Otto Lilienthal’s Propulsion System for Power Aided Gliding Flight From 1893–1896
Otto Lilienthal developed a propulsion system for his gliders that used flapping feathered wingtips actuated by a piston engine. This article will present the historical facts known about this propulsion system and its application in Lilienthal’s ornithopters. The results of wind tunnel experiments conducted with scaled-down wingtips will be discussed.
Authors
- Andreas Dillmann
- Bernd Lukasch
- Andreas Hempfer
- Markus Ritter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3828-0397)
- Markus Raffel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3340-9115)
- Peter Busse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5570-1299)
- Felix Krimm
Institutions
- Deutsches Museum (DE)
- Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum (DE)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-07-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2025-3114
- Primary Topic
- Aviation History and Innovations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00