{"id":320,"date":"2011-11-15T20:31:23","date_gmt":"2011-11-15T20:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/?page_id=320"},"modified":"2012-01-06T01:53:48","modified_gmt":"2012-01-06T01:53:48","slug":"montgomerys-discovery-in-aerodynamics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/the-old-college\/montgomerys-discovery-in-aerodynamics\/","title":{"rendered":"Montgomery’s Discovery in Aerodynamics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen<\/a><\/p>\n

Our world has changed drastically since John Joseph Montgomery’s aerodynamics discoveries at SCU: \u00a0As a species, we are no longer bound to the ground.\u00a0 Transportation, warfare, and trade are just a few things that have been forever altered by the innovations of Montgomery and others.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 1: A drawing by Montgomery illustrating lift (from The Redwood 1905).<\/p><\/div>\n

Between 1883 and 1911, Montgomery\u2014a professor and inventor at Santa Clara College\u2014conducted some of the first successful glides in a heavier-than-air \u2018flying-machine<\/a>\u2019 in human history.\u00a0 Montgomery’s success was due to the discovery that a curved\u2014or parabolic\u2014wing resulted in lift<\/em><\/a> (Spearman 1967: 28).\u00a0 Lift<\/em> is a component of aerodynamic force that propels objects upward.\u00a0 He came to this conclusion through experimentation, and he ultimately built a glider with curved wings that glided successfully through the air (Montgomery\u00a01905: 447).\u00a0 While other engineers made similar discoveries at the same time as Montgomery, contesting whether or not he was the first to do this, the fact remains undisputed that Montgomery played a major role in the development of airplane technology.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 2: Montgomery with one of gliders, the \u201cSanta Clara.\u201d Notice the curvature of the wings (The Redwood 1905).<\/p><\/div>\n

Montgomery’s discoveries, as well as those of his contemporary colleagues, triggered many innovations.\u00a0 These innovations led to the development of the motor-operated airplanes that dominated the skies during World War II (Spearman 1967: 251), and airline and cargo planes that continue to shape the lives of people today.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 3: The various aircraft used in WWII, which began only 28 years after Montgomery\u2019s death in a gliding accident.<\/p><\/div>\n

Additional Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Montgomery Collection at SCU Archives<\/a>: For more information on Montgomery, his discoveries, and his gliders, visit the Santa Clara University Archives and request their Montgomery collection.<\/p>\n

Flying Machines<\/a>: This article is about Montgomery’s discoveries and what he really should deserve credit for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen Our world has changed drastically since John Joseph Montgomery’s aerodynamics discoveries at SCU: \u00a0As a species, we are no longer bound to the ground.\u00a0 Transportation, warfare, and trade are just a few things that have been … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"parent":448,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-320","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/320\/revisions\/323"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/virtualsantaclara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}