Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines

By Johnny Cat in History, Science & Tech, Video Clips on Dec 16, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Tomorrow marks the 106th anniversary of man’s affair with flight. Orville and Wilbur Wright developed fixed wing aircraft, as well as the controls that provide heavier-than-air powered flight. On December 17, 1903, the brothers took their Wright Flyer I to Kitty Hawk flatland, and after many attempts succeeded in their quest for flight.

Following repairs, the Wrights finally took to the air on December 17, 1903, making two flights each from level ground into a freezing headwind gusting to 27 miles per hour (43 km/h). The first flight, by Orville, of 120 feet (37 m) in 12 seconds, at a speed of only 6.8 miles per hour (10.9 km/h) over the ground, was recorded in a famous photograph. The next two flights covered approximately 175 feet (53 m) and 200 feet (61 m), by Wilbur and Orville respectively. Their altitude was about 10 feet (3.0 m) above the ground. (Wiki)

In honor of the anniversary, here’s a video of the Wright Brothers in France, 1908, demonstrating their new flying machine.

(via Wired)

Tags: anniversary, first, flight, historic, Kitty Hawk, Wright Brothers

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Johnny Cat
Dec 16th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Unverified reports describe Orville jumping from the flyer, looking at Wilbur and declaring, “First!”
urh
Dec 16th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
boring and wrong. smithonian had a contract with the wrights and they knew how to do PR.

the below guy made it to the news anyway:

pittsburgh newspaper 1899: “Gustave Whitehead crashed into the second flor of a building with his flying machine”.

“Bridgeport Herald”, 18August1901, better documented:
flight distance 2,625 feet at 50 feet.

a modern replica of his machine proofed airworthy and flew successfully in 1997

just google or use wikipedia: “gustave whitehead” “smithonian / wright / contract”
Christophe
Dec 17th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Can you believe being there at this time, and watching this? This must have been pretty close to watching a spaceship today!
Foreigner1
Dec 17th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Lots of people back then even in Europe and the United States had never even seen mechanised propulsion on any kind of craft, let alone an airplane. And then these bicycle-repair-men wih their incredible flying machine came flying by. And only 7 years after when this video was filmed, people started killing eachother with aircraft that were, ever more complicated and sophisticated. Mechanisation took off- Big Time.
Leandro Gobbo
Dec 17th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Not diminishing the Wright Brothers’s definite contribution to the aviation history, the post should also honor Alberto Santos-Dumont, as he ” (…) made the first European public flight of an airplane on October 23, 1906. Designated 14-bis or Oiseau de proie (French for “bird of prey”), the flying machine was the first fixed-wing aircraft officially witnessed to take off, fly, and land.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont

Do you think they knew about excess baggage charge back then?
urh
Dec 17th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
well, its wrong, they where second, at most.
but the wright brothers knew how to do PR.

find below what happend a few years before:

pittsburgh newspaper 1899: “Gustave Whitehead crashed into the second flor of a building with his flying machine”.

“Bridgeport Herald”, 18August1901, better documented:
gustave whitehead: flight distance 2,625 feet at 50 feet.

a modern replica of his machine proofed airworthy and flew successfully in 1997.

…and why he isnt recognized? because the smithonian
had a special contract with the wrights.
just google or use wikipedia: “gustave whitehead” “smithonian / wright / contract”

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