[alfa] Re: 100 years etcetera

[Will Owen <nashwill912@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Concerning the Wrights' little gasoline engine, 12 hp was the figure
I've always read in whatever literature I perused on the subject, and I
perused a whole big bunch because I was that kind of kid. Still am, if
you MUST know.

Biba gives 12 hp the benefit of Most Likely, but makes the not uncommon
assumption that the wherewithal to measure horsepower was somewhat
scarcer than frog hair ca. 1903. Wrong again. Various kinds of test
brakes were very common in use at the time, as both steam and IC motive
power were being used more and more in farming and industrial
applications, and it was important to know exactly how much real poo you
had at the business end. The Wright boys, being avid amateur mechanics
as well as professional bicycle builders, were I'm sure well versed in
the arcana of ascertaining horsepower. 

Will Owen
1098 N. Mentor Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91104
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided