Bordeeanu Valentin

Dinu George Stefan

17-19 Mihai Bravu Secondary Technical
School
Bucharest, Romania, district 3

HENRY COANDA HENRI COANDĂ

The future is the sum of the steps Viitorul este suma paşilor pe care-i
you take, including the small ones, the faceŃi, inclusiv a celor mici, ignoraŃi sau
ignored steps or the mocked ones luaŃi în râs
Henri Coandă Henri Coandă

This paper presents the schools that the Henri Marie Coandă (n. 7 iunie 1886 -
scholar attended, as well as some of Henri d. 25 noiembrie 1972) a fost un
Coandă’s inventions - a universal symbol academician şi inginer român, pionier al
of creativity in the field of science and aviaŃiei, fizician, inventator.
technology. The Romanian scholar Principalele sale invenŃii, cu implicaŃii
stands for the relentless genius who brought deosebite în tehnologie: Motorul cu
mankind 2608 inventions in the course of reacŃie, Efectul Coandă, InstalaŃia solară
almost seventy years. pentru desalinizarea apei de mare,
Henri Marie Coandă (Born on the Beton – lemnul
7th of June 1886 - Died on the 25th
of November 1972) was a Roma-
nian scholar and engineer, avia-
tion pioneer, physicist, inventor.
His main inventions with central
implications in technology are the
following: The Reaction engine, the
Coandă effect, the Solar installation
for the desalination of sea water,
Concrete – wood (Beton-Bois),
Prefabricated houses, the Gun STAMP (THE MOLDAVIAN REPUBLIC).
without recoil. COIN, IN COMMEMORATIVE EDITIONS, MEANT TO ILLUSTRATE
He was born in Bucharest, and THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NAME HENRI COANDĂ IN ROMANIAN
SCIENCE
was the second child of a family that
would be a large one. It is worth mentioning (Beton-Bois), Casele Prefabricate ,
the fact that ever since he was a child, the Puşca fără recul.
future engineer and physicist would find Henri Coandă s-a născut în Bucureşti,
himself fascinated with the miracle of fiind al doilea copil al unei familii numeroase.
wind. Tatăl lui, generalul Constantin Coandă, a
Henri Coandă started school in Bucha- fost profesor de matematică la Şcoala
rest but from 1899 he continued it at the naŃională de poduri şi şosele din
E
Military High-School in Iasi. He gradu-
ated high-school in 1903 and was awarded
Bucureşti.
E
Mama sa, Aida Danet, a fost fiica
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the degree of sergeant major. medicului francez Gustave Danet, originar
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Furthermore, he returns to Bucharest
where he continued his studies at the
School of Artillery Officers. In 1904 he
was detached to a field artillery regiment in
Germany and he continues his studies at
the Technische Hochschule (The Techni-
cal University) in Berlin-Charlottenburg.
His passion for technical matters and
especially the one for aviation start to come
to being. Therefore, in 1905 Coandă builds
a rocket-plane for the Romanian army.
From 1907 until 1908 he also attends
graduate classes in Liège, Belgium as
well as at the Montefiore Technical Insti-
tute in Italy. In 1908 he returns home and
is appointed active officer in the Second Ar-
tillery Regiment. Because of his nature
and his inventiveness that did not comport
well with the military discipline, he solic-
ited and obtained permission to leave the
army. Upon his return, he left for France
and enrolled at the Superior School of
Aeronautics and Constructions, a newly
established school in Paris in 1909. In the
following year he graduated from it and be-
come the head of the first aeronautical en-
gineers class.
Benefiting from the support of engineer
Gustave Eiffel and that of scholar Paul
Painlevé, Henri Coandă has conducted
aero dynamical experiments. He built the
first aeroplane with reactive propulsion
in Joachim Caproni’s workshop. The
aeroplane built by Henri Coandă was an
airplane with reaction, without a propel-
ler, conventionally named, Coandă-1910
and was presented in 1910 at the 2nd In-
ternational Salon in Paris. He managed to
conduct his aero dynamical experiments
E
on a mobile platform placed upon a train.
Therefore, his experiments were conducted
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in movement, running at 90km/h, on the
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din Bretania.
Încă din copilărie viitorul inginer şi
fizician era fascinat de miracolul vântului.
Henri Coandă a fost elev al Şcolii
Petrache Poenaru din Bucureşti, apoi al
Liceului Sf. Sava, din 1896, unde a urmat
primele 3 clase. La 13 ani, a fost trimis de
tatăl său, care voia să-l îndrume spre
cariera militară, la Liceul Militar din Iaşi,
în 1899. În 1903 termină liceul primind
gradul de sergent major şi îşi continuă
studiile la Şcoala de ofiŃeri de artilerie,
geniu şi marină din Bucureşti.
Detaşat la un regiment de artilerie de
câmp din Germania 1904, este trimis la
Technische Hochschule (Universitatea
Technică) din Berlin-Charlottenburg.
Pasionat de probleme tehnice şi mai
ales de tehnica aviaticii, în 1905 Coandă
construieşte un avion-rachetă pentru
armata română. Între 1907-1908 a urmat
de asemenea cursuri universitare în
Belgia, la Liège, şi la Institutul tehnic
Montefiore. În 1908 se întoarce în Ńară şi
este încadrat ofiŃer activ în Regimentul 2
de artilerie.
Datorită firii sale şi spiritului inventiv
care nu se împăcau cu disciplina militară,
el a cerut şi obŃinut aprobarea de a părăsi
armata. Se înscrie în FranŃa la Şcoala
superioară de aeronautică şi
construcŃii, nou înfiinŃată la Paris 1909, al
cărei absolvent devine în anul următor,
1910, ca şef al primei promoŃii de ingineri
aeronautici. Cu sprijinul inginerului
Gustave Eiffel şi savantului Paul
Painlevé, care l-au ajutat să obŃină
aprobările necesare, Henri Coandă a
efectuat experimentele aerodinamice
prealabile şi a construit în atelierul de carosaj
al lui Joachim Caproni primul avion cu
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propulsie reactivă, de fapt un avion cu
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Paris-Saint Quentin route. The engineer
could draw quantitative aeronautical deter-
minations by using a wind tunnel with
smoke, an aero dynamical scale and a spe-
cial photographical camera, of his own.
Because of these experiments he managed
THE FIRST AEROPLANE WITH REACTIVE PROPULSION(JET
AIRCRAFT)
to establish a functional wing profile for his avioane cu elice de mare performanŃă, de
future aeroplanes.
In 1911 in Reims, Henri Coandă pre-
sented the pattern for a new aeroplane.
This one was endowed with a double
engine and a single propeller.
Between 1911 and 1914, Henri
Coandă worked as a technical manager at
the Aviation Plants in Bristol, England
and built planes with propellers of great
performance, which were all his own de-
signs.
In his quality as a technical manager
of the Bristol Plants, Henri Coandă de-
signed several classical aeroplanes (with
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propellers) known as Bristol-Coandă
Aeroplanes. In 1912 one of these aero-
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planes won the first prize at the Interna-
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reacŃie, fără elice, numit convenŃional
Coandă-1910. Acest avion a fost prezentat
la al doilea Salon internaŃional
aeronautic de la Paris din 1910.
Experimentele aerodinamice le
realizează pe o platformă mobilă.
Dispozitivul era montat pe un
tren, iar experimentele se
desfăşurau în mişcare, la o viteză
de 90 km/h, pe linia Paris-Saint
Quentin.
Astfel a putut face determinări
cantitative aeronautice, folosind
un tunel de vânt cu fum, o
balanŃă aerodinamică şi o cameră
fotografică specială, de concepŃie
proprie. Datorită acestor
experimente a stabilit un profil
de aripă funcŃional pentru
viitoarele sale avioane.
Între 1911-1914 Henri
Coandă a lucrat ca director tehnic
la Uzinele de aviaŃie din
Bristol, Anglia şi a construit
concepŃie proprie. În calitatea sa de
director tehnic al Uzinelor Bristol, Henri
Coandă proiectează câteva avioane
clasice (cu elice) cunoscute sub numele de
Bristol-Coandă. În 1912 unul dintre ele
câştigă premiul întâi la Concursul
internaŃional al aviaŃiei militare din
Anglia. În următorii ani se întoarce în
FranŃa, unde lucrează la Dalauney-
Belleville Airplanes în Saint Denis. Aici
proiectează trei tipuri de aeronave, dintre
care cel mai cunoscut este Coandă-1916,
cu două elici apropiate de coada
aparatului, asemănător cu avionul de
transport Caravelle (la proiectarea căruia
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de fapt a şi participat). În această epocă este
foarte apreciat realizând şi prima sanie-
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tional Military Aviation Contest in the
UK.
In the following years, he returned to
France where he worked at the Dalauney-
Belleville Airplanes in Saint Denis. It was
there that he designed three types of aero-
planes, of which, the most famous was
Coandă-1916. This plane had two propel-
lers placed in the proximity of the plane’s
tail, sharing great similarities with the
Caravelle transport aeroplane, for which
Coandă was a technical consultant.
In this period of time he is highly es-
teemed as he also accomplished his first
automobile-sledge, en-
dowed with a reaction en-
gine. Afterwards, he also
built the world’s first
aerodynamic train and
many more.
Other inventions:
In the year 1926, Henri
Coandă developed a device
aimed to detect the liquids
in the ground. It was also DEVICE FOR SPREADING A FLAME BY THE COANDA EFFECT
used in oil prospecting.
In the Persian Gulf, the Romanian in-
ventor built an oceanic equipment for the
storage of oil away from the sea shore.
In 1934 he obtained a French licence
for the Device for the deviation of a cur-
rent of fluid that entered in another
fluid. This refered to the phenomenon we
call today, The Coandă Effect, a name
given by the French professor Albert
Metral. The Coandă effect consisted in the
deviation of a fluid jet that flows alongside
a convex wall. The phenomenon was first
noticed by Coanda in 1910, when he tested
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the engine that had equipped his reaction
aeroplane. Henri Coandă noticed that af-
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ter the plane took off; both the flames and
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automobil propulsată de un motor cu
reacŃie, primul tren aerodinamic din lume şi
altele.
În România, în 1926, Henri Coandă
pune la punct un dispozitiv de detecŃie a
lichidelor în sol. Este folosit în prospectarea
petroliferă. În Golful Persic inventatorul
român construieşte un echipament oceanic
de depozitare a petrolului extras departe
de malul mării. În 1934 obŃine un brevet
de invenŃie francez pentru Procedeu şi
dispozitiv pentru devierea unui curent
de fluid ce pătrunde într-un alt fluid,
care se referă la fenomenul numit astăzi
Efectul Coandă.
Efectul Coandă constă în devierea unui
jet de fluid care curge de-a lungul unui
perete convex, fenomen observat prima
oară de el în 1910, cu prilejul probării
motorului cu care era echipat avionul său
cu reacŃie.
După decolarea avionului, Henri Coandă
a observat că flăcările şi gazul
incandescent ieşite din reactoare tindeau
să rămână pe lângă fuzelaj. Abia după mai
mult de 20 de ani de studii ale lui şi altor
savanŃi, inginerul român a formulat
principiul din spatele aşa-numitului efect
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Coandă, numit astfel de profesorul Albert
Metral.
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the incandescent gas were coming out of
the reactors had the tendency to remain
next to the fuselage. It took more that
twenty years of research from both
Coandă and other scientists for them to
formulate the principle behind the so-called
Coandă effect.
The discovery of the Coandă effect took
him to major applicative researches concern-
ing the hyper sustenance of aeroplanes,
the making of sound attenuators, and many
more.
Henri Coandă returned to Romania for
good in 1969 as manager of the Institute
for Scientific and Technical Creation
(INCREST) in Bucharest. In the following
year, in 1970, he became a
member of the Romanian
Academy. As an appreciation
of all his scientific merits,
the management of the Ro-
manian state named him a
counsellor in rank of minis-
try in the State Council and
the Polytechnic Institute in
Bucharest granted him the
COANDĂ GETOL AIRCRAFT PROTOTYPE
title of Doctor Honoris
Causa.
Because of his exceptional accomplish-
ments, Henri Coandă has remained one of
the pioneers of the Romanian, as well as
worldly aviation. A part of his numerous in-
ventions, along with the patents that he ob-
tained in different periods of time, are on
display at the Technical Museum, section
Coandă, in Bucharest. His name is also
linked to some achievements of man into
space. Among others, he is also the creator
of certain technical devices of great intri-
E
cacy, devices that are called, the flying stars,
with which the brake of the lunar module
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of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 were made
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Această descoperire l-a condus la
importante cercetări aplicative privind
hipersustentaŃia aerodinelor, realizarea
unor atenuatoare de sunet şi altele.
Henri Coandă revine definitiv în Ńară în
1969 ca director al Institutului de CreaŃie
ŞtiinŃifică şi Tehnică (INCREST), iar în
anul următor, 1970, devine membru al
Academiei Române. Conducerea
statului român, ca o recunoştinŃă a
meritelor sale ştiinŃifice, l-a numit
consilier cu rang de ministru în Consiliul
de Stat iar Institutul Politehnic din
Bucureşti i-a conferit titlul de Doctor
Honoris Causa.
Prin excepŃionalele sale realizări Henri
Coandă a rămas unul dintre pionerii
aviaŃiei române şi mondiale. O parte dintre
numeroasele sale invenŃii precum şi
brevetele obŃinute în diferite perioade se
găsesc expuse la Muzeul Tehnic, secŃia
Coandă, din Bucureşti. De numele lui sunt
legate şi unele realizări ale zborului omului în
cosmos. Printre altele lui ii aparŃin unele
dispozitive tehnice deosebit de complexe,
denumite epoleŃii zburatori cu ajutorul
cărora s-a asigurat frânarea modulului lunar
al lui Apollo 11 şi Apollo 12 în momentul
aselenizării. Efectul Coandă, de exemplu, şi
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-a găsit variate aplicaŃii, cum ar fi la
dispozitive de amortizare a zgomotelor
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possible when the time of the landing on the industriale de anumite categorii,
Moon came. pulverizarea in sectofungicidelor,
For instance, the Coandă effect has reducerea reculului la armele de foc. Alte
many uses, such as: in devices meant to experienŃe interesante au fost întreprinse
cushion industrial noises, in pulverising de savant tot în domeniul zborului prin
insecticides, in reducing recoil in fire proiectarea aşa-numitelor aerodine
weapons. Other interesting experiments lenticulare. Efectul Coandă şi-a mai găsit
were conducted by the Romanian scientist utilitatea şi în conceperea unui Dispozitiv
also in the field of flying by designing the so pentru îmbunătăŃirea randamentului
-called lenticular aerodine. motorului cu ardere internă şi a unei
Frâne de recul pentru armele de foc.
The Coandă effect has also found its Efectul care îi poartă numele este pus azi în
use in the designing of a device for the im- aplicare la propulsia şi sustentaŃia vehiculelor
provement of effi- aeriene, la îmbunătăŃirea turbinelor de
ciency for the gaze, în amplificatoare de
engine with fluide, la aparate
internal com- pneumatice, etc.
bustion and Coandă a realizat invenŃii
also, with the şi domeniul construcŃiilor, şi
designing of a aici trebuie notat aşa-numitul
recoil brake béton-bois, un foarte bun
for fire weap- material decorativ de
ons. Today, construcŃie, folosit de el la
the effect that realizarea, în 1926, a
bears his name Palatului Culturii din Iaşi,
RIGHT:THE ROMANIAN SCHOLAR AND HIS AMERI-
is currently be- CAN APPRENTICE PATRICK FLANAGAN IN 1962
sau elementele spaŃiale de
ing used for LEFT: HENRY COANDA prefabricate folosite tot în
the mainte- construcŃii. Tot Coandă a mai
nance of aerial vehicles, for the im- pus la punct şi dispozitive pentru
provement of gas turbines, and so on. prepararea, păstrarea şi transportul
Coandă has invented many elements betonului, chiar pe calea ferată (vagoane
that are useful in the field of Construc- pentru beton), dar şi un dispozitiv pentru
tions, and here, we must mention the so- desalinizarea apei de mare. Celebră este
called béton-bois, a very good decorative invenŃia unui nou material de construcŃie,
material of construction, also used in the beton-lemnul (Beton-Bois), folosit pentru
building of the Palace of Culture in Iaşi in decoraŃiuni (de exemplu la Palatul culturii
1926. din Iaşi, ridicat în 1926, decorat în totalitate
We must also take into account the spa- cu materialul lui H. Coandă).
tial elements also used in Constructions. Şirul invenŃiilor inginerului Henri
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Coandă was also the one to established the
first devices for the conservation, keeping
Coandă se ridică la impresionanta cifră de
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and transportation of concrete, even on the au recomandat ca pe un mare savant al
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railroad (wagons for concrete), but also a secolului XX.
device for the desalination of sea water. Pentru activitatea sa prodigioasă,
Henri Coandă a primit
numeroase distincŃii.
Astfel, el a primit, în
1965, Premiul
Laboratoarelor Haryy
Diamond, dar şi
Premiul şi Marea
Medalie de aur Vieilles
Tiges, Premiul UNESCO
pentru Cercetare
ŞtiinŃifică, Medalia
Aeronauticii Franceze,
Ordinul de Merit şi
Inelul de Comandor.
A fost cel mai tânăr
ofiŃer al Academiei
Franceze, dar şi
Membru al Academiei
LENTICULAR AERODINE
Române.
The number of Henri Coandă’s inven-
tions is estimated at the impressive sum of Henri Coandă a decedat la Bucureşti,
2608, and the 700 innovation licences la 25 noiembrie 1972, la vârsta de 86 de
have recommended him as a great scientist ani şi a fost înmormântat la cimitirul Belu.
of the XX century.
Bibliography and Iconography
For his fruitful activity, Henri Coandă • C. Gheorghiu, Romanian Inventions and
was awarded many distinctions. Thus, in Priorities in Aviation, (Bucharest: Albatros
1965 he received the prize of the Haryy Publishing House, 1983);
Diamond, laboratories, as well as the • G. Rado, Priorities and World Records in
Prize and the Vieilles Tiges Great Gold Aviation, (Bucharest: Tehnoprod Publish-
Medal, the UNESCO Prize for Scientific ing House, 2003);
Research, the Medal of the French Aero- • The History of the Romanian Aviation,
nautics, the Order of Merit and the ring (Bucharest: The Military Publishing House,
of Commandor. He was also the youngest 1991);
officer of the French Academy, as well as • Henri Coandă on: http://en.wikipedia.org/
Member of the Romanian Academy. wiki/Henri_Coand%C4%83;
Coandă died in Bucharest November • www.wetterwater.net/
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25, 1972 at the age of 86. His heritage to-
wards mankind can be summed-up to his •
why_take_crystalenergy.html;
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www.posta.md/en/filatelia/2000-02-
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2608 inventions. 26/409.html.
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