Otto Lilienthal (Lilienthal Otto)

(1848-1896)
Born 23 May 1848 in Anklam. Studied in Potsdam and Berlin. In 1880 he opened a plant water-tube boilers, cutting machines, lifting blocks, and the siren of its own design. By studying the flight of birds, came to the conclusion that the wing with a convex-concave profile provides greater lift force than the flat. Experimentally shown that the lift of the wing depends on the angle of attack, a diagram connecting the lift coefficient and drag coefficient (a so-called. polar Lilienthal). Close started flights in 1870. First they made monoplanes glider into the air lift of 100 kg, and the inventor has made it a flight from a height of 5 m at a distance of 7 meters, and in the early 1890's, the height of the flight was already 80 m. In subsequent years, he performed more than 2000 flights. Lilienthal designed the construction of machines with 2.5 hp engine, but to carry out this project he could not: he was killed during a flight near the village of Stelle, near Berlin on Aug. 9, 1896. Lilienthal - author of two works: the bird's flight as a basis for Aeronautics (Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst, . 1889) and aircraft and the main considerations when creating and applying (Die Flugapparate, . algemeine Gesichtspunkte bei deren Herstellung und Anwendung, . 1894),
. In his honor in 1938 established a medal of the International Aeronautical Federation.