Content deleted Content added
→Attempted flight: flag |
m Removing from Category:Aviation pioneers using Cat-a-lot |
||
| (23 intermediate revisions by 19 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
[[File:Diego Marín Aguilera (MUNCYT, Eulogia Merle).jpg|thumb|Portrait of Diego Marín by Eulogia Merle]]
[[File:Castillo De Coruña Del Conde.jpg|thumb|320px|right|Coruña del Conde castle and plane commemorating aviation pioneer Diego Marín Aguilera]]
'''Diego Marín Aguilera''' (1757–1799)<ref name="bird man">{{cite web|url= http://www.
==Early life==
Line 9 ⟶ 8:
==Inventions==
Early on, Marin devised several labor-saving devices, including a device that improved the functionality of a [[watermill]] on the [[Arandilla River|Arandilla river]];<ref name="man who flew">{{cite web|url= http://
==Flying machine==
Marín was inspired by the [[eagle]]s he spotted while tending his animals and fields: he wanted to build a [[flying machine]]. For six years, he worked on one he invented.<ref name="diego"/> The machine was built out of wood, iron, cloth, and feathers.<ref name="bird man"/><ref name="man who flew"/> He gathered eagle and [[vulture]] [[feathers]] by setting up special traps on which he placed rotting meat to attract these birds.<ref name="diego"/>
Marín made calculations regarding the weight, volume, size, dimensions of the feathers, as well as the weight of the bodies of these birds.<ref name="diego"/> He also carefully studied the movement of their wings and tail and, with the assistance of the local [[blacksmith]], Joaquín Barbero, constructed a pair of [[wrought iron]] "joints" that moved about like a [[Fan (implement)|fan]]. He also built [[stirrups]] for his feet and hand-cranks that controlled the direction of the flying machine.<ref name="bird man"/>
===Attempted flight===
On the night of
Flapping the wings of the glider, he reached a height of "six or seven ''[[Spanish customary units#Vara|varas]]''" (approximately 5 or 6 m) and according to his companions, glided for "431 Castilian ''varas''",<ref name="diego"/> or approximately 300<ref name="bird man"/> to
==Death and legacy==
[[File:Diegomarínaguilera.jpg|thumb|Memorial to Diego Marín Aguilera and a replica of his flying machine]]
Marín suffered further bad luck. The inhabitants of the town, believing him to be a lunatic, heretic, or a fraud, burned his "demonic" flapping-wing creation.<ref name="bird man"/> Marín lost all hope and, feeling disgraced and deeply depressed,<ref name="bird man"/><ref name="man who flew"/> never attempted flight again. He died at the age of 44 in his native town,<ref name="man who flew"/> six years after his attempted flight.<ref name="diego"/> Marín left no documentation regarding his inventions and he was buried at the local church.{{Citation needed|date = May 2017}}
Now called the “father of aviation” in Spain, the [[Spanish Air Force]] dedicated a monument to him that is located next to the castle where he took flight.<ref>{{cite web|author=c |url=http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/coruna.html |title=Coruña del Conde, Clunia, Diego Marín Aguilera |
Of Marín, the [[American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics]] writes: "It is impossible to determine how much truth there is to the story of Marín, but it seems that he did achieve some gliding flight, surviving after structural failure and a crash landing. Marín, who had no formal scientific education, was endowed with a special technical ingenuity and is a good example of the ageless human aspiration toward flight."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aiaa.org/Secondary.aspx?id=370|title=Spain:History of Flight from Around the World|publisher=The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|date=May 14, 2014|access-date=May 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517121935/http://www.aiaa.org/Secondary.aspx?id=370|archive-date=May 17, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> They credit him with a flight of approximately 360 meters.
==Notes==
Line 32:
==External links==
* [http://www.terra.es/personal/soportal/laribera/personaj/diegomar.html Diego Marín Aguilera] {{
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marin Aguilera, Diego}}
[[Category:1757 births]]
[[Category:1799 deaths]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:18th-century Spanish people]]
| |||