A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates underwater much as a wing operates in air, lifting a vessel's hull clear of the water as it gains speed and so reducing drag and allowing higher speeds. Emmanuel Denis Farcot patented an early version in Britain in 1869, fitting wedge-shaped planes to a vessel's sides to lift it and reduce its draft, and the inventor Enrico Forlanini began his own hydrofoil work in 1898, developing a ladder-style foil system and patenting it in Britain and the United States. Alexander Graham Bell began hydrofoil experiments in 1908 that led to the HD-4, which set a world marine speed record of 114 kilometers per hour on September 9, 1919, a record that stood for two decades, and the engineer Hanns von Schertel's company Supramar launched the first commercial hydrofoil passenger service, the PT10 Freccia d'Oro, on Lake Maggiore in 1952.
Facts
SignificanceSet the world marine speed record of 114 kilometers per hour in 1919 with Bell's HD-4, a record that stood for two decades. 1 FAQs
Was Alexander Graham Bell the first person to patent a hydrofoil?
No. A British patent granted in 1869 to Emmanuel Denis Farcot is the first evidence of a hydrofoil on a vessel.
No. The first evidence of a hydrofoil on a vessel appears on a British patent granted in 1869 to Emmanuel Denis Farcot, a Parisian. Bell's HD-4 is remembered for a different achievement: it set a world marine speed record of 114 kilometers per hour on 9 September 1919, a record that stood for two decades.
Connections
In Field
Source Hydrofoil, Wikipedia
Invented By
Began hydrofoil experiments in 1908 that led to the HD-4, which set a world marine speed record in 1919; Emmanuel Denis Farcot and Enrico Forlanini had already pioneered earlier hydrofoil designs.
Sources
1. Hydrofoil, Wikipedia
Prototypes section, passage beginning: The first evidence of a hydrofoil on a v
The first evidence of a hydrofoil on a vessel appears on a British patent granted in 1869 to Emmanuel Denis Farcot, a Parisian.
Prototypes section, passage beginning: On 9 September 1919 the HD-4 set a world
On 9 September 1919 the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of 114 km/h (62 kn; 71 mph), which stood for two decades.
In Field: Marine Engineering, Introduction
A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water.
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