Hydrofoil (Forlanini)
Hidroala (Forlanini)
- Date
- 1906 · confidence high
- Place
- Lake Maggiore, Verbania, Piedmont, Italy
- Credited to
- Enrico Forlanini
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A boat with submerged foils that, at speed, lift the hull clear of the water and cut drag, reaching 68 km/h in 1906 with a 60 hp engine. Alexander Graham Bell and Casey Baldwin refined it in the HD-4 (1919, 114 km/h).
The Meacham brothers and Thornycroft tried versions before 1900 and Forlanini's patents date from 1898-1901; the date of the first successful trial is 1906.
What it led to
- passenger hydrofoils (Rodriquez, Boeing)
- foil-assisted catamarans and racing sailboats
- seaplanes and supercavitating propellers