100 years ago today, the Wright brothers changed the face of history.

[dullard]

Originally posted by: C'DaleRider
Did anyone see on UK World news last night about Brazil's take on the Wright Brothers? Brazil is the only country apparently that does not recognize the Wright Bros. achievement and instead says their native son, whose name I forget right now, as being the first to fly. The "party" line down there is that because the Wright Bros. worked in secret, used very favorable wind conditions to achieve flight (and they did...that's one reason they chose Kitty Hawk as their test site....the winds are constant and strong), the Brazilians discount their achievement.
Odd that.........

There are supposedly multiple newspaper accounts with photos of flying printed before the Wright Bros' flight. It just happened that no one thought of it as a big deal, it was only local news, and the real first flyers have been forgotten in history.

Of course I don't have any proof of that, so it could be just a rumor.

 

[SoylentGreen]

Originally posted by: Argo
Tell that to all the people who died in plane crashes.

You = asshole

 

[5ayle]

Originally posted by: Aceshigh

Originally posted by: 5ayle

Originally posted by: Aceshigh
Crap, I was hoping to see a new spaceflight initiative announced today during Bush's speech.

It needs to happen.

Why's that?

Because, I want us to go to Mars and I'd like to not be a senior citizen when it happens.

China's gonna beat us though you know

 

[mjquilly]

I just moved to Raleigh, NC, 2 weeks ago. Why do NC licenseplates read "First in Flight"??? Why are they so proud of that? The Wright Brothers are from Ohio, they did all there work in Ohio, but they needed a place that was windy, so they went to NC. I just moved from Ohio, and, proudly, my license plate reads "Birth Place of Aviation". I'm gonna wait as long as I can to change plates. NC license plates should say "It's really windy on some parts of the coast".

 

[kuk]

Originally posted by: C'DaleRider
Did anyone see on UK World news last night about Brazil's take on the Wright Brothers? Brazil is the only country apparently that does not recognize the Wright Bros. achievement and instead says their native son, whose name I forget right now, as being the first to fly. The "party" line down there is that because the Wright Bros. worked in secret, used very favorable wind conditions to achieve flight (and they did...that's one reason they chose Kitty Hawk as their test site....the winds are constant and strong), the Brazilians discount their achievement.
Odd that.........

It's a picky subject that has been brought back to discussion here these days.

I really don't care who invented the airplane. It makes no difference ... history happens linearly and through a single thread. What we know today of air travel is a result of multiple advances in human knowledge. Celebrating one unique person (or persons, in case of the brothers) for creating something that today is radically different leads to discrediting all other people who put their minds in to this matter in the following 100 years.

Here in Brazil, Alberto Santos Dumont really is considered the father of aviation. He demonstrated his first airplane, the 14Bis at a show in Paris in 1906. The International Aviation Federation credited Dummont as the creator of the first airplane, since to achieve this acknowledgment, the demonstration had to be in public grounds, open to the media, the plane had to be airborne by it's own means (the Wright brothers, on following designs used a catapult to propel the plane) and had to fly 200 meters. From 1903 to 1906, the Wright brothers maintained much of their airplanes' plans and designs in secret, probably knowing that they had a real money-maker in their hands. Regarding designs, some solutions were better with Wrights' inventions, while others were better with Dumont's design.

The debate may be endless, and it's really hopeless to try to bring some sense into the "Who was first?" argument. Maybe the best way to understand this issue is to read and understand all sides and form your own opinion regarding each one's contribution.

Kuk

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: Aceshigh
Crap, I was hoping to see a new spaceflight initiative announced today during Bush's speech.

It needs to happen.

That would have been very appropriate. I have the feeling most voters view space exploration as trivial, which could not be farther from the truth. Perhaps if people were better informed about all of the advancements in the medical and technological fields because of NASA's research, there would be more support. I very much doubt that Bush will heavily back the space program unless he sees some immediate benefit to homeland security in it, but I would be delighted to be proved wrong.