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00:00Around the world, the race to win wars and explore the universe has created some of the
00:05most incredible products ever designed.
00:08And we use them every day, unaware of their amazing origins.
00:14Incredible Inventions.
00:15On Incredible Inventions, the Swiss Army Knife.
00:19An entire toolkit in a pocket-sized red package.
00:24The Winglet, a NASA-developed design that now helps you jet around the world.
00:29The English Saddle.
00:32We saddle up and explain how a horse riding essential created the shock troops of the Middle Ages.
00:40We reveal the amazing history and engineering behind these incredible inventions.
00:59The Winglet.
01:02Throughout history, an army's success has depended on the quality of their gear as much as the
01:09tactics deployed in the heat of battle.
01:11One of the key things for every soldier, every infantryman wants to be able to carry all his
01:19kit with him.
01:20The lighter it can be and the most functional it can be enhances his capability on the battlefield.
01:25From the Romans of antiquity to the modern military forces of today, mobility and flexibility are
01:31the key words to describe the most effective fighting forces in history.
01:36And their equipment has to reflect this.
01:38In fact, you might be surprised to find that a product living in a drawer at home was developed
01:43to meet this military need.
01:46It's the absolute definition of multi-purpose.
01:51The Swiss Army Knife.
01:54The idea of incorporating several tools in a small portable unit is not a new one.
01:59The Romans had their very own version of a Swiss Army knife nearly 2,000 years ago, complete
02:04with spoon, fork, blade and the obligatory toothpick.
02:09Made from solid silver, this luxury item and the idea for a multi-tool seems to have been
02:15lost in time.
02:16That's because from the 1600s, the basic pocket knife becomes the handy tool of choice.
02:22Then, in the 1880s, the Swiss Army replaces their own pocket knife, giving birth to a revolutionary
02:28new product.
02:32It was developed in order to enable the soldiers to dismantle their rifle and to clean it, and
02:38also to open canned food.
02:41Therefore, it needed two attachments, a tin opener and a screwdriver.
02:47So the solution was the model 1890, which was a knife manufactured by the company Wester
02:54& Co., which is actually a German company.
02:57So the original model 1890 Swiss Army knife is actually German.
03:02A year later, businessman Carl Elsener takes production of the knife to the Swiss town of
03:07Eibach and starts improving its design and the number of tools it can carry.
03:12Carl Elsener refined the design by adding a core screw and scissors.
03:17In this model, he called it the Schweizer Officer Messe, which actually means Swiss Officer Knife.
03:25And after the Second World War, the Schweizer Officer Messe was actually hard for Americans
03:30to pronounce, so they decided to nickname it the Swiss Army Knife.
03:35With over 800 tools to choose from, the Victorinox factory in Eibach produces 350 different versions
03:42of the knife, with an eye-watering 17 million knife parts being manufactured every year.
03:49The manufacturing process starts with a three millimeter thick coil of high quality stainless
03:53steel being fed into a punching machine.
03:57The metal is forced against the die to punch out the basic blade shapes, including the nail
04:02groove used to open the knife.
04:04A single coil contains enough steel for 30,000 blades to be punched in one pass.
04:11The other tools, such as the can opener, are made in the same way.
04:16The blades are then fed into a machine that contains a vibrating mixture of stones and water,
04:22which polishes the steel.
04:24Once polished, a powerful magnet removes the blades from the stone.
04:33The blades are still far too thick, so this machine grinds them flat to within a tolerance
04:38of less than the width of a human hair to prevent them jamming when the knife is opening
04:43and closing.
04:45At this point, the blades are stamped with their trademark and then enter a furnace that is
04:49heated to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
04:52Once heated to the correct temperature, the blades are quickly cooled, which hardens and
04:56toughens the metal further.
04:58Once the blade is sharpened, it is ready for assembly.
05:01The shape of the blade includes a notch at the back of the knife edge, which is part of
05:05an opening and closing system for pocket knives that has been in existence for over 300 years.
05:12This is called a slip joint.
05:14Slip joint knives have an internal spring, which is more like a small piece of metal, and this
05:21spring needs to be overcome in order to close and open the knife.
05:26The flagship Victorinox knife is the Swiss Champ with an amazing number of different tools.
05:33This hand-assembled multi-tool wonder starts life with four pins that all the parts will
05:38slot onto to create one big metal sandwich.
05:41A mixture of tools, spacers, springs, and attachments are built up to form the Champ, with metal fittings
05:47called bushings machined onto the pins to fix the tool together.
05:56The blade is then given a final finish.
05:58The distinctive red plastic handles of the Swiss Army knife are called scales.
06:03Scales are made in the factory's injection molding department and are emblazoned with
06:07the Victorinox shield ready to be attached to the finished tool.
06:12Two scales are placed into a machine, and the tool bundle is positioned between them, and
06:18the scales are pushed down to fix them to the bushings.
06:21The one-inch wide tool is now finished, but all 33 of its attachments still need to be checked
06:27before it can be sent out to over 120 countries around the world.
06:34Which incredible invention allows us to jet around the world safely and with less damage
06:39to the environment?
06:40Find out after the break.
06:43Whether it's jetting off for a much-deserved vacation or traveling for business, air travel
06:57has become a familiar part of everyday life.
07:01We assume the aircraft will propel into the sky, but how many of us actually understand
07:06the science behind what keeps it up there?
07:10It's the wings, of course, but how do they work?
07:13And have you ever wondered what those vertical wingtips on airliners actually do?
07:18And did you know they're connected to NASA?
07:21The answers all lie with understanding just how an aircraft wing actually works.
07:27With wings, you normally have a curved surface, which means the air that's going over on a
07:33normal plane top surface of the wing has further to go than the air that's on the lower surface.
07:38If the air on the top surface has got to go further than the air on the lower surface,
07:42then it's got to travel faster.
07:44That generates effectively a low pressure on the top surface and a high pressure on
07:47the lower surface.
07:49And it's essentially the pressure difference that generates a vertical force.
07:54So the bigger the wing, the bigger the force.
07:56This amazing aerodynamic principle has been the secret to powered flight ever since the
08:00Wright brothers first flew in 1903.
08:05Though the difference in air pressures around a wing also generate less favorable characteristics,
08:11namely, wingtip vortices.
08:13A wingtip vortex is created as high pressure air leaks from below the surface of the wingtip.
08:19This high pressure air spills over the top and into low pressure space above the wing.
08:24This behavior creates a path of swirling air that trails each wingtip, with its strength
08:29and size determined by many factors, including the aircraft's weight and airspeed.
08:35From a large plane you might see really big vortices coming off the wingtips and getting shed
08:41off down, maybe sticking in the air for a couple of miles or so, and it also detracts
08:48from the efficiency of the aircraft.
08:51You can get additional drag from the formation of vortices and the mess, the losses that come
08:57associated with that.
08:58Drag is not the only negative aspect of wingtip vortices.
09:02Vortices are also a component part of wake turbulence, which is the disturbed air that
09:07forms behind an aircraft as it moves.
09:10This turbulence can potentially be a dangerous hazard for any following aircraft.
09:15If you imagine the difference between flying into air which is uniformly coming towards
09:21you and then you imagine flying through a vortex which is effectively spinning, depending
09:29on the size of vehicle that you're in and the position of the vehicle compared to those
09:34vortices.
09:35They can have the power to flip aircraft over.
09:38If you're coming to land a small plane on the same runway, for example, where a large
09:43plane has either just taken off or just landed, then that can be pretty dangerous.
09:49Dangerous turbulence?
09:50Drag?
09:51Now this is where NASA and the winglets come in.
09:55The winglet is not a new concept, with the earliest example dating back to 1910.
10:00In its most basic form, a winglet is an angled extension of a wingtip that sits at 90 degrees
10:06to the wing.
10:08Traditionally, this extension sunk below the wing, such as the example on this German Henkel
10:1316-2A from World War II.
10:16So, what are these designs trying to achieve?
10:20The idea behind a winglet is effectively to provide a boundary for the flow which is attempting
10:27to wrap from the pressure surface of a wing onto the suction surface of the wing.
10:32So you're trying to reduce the effect of this tip vortex.
10:38The design and placement of winglets are critical to their performance.
10:42In response to the oil crisis of 1973, which saw an incredible rise in the cost of fuel,
10:48NASA engineer Richard T. Whitcomb developed the near-vertical winglet design we are so
10:52familiar with today.
10:54Throughout time, aerodynamicists observed how soaring birds in flight, such as eagles, glided
11:00with near-vertical wingtips.
11:03If it was good enough for the birds, then it was good enough for NASA.
11:06Whitcomb came up with small vertical airfoils, and by 1976, his research shows that winglets
11:12employed on transport-sized aircraft can diminish induced drag by approximately 20%, and improve
11:20the overall aircraft lift-to-drag ratio by 6-9%.
11:25Twenty years later, the commercial airline industry starts to see the benefits of adding
11:29a blended winglet to their own fleet's wings.
11:32There are now a wide variety of winglet designs and manufacturers, and it has been calculated
11:37that planes with winglet designs can see fuel savings of between 4 to 6%.
11:42What does that mean?
11:43Well, it's been calculated by one manufacturer that their blended wings have saved over 5 billion
11:49gallons of fuel since their introduction 15 years ago.
11:53As a result, billions of dollars have been saved.
11:56And tens of millions of tons less carbon dioxide have been emitted into the atmosphere.
12:02The winglet, truly an incredible invention.
12:07Coming up next, Incredible Inventions takes a look at a shock-absorbing marvel.
12:12But first, an experiment to prove just how effective winglets are.
12:29The invention of the winglet is said to be saving airlines a great deal of money.
12:33But it's time we test the benefits of this cool innovation for ourselves.
12:38We've come to Incredible Inventions Airfield to find out.
12:41The experiment, beloved by bored schoolboys and frustrated flyers everywhere, the paper
12:46plane is the classic low-cost entry into the world of aviation.
12:52To begin, we create five identical paper planes.
12:55Each flyer is made from a standard piece of red paper using the basic folding technique
13:00refined over many generations of classroom chaos.
13:03Now, for the winglet planes, using green paper this time, well, this is fuel-saving technology,
13:10five other identical paper planes are made.
13:13The winglets are created by folding the wings in on themselves.
13:18This creates a half-inch-long winglet that should reduce the aircraft's drag and stabilize
13:23it in flight, or so the theory goes.
13:26One flight area is laid out with markings placed every 10 feet.
13:31Now the test can begin.
13:33Each plane will be released five times to reduce any inconsistencies that may occur during each
13:38flight.
13:39A consistent release is critical, and our tester exhibits the perfect technique.
13:44A wide stance, shoulders back, perfect arm bending action.
13:50The planes are released, and we soon get to see how the winglet-adapted planes perform against
13:57their standardized cousins.
14:01After a hectic barrage of paper projectiles, the results are in.
14:06In this shot, we have plotted where each of the red planes landed.
14:09If we overlay the green flights, I think we can see a clear winner.
14:14The winglets are victorious, with one green plane actually achieving the longest flight
14:18distance, a remarkable 40 feet.
14:22So there you have it, point proved.
14:24The winglet really is an aerodynamic wonder.
14:31Today's saddle originates in military history.
14:35The first depictions of a saddle show the Assyrian cavalry from 700 BC.
14:40In these early carvings, we can see warriors riding horses seated upon a piece of cloth or
14:45leather, secured by straps not too dissimilar to the horse tack of today.
14:51But it is the introduction of stirrups to the saddle that causes a military revolution.
14:56A mounted warrior sitting atop a saddle with stirrups now gains all kinds of advantages in
15:01combat.
15:02Having the stirrups added to the saddle just changes completely the way you can fight on
15:07the back of the horse.
15:08You can stand up, you have a platform if you like.
15:10So say you have a sword in your hand, foot soldiers coming charging towards you, you can
15:14stand up on your horse, you can reach out and you can really go for that foot soldier
15:17without slipping and falling off the side of the horse.
15:20But what makes the modern saddle even more special?
15:23We find out and see how it's made when we return.
15:32Nomadic groups such as the Sarmatians and Mongols conquered large swaths of territory on horseback.
15:47Then when the stirrup is introduced to a new European warrior class, an ultimate fighting
15:52machine arises, the mounted knight.
15:55We think of knights, armoured knights.
15:57We can think of the Norman time, the Norman invasion, 11th century, that kind of period.
16:02On the speed of their horse and their lance couched under their arm, the stability of the
16:06saddle and the stirrups meant that all that power is transferred down the end of that point.
16:12They would drive through, punch holes through the enemy lines.
16:16It's a little bit like the modern day tank.
16:19Nearly 3,000 years after their introduction, saddles are still being made all over the world.
16:26In Walsall, England, the saddle company continues the ancient art of saddle making.
16:33As a master saddler with 48 years experience, David Johnson's saddles are made by combining
16:39traditional craftsmanship with modern techniques and materials to improve the performance of
16:44the saddle today.
16:47Saddles are made for both the horse and the rider in terms of comfort and durability.
16:52Like us, horses come in all shapes and sizes, and every saddle needs to be tailored to comfortably
16:58fit each individual horse.
17:00For this saddle, the frame, known as the tree, is made from polyurethane.
17:05A flexible metal strip, called a gullet plate, is attached to the tree.
17:09This plate can be adjusted to create a tailored fit for the horse once the saddle is finished.
17:14Next, they rivet a stirrup bar through the tree, which will be used to attach the stirrups
17:19to the saddle.
17:21An adhesive is brushed onto the tree, and a foam pad is glued into position.
17:29Another thicker foam pad is added for cushioning.
17:31A knife is used to trim the foam.
17:37A template is then used to trace the seat shape, and the foam is roughly cut into shape.
17:43A tool called a rasp grazes away excess foam and gives the seat a defined size and shape.
17:51While the saddle seat is being shaped, another worker starts to cut out the leather pieces
17:56that will make up the saddle flaps and cover the tree.
17:58First, he inspects the leather for any defects.
18:01He carefully traces the different pieces that make up the saddle with chalk.
18:08The leather pieces are then fed into a skiving machine.
18:12This machine shaves the edges of the leather.
18:15These edges, now thinner, will be easier to stitch later on in the process.
18:19A glue is applied to the cut pieces to hold them together before a machinist will permanently
18:23stitch them into place.
18:26The two pieces are pushed together with the aid of a tool made from whalebone.
18:31This material is used because it does not scratch or scar the leather.
18:36A machinist then stitches the pieces of leather together.
18:41With the leather pieces prepared and machined, a saddle maker starts to construct the saddle.
18:46To begin, the worker stuffs the panel with a mixture of wool and synthetic materials.
18:51Two panels will be attached to the underside of the saddle.
18:54The panels are designed for the horse's comfort, with one sitting on each side of its back.
18:59Next, the leather seat cover is attached to the tree.
19:04The cover is pulled over the tree and fixed in place with staples.
19:08An experienced eye is all-important as the saddle maker trims away excess leather and shapes
19:13the cover into position.
19:15With the seat firmly in position on the tree, the flaps, panel, straps and various fixings
19:20and buckles are brought together and stapled into position.
19:24The panel is the last piece to be attached and after stapling it to the back of the saddle,
19:29the front is hand-stitched to the pommel.
19:32This is called lacing it in.
19:34The saddle is now complete and ready to be shipped nearly 12,000 miles away to its new
19:39owner in New Zealand.
19:43So the saddle, thousands of years of military development used for more peaceful pursuits
19:48today.
19:49Now that is an incredible invention.
19:54So there you have it, a glance through the hidden history, super science and amazing products
19:59that you use every day, but you may not have realized their fascinating backgrounds.
20:05The Swiss Army knife, the winglet and the saddle, they may seem common and ordinary, however, these
20:12products help change the world one incredible invention at a time.
20:16One way, two, three, three.
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20:40Play grievance.