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Preston Albert Watson (1880–1915) was a Scottish aviation pioneer, who conceived his own original method of controlling an aeroplane in flight. This was his rocking wing method of lateral control, which consisted of a secondary reverse sesquiplane wing mounted above the main wing on an A-frame that could pivot about its longitudinal axis. 〔Patent No. GB1909000047 Improvements in Flying Machines〕 Watson's method of lateral control was applied by him in three different aeroplanes; the actual construction and completion dates of his first and second aeroplanes are unknown, but his first is thought to have been constructed in 1909, his second between 1910 and 1912 and his third in 1913. 〔 (Mr Watson's Flying Machines ) Accessed July 15, 2015〕 〔J. D. Gillies and J. L. Wood. ''Aviation in Scotland'' (Glasgow branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society)〕 〔Michael H Goodall & Albert Tagg. ''British Aircraft before the Great War'' (Schiffer, Atglen, PA 2001)〕 〔Peter Lewis. ''British Aircraft 1809-1914'' (Putnam, London, 1962)〕 On 16 March 1915, Watson gained his Royal Aero Club Certificate No. 1,117 (equivalent of a pilot's licence) with the London and Provincial School at the London Aerodrome, Hendon, having sought a commission with the Royal Naval Air Service with the outbreak of war in 1914.〔''The Aeroplane'' magazine July 7, 1915 Obituary〕 Sadly, on 30 June 1915 he lost his life when the Caudron G.3 aeroplane he was flying disintegrated in flight and crashed in Dunlye field, a few miles from the Cross-in-Hand Hotel, Sussex. Watson is buried in Dundee's Western Cemetery.〔 Preston Watson's achievements have been clouded by erroneous claims of powered flight before the Wright Brothers, which originated from his younger brother James Watson, which he brought to the greater public's attention in an article published in the Manchester Guardian newspaper in December 1953, although an article in The Scots magazine in October 1953 was released by one J.D. Leslie, but is dismissed owing to inaccuracies. Since then, Preston's name has been associated with this false claim and his actual work in promoting aviation is often overlooked. 〔 This claim has been repeatedly proven to be false 〔 (Mr Watson's Flying Machines ) Accessed July 15, 2015〕 〔Newman, Grant. ''First to Fly? Preston Watson – Fact and Myth''. ''Air Enthusiast'', No. 112, July/August 2004. ISSN 0143-5450()〕 ,〔 Charles H. Gibbs-Smith. ''The Aeroplane: an Historical survey of its Origins and Development'' (HMSO, London 1960)〕 but the myth frequently reappears in Scottish newspaper articles and most recently in a book published in 2014 with the support of the Dundee Museum of Transport titled The Pioneer Flying Achievements of Preston Watson by Alistair W. Blair and Alistair Smith. 〔 ==Early History== Born in Dundee, Tayside, Scotland on 17 May 1880, the son of Mr Thomas Watson of Balgowan and his wife Jane, Preston Albert Watson was a pupil of the High School of Dundee and showed considerable interest in things mechanical from an early age. Young Preston possessed an analytical mind, and quite often, he, according to the Sunday, 27 October 1984 edition of The Courier and Advertiser newspaper; "...would sometimes sit overlooking the Firth of Tay and watch seagulls in flight. "One day too, we will be able to fly", he is said to have remarked prophetically, only to be chided by his brother, James (later his great aviation ally) and friends for an idea that was 'just daft'…" It was in his Twenties whilst studying engineering at the University College of Dundee that his interest in aeronautics flourished, but, for a keen and impressionable young adult there was little to read on the emerging science of aviation. If aviation was to become the field in which he was going to start a career, he would have to do his own research. His brother James was to later recount in the December 1955 issue of Aeronautics magazine that; "Before the last century () studied the flight of gulls, caught many of them, put small weights on their heads, glued their wings into the position he wished, and was frequently seen by passers-by dropping them over the road bridge, which crossed the railway line at the west end of the Dundee Esplanade." According to the late Mr James Manson, who worked as a labourer with Watson's father's food produce business, Messers Watson and Philip, Preston built small model aeroplanes and dropped them from the bridge at Ninewells.〔 On 25 October 1907 Watson applied for a patent that, "...relates to flying machines, the object being to raise and propel a machine through the air without aerostats." Accepted in its entirety nearly a year later, Patent No.23,553 of 1907, titled Watson's Flying Machines comprises eight pages of descriptions of an indigenous rotary-wing means of creating lift and five illustrations to which the description pages are keyed to. These show different configurations of aircraft using the same rotary aerofoil devices that resembled the sheathing mechanism of a combine harvester. No evidence survives to suggest Watson began constructing any of the bizarre creations in the patent.〔Patent No. GB190723553 Flying Machines〕 Accepted in its entirety on 8 October 1908, by that time Watson’s ideas on what constituted successful flight, and specifically how lift was achieved had changed dramatically from his patent. In July 1908 Watson published the pamphlet Power Necessary in Flight (John Leng & Co. Ltd. Dundee, 1908), which contained his theories on; "...the best curvature of an aerodrome (), and, further, the result of a calculation regarding the best proportion of the weight of wings to weight of structure for the attainment of flight with the least horse-power." 〔Watson, Preston A. ''Power Necessary in Flight'' (John Leng & Co. Ltd. Dundee, 1908)〕 Influenced by Frederick William Lanchester's paper titled Aerodynamics, constituting the first volume of a complete work on aerial flight published in December 1907, Watson's work contains an analytical approach to aerodynamics, far removed from the outlandish theories he expressed in his first patent. Watson's introduction mentions that he had read Lanchester's work, stating that their findings are similar, but that he arrived at his theories independently. 〔 His next patent represented the body of his aeronautical work that he spent the rest of his life researching; his rocking wing concept of lateral control. Applied for on 1 January 1909, the complete specification is dated 23 July 1909 and was left with the Patent Office a day later and accepted on 16 December that year. Patent No.47 of 1909 comprises three pages of descriptions and a single page with an illustration of the rocking wing concept as applied to a theoretical aeroplane. From examining the illustration supplied with the patent and surviving photographs of Watson’s aeroplanes, it is plainly evident that he had fully intended on constructing an aircraft based on his patent. Exactly when he completed his first aeroplane is not known, but on page 400 in the 2 November 1909 issue of The Aero magazine is the following statement; “At the secluded little village of Forgandenny, Perthshire, near Preston, A. Watson, a well-known motorist of Dundee, has built a machine to his own designs. Mr Watson does not wish details of his aeroplane to be made public till he has tested it in practice, which he hopes to do within the next few days.” Although clearly a typographical error with regards to the location of “the secluded little village of Forgendenny, Perthshire, near Preston” and Watson’s name, this article seems to confirm a likely completion time period of his first full size aeroplane based on his rocking wing patent.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Preston Watson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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