88:) over 270 feet (82 m) into the air. Later the same year and continuing to use his family as subjects, he lifted his son to the top of a cliff outside Bristol; his son briefly dismounted from the chair at the top of the 200-foot (60 m) cliff and then concluded the test by releasing a clip on the kite line which allowed him to slide down the line in the chair and return to earth.
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the carriage by means of a T-bar which controlled the direction of the front wheels, and was responsible for the brake, an iron bar mounted on the carriage which dug into the road when the lever was pulled. Controlling the
Charvolant was difficult, and this may have been why it never became successful commercially, even though it escaped the
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Four control lines to the kite provided a method of steering; these lines were paid out or drawn in from large spools mounted on the front of the carriage. Large wheels allowed the carriage to utilise the power from the kites effectively. In addition to controlling the kites, the driver had to steer
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Having concluded that kites were capable of lifting humans, he turned again to experimenting with them as a way of pulling loads, this time as a method of pulling vehicles. Using kites in various arrangements he determined that a small number of large kites were capable of pulling a carriage with
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In 1826, he patented the design of his "Charvolant" buggy. This used two kites on single line 1,500 to 1,800 feet (457–459 m) long to provide enough power to draw along a buggy carrying several passengers at considerable speed, similar to the modern sport of
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where he became a schoolteacher. Pocock was interested in kites from an early age, and experimented with pulling loads using kite power, gradually progressing from small stones to planks and large loads. He taught at a school in
Prospect Place,
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and continued his experiments with his pupils. By 1820 he had determined that in combination they could support considerable weight and began experimenting with
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levied on the roads for horse-drawn carriages: tolls were applied according to the number of horses and since the
Charvolant had none it incurred no charge.
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201:"Special Collections: Book of the Month: The Aeropleustic Art or Navigation in the Air by the use of Kites, or Buoyant Sails"
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Pocock advocated other uses for kites in his book, including auxiliary sail power for ships (similar to modern
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in 1774, the son of John Pocock, a cabinet-maker in that town, and his wife, Mary. In adulthood, he moved to
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The
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and an inventor, particularly known for having invented the 'Charvolant,' a
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He died of bronchitis at his home in
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173:"Tent Methodism: 1814 - 1832 'one soweth, and another reapeth'"
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Charvolants travelling in various directions with the same Wind
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279:18th-century English Methodist ministers
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237:Joseph J. Cornish, III (April 1957).
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203:. University of Glasgow. March 2001
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34:The Charvolant - a kite-drawn buggy
16:British schoolteacher and inventor
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284:19th-century English educators
274:18th-century English educators
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289:English Methodist ministers
269:Schoolteachers from Bristol
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241:. Natural History Magazine
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19:Not to be confused with
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182:. The Open University
171:Lander, John (2000).
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25:George Yeomans Pocock
294:English kite fliers
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41:(1774–1843) was an
224:on 31 October 2006
218:"Kite History 101"
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258:Categories
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180:PhD thesis
153:References
144:shipwrecks
121:mail coach
86:W.G. Grace
62:Hungerford
245:2 January
83:cricketer
66:Berkshire
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55:carriage
186:3 April
75:Bristol
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53:-drawn
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176:(PDF)
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188:2020
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