peak debate... Planck was a bystander in both debates, and Boltzmann was a bystander that time. He was still a low-key person; but when Einstein and Bohr were debating, he had become a recognized authority, the moderator and the judge.
Another reason is that Planck is more cautious in his actions. He is a late bloomer and does not like to be the vanguard and charge into battle.
But now when Max Planck, who was at the University of Berlin, saw Li Yu's article, he quickly wrote a telegram and sent it to New York: "Little friend Li Yu, I am shocked to hear that you are 'traveling' to the United States again. May I ask? Have you done your business well? Have you finished writing the Star Wars prequels?" Well, I went overseas again to press for the manuscript.
Sure enough, the elder's point of view always makes people guess the direction. Li Yu couldn't laugh or cry when he saw the telegram, and immediately sent him a telegram back: "Professor Planck, the prequel has been printed and I believe it won't be long before it can be seen in Europe." Planck was satisfied when he saw Li Yu's reply: "That's it. That’s ridiculous!” Because Einstein was in Switzerland, he saw the American Physical Society’s article later.
But after only reading a few sentences, he knew it was related to his own research, so he quickly took the newspaper to the toilet and looked at it carefully.
The leader of the Patent Office saw Einstein sneaking out of the office out of the corner of his eye, but he was used to Einstein fishing at work, so he was not surprised.
Einstein has been studying Li Yu’s last reply and his article, and now he saw what Li Yu mentioned
"The constant speed of light is a basic axiom." I suddenly felt overjoyed.
"Yeah, why didn't I think of it! If you can't prove it, don't prove it. Instead, use it as a basic hypothesis. If the theory you derived has no problems, then it will round up the theory!" Figure out this joint , Einstein's mind became clearer and clearer, and even though he was in the toilet, he still couldn't feel the smell.
Even after hearing the sound of someone defecating, I thought of a Chinese idiom: "It's like the toilet suddenly opened!"
