7
Flight Mystery and Aerodynamic Principles
7.1 Flying Fantasy
Flying, as the name implies, is flying in the air and flying in the sky. What
is the sky like? Qu Yuan (300 BC) wrote in “Tian Wen”: “At the beginning
of the ancient times, who passed the Tao to this universe? The universe has
not yet formed, how to investigate who is the person teaches the Tao?” This
indicates that human beings have had an infinite yearning and worship for
the mysterious skyline since ancient times. Figure 7.1 shows a picture of Fuxi
and Nvwa. In the picture, Fuxi and Nvwa’s head are on the sun and their feet
are on the moon. This figure not only expresses the desire of human ancestors
to travel in space but also reflects the Chinese people’s imagination of space.
Ancient people have realized that the sky is not just about the space of the
atmosphere but also the space between the earth and the moon and the sun.
Humans want to fly into the sky by mimicking birds, but it took a long time
to recognize the flight principle.
The human dream of flying has a long history that has existed in ancient
times. A lot of myths and legends about flying are beautiful and mysterious,
and they are very attractive to people. Ancient Greece and ancient Rome
have chariot flight, feather flight Cupid flying archery, etc.; China has flying
vehicle, Chang E flying to the moon and so on. All kinds of legends show
the human desire and imagination of soaring into the sky. Humans are eager
to fly like birds!
The ancient Chinese mythology “Chang E flying to the moon” (as shown
in Fig. 7.2) is well known to everyone. In the process of flying to the moon,
Chang E was very light, and she flew into the air lightly, without the parts
© Science Press 2021
P. Liu, A General Theory of Fluid Mechanics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6660-2_7
445
Flight Mystery and Aerodynamic Principles
7.1 Flying Fantasy
Flying, as the name implies, is flying in the air and flying in the sky. What
is the sky like? Qu Yuan (300 BC) wrote in “Tian Wen”: “At the beginning
of the ancient times, who passed the Tao to this universe? The universe has
not yet formed, how to investigate who is the person teaches the Tao?” This
indicates that human beings have had an infinite yearning and worship for
the mysterious skyline since ancient times. Figure 7.1 shows a picture of Fuxi
and Nvwa. In the picture, Fuxi and Nvwa’s head are on the sun and their feet
are on the moon. This figure not only expresses the desire of human ancestors
to travel in space but also reflects the Chinese people’s imagination of space.
Ancient people have realized that the sky is not just about the space of the
atmosphere but also the space between the earth and the moon and the sun.
Humans want to fly into the sky by mimicking birds, but it took a long time
to recognize the flight principle.
The human dream of flying has a long history that has existed in ancient
times. A lot of myths and legends about flying are beautiful and mysterious,
and they are very attractive to people. Ancient Greece and ancient Rome
have chariot flight, feather flight Cupid flying archery, etc.; China has flying
vehicle, Chang E flying to the moon and so on. All kinds of legends show
the human desire and imagination of soaring into the sky. Humans are eager
to fly like birds!
The ancient Chinese mythology “Chang E flying to the moon” (as shown
in Fig. 7.2) is well known to everyone. In the process of flying to the moon,
Chang E was very light, and she flew into the air lightly, without the parts
© Science Press 2021
P. Liu, A General Theory of Fluid Mechanics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6660-2_7
445