WILSON ornithopters

   Edgar Wilson made many experiments in early flight initially concerned with ornithopters and direct lift devices.
   He built an ornithopter with Pettigrew type wings of 22ft span and a tail five feet long and three feet across. Weighing around 250 lb with pilot and a 6hp engine it was tested whilst suspended from a specially constructed 60ft high staging. Further trials were made when it was launched from the top of the 160ft Watkin Tower at Wembley Park and glided successfully to the ground.
   A second ornithopter had a pair of wings, each 8ft long and 6ft wide and a fanshaped tail. Again a 6hp engine was used.
   The third ornithopter had 8 wings measuring 18ft from tip to tip, flapping alternatively and was to be fitted with a 50hp engine.
   Wilson then turned to the construction of a giant direct lift machine. This was 70ft long and 10ft wide and had thirty screws 5ft in diameter to provide lift and four screws of 7ft diameter for propulsion. The power was to be provided by a 100hp engine. It was being built on the top of the Watkin Tower in early 1906 but finance for a motor was not forthcoming.