But Will It Fly?: The History and Science of Unconventional Aerial Power and Propulsion

by Iver P. Cooper

Conventional aircraft today are propelled by the action of propellers or jets, and powered by the internal combustion of petroleum fuels in piston, turboprop or jet engines. But other power sources, powerplants, and propulsion devices, for airships as well as aircraft, have been proposed and even experimented with over the last few centuries. The power sources considered include human muscles, steam, batteries, nuclear reactors, and hydrogen fuel; and the propulsion devices include sails, oars, flapping wings, rockets and cycloidal propellers.

This meticulously researched book presents the history of these unconventional aerial power and propulsion systems, explains the underlying science and technology behind them, and assesses the crucial question of practicality.

396 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 17, 2025

Reviews

[Les Gehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book for the general reader. It is heavily loaded with data comparing the various forms of power and propulsion. The book is textbook dense, and will be most appealing to engineers, particularly mechanical and aeronautical engineers. While there is no calculus, it does require comfort with algebra and geometry, and some physics. (For example, from a paragraph from the chapter on oars, etc.: "When the advance ratio equals the pitch ratio, then throughout their revolution, the blades are continuously pitched so their chords are tangential to their cylindrical path, and the cycloidal propeller therefore does not develop any thrust." This is very difficult to visualize and fully comprehend without a proper background.) Also related, I found that even though the book is well illustrated, the section on propulsion could benefit from more figures, particularly illustrating difficult concepts, such as the one quoted above.

The book is divided into two parts: power, and propulsion. (In a small plane, the engine provides power, and the propeller provides propulsion.) The first part compares all the unconventional means of generating power, with lots of data for each to enable the comparison of dissimilar designs. The second part compares the myriad unconventional means of propulsion. (I found the biomimetic propulsion section the most interesting.) For those with the background and interest, this is a good supplement to an aeronautics textbook.

[Note: A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer.]