Lawrence Hargrave Quotes

Flying was great. You have to think fast. You have to develop intuition about the physics of air moving quickly over a surface.

Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.

The airplane stays up because it doesn't have the time to fall.

When you see a fly flitting around your hair or your potato salad, you might see an annoyance. But in my lab, you really see a marvelous machine: arguably the most sophisticated flying device on the planet.

The closer the bird is to the surface of the water, the firmer and more inelastic is the uplift of the rising air. The bird appears to almost feel the surface with the tip of its weather wing.

Flight without feathers is not easy.

It becomes a giant's task to compute the result when the effect of cross seas, wind at all angles and ever varying force, arched surfaces, head resistance, ratio of weight to area, and the intelligence of the guiding power crop up.

Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines.

Fly flight is just a great phenomenon to study. It has everything - from the most sophisticated sensory biology; really, really interesting physics; really interesting muscle physiology; really interesting neural computations.

In my opinion, we should search for a completely different flying machine, based on other flying principles.

The pink ball is a bit different. I don't think it moves as much through the air.

The light dove, cleaving the air in her free flight, and feeling its resistance, might imagine that its flight would be still easier in empty space.

I have had the feeling that a properly constructed flying-machine should be capable of being flown as a kite; and conversely, that a properly constructed kite should be capable of use as a flying-machine when driven by its own propellers.

The secret of flight is this -- you have to do it immediately, before your body realizes it is defying the laws.

To speak of this subject you must... explain the nature of the resistance of the air, in the second the anatomy of the bird and its wings, in the third the method of working the wings in their various movements, in the fourth the power of the wings and the tail when the wings are not being moved and when the wind is favourable to serve as guide in various movements.

All flight is based upon producing air pressure, all flight energy consists in overcoming air pressure.

It's not like there's a law against flying." "Yes there is. The law of gravity.

What can you conceive more silly and extravagant than to suppose a man racking his brains, and studying night and day how to fly?

Through the years of experience I have found that air offers less resistance than dirt.

Matthew Lowe is one of the great water men that I know. He's a surfer, a great water polo player. I think he's half fish.

The varying modes of flight exhibited by our diurnal birds of prey have always been to me a subject of great interest, especially as by means of them I have found myself enabled to distinguish one species from another, to the farthest extent of my power of vision.

When a car's ahead of you, as long as you can see it, you get a tow, just like the draft in NASCAR. Even if it's a long ways down the track, it punches a hole in the air that has to help. When you're running alone, you can feel the difference, and it shows on the clock, too.

Boeing just took $20 billion and 10 years to improve the efficiency of their planes by 10 percent. That's pretty lame. I have a design in mind for a vertical liftoff supersonic jet that would be a really big improvement.

I love surfing more than cricket, more interesting and you meet great people.

It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.