12 seconds that changed the world

[Hagar]

Katahu does seem to have some rigid ideas. LOL

I would point out that it is obviously not "easy to make gliders" unless you know how to do it. Many tried & failed over 100s of years, some sacrificing their own lives in the process. I suggest that with the efforts going on around the world in the early 20th century - powered flight was bound to happen, sooner rather than later. All credit to the Wright Brothers for being the first to officially do so but please never forget the countless other pioneers without whom it would not have been possible. I believe that was the reason for Bones posting this topic in the first place. Well done Bones.

[Wing Nut]

Alight ladies and gentlemen. As of midnight [right now] it is now officially Dec. 17 here in the East coast of the good old US of A.

I am tired of hearing about countries wanting to take credit of having the flight in their own land.

I don't care what France, Germany, the Aussies, the Chinese, or what the Brits say. The US has absolute proof that the First CONTROLLED and POWERED Flight happened here in the Good Old US of A.

At least those other countries will recieve credit for making the first NON-POWERED flight with the gliders.

Those countries know that it's easy to make gliders. They also know that it's NOT easy to power those gliders or control them.

However, there is only ONE person [other than the brothers] in which I give my total thanks to. And that person is Leonardo de Vinci. All thanks to that genius.

Easy there tiger...  ;D

Ever hear of another couple of brothers named Montgolfier?  I believe their balloon flight was the first controlled flight of ANY kind and that came a full century before Orville and Wilbur did their thing.  They were not the pilots though, as I understand it. The first humans to conduct a free untethered flight were Jean-Fran

[Hagar]

I agree with Pippin.

Meanwhile I owe Woody an apology.http://www.flight100.org/history/uk.html

It is generally accepted that the airplane was invented by Sir George Cayley in 1799 at Brompton, near Scarborough in Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. In 1909 Wilbur Wright himself paid Cayley the following tribute:

"About 100 years ago, an Englishman ..... carried the science of flight to a point which it had never reached before and which it scarcely reached again during the last century."

[RIC_BARKER]

I too agree with Pipin.

We should look at this as an acheivment of the human race, not a specific county.

As an interesting side note, the brothers first 12 second powered flight was shorter than the length of the fuselage of the 747....amazing.  :o

[Rifleman]

And now its my turn...after all the dust settled on that blustery morning in 1903, there was one more thing to do for the Wrights and its the most overlooked bit of all they did.........there were many claims of being the first to fly in many different locations around this period, but the one thing that sets Wilbur and Orville apart is this....they went and once again, got out pen and paper and wrote it down.

THEY DOCUMENTED IT ALL WITH WITNESSES, WHERE POSSIBLE !

Thats the reason we know so much about their endeavors.......so much for Gustave Whitehead......someone besides me must know of his name......?

[Hagar]

THEY DOCUMENTED IT ALL WITH WITNESSES, WHERE POSSIBLE !

Maybe not in so many words but I thought I had already pointed this out. There were certain conditions to be met for a "first powered heavier-than-air flight" which they complied with.

Thats the reason we know so much about their endeavors.......so much for Gustave Whitehead......someone besides me must know of his name......?

As I also mentioned, there were many others. Gustave Whitehead is certainly a prime contender who remains unknown, among other reasons, as the victim of an agreement with Orville Wrights' executors & the Smithsonian Institute. Read all about him here. http://www.deepsky.com/~firstflight/

PS. It has been suggested that Whitehead was not interested in records & did not consider his efforts successful or worthy of note.

His goal was to fly, not to be recorded as the first to fly, thus keeping track of times, lengths and heights or making sure there were records on photograph were not the priority of his work

[Wing Nut]

To me, one of the most astonishing facts is not that humans invented flight.  I think that was an inevitability.  The thing that I think most shows the human spirit is the fact that in only 66 years we went from our first official powered flight to landing a man on the moon.  Somewhere, at that time, there was a person alive who saw us go from no airplanes to landing on another heavenly body.

Neil Armstrong (whom my son is named after) said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  He did not say Americans, he said 'mankind'  The plaque that they left at Tranquility Base on the side of the lunar lander said "Here men from the planet Earth set foot on the Moon, July 1969 A.D.  We came in peace for all mankind"  It does not say 'men from the United States.'  It says 'men from Earth'

Flight was going to happen eventually and if the US hadn't done it first then it really was going to be the Brits, French, Germans, Aussies or even the Iraqis.  But that one small bit of world-sense, that altruism, that one bit of not showing arrogance when we could have claimed our own superiority forever has given me hope for the human race many times when we seem like we are going to destroy ourselves.  When wars happen, or I hear of yet another genocide occurring, or a terrorist attack killing children in Isreal or Iraq, I think of that often and it does seem like there is a bit of hope.

[Hagar]

Wish I had your confidence Pippin. In my experience most things are driven by greed, although I'm not accusing the Wright Brothers of that.

Being more cynical I suggest that Armstrong's words were carefully chosen long before he left Earth. Probably written by government approved scriptwriters in order not to upset too many people, especially in the Soviet Union. Everyone concerned would be all to well aware that the world was watching. In fact, to go further, it could be seen as one of the most successful publicity stunts of all time.

[Woodlouse2002]

Meanwhile I owe Woody an apology.http://www.flight100.org/history/uk.html

Hagar, you should have learnt by now that you shouldn't doubt what I say. Especially when i've just come from watching a telly program about the subject.

[Mr. Bones]

glad you liked it guys! in 2103 you can get a story about the last 100 years (2003-2103)...