Alexander Graham Bell's kites looked like bizarre UFOs

Oct. 16, 1903

Alexander Graham Bell kisses his wife Mabel Hubbard Gardiner Bell inside a tetrahedral framework.

Image: Library of Congress

In 1899, Alexander Graham Bell, famous for inventing the telephone, began experimenting with kites in search of insights into the possibility of powered flight

Inspired by the box kite designs of Australian Laurence Hargrave, Bell began multiplying the lift-providing cells, creating compound structures of multiple kites

The basic problem of creating flying objects is that as a body’s surface area is squared, its weight is cubed, limiting the maximum size and lifting capability. Read more...