17th December 1903

[Pen Pusher]

On the 17th December 1903, American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully made the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight and what would we be doing now if they hadn't.

Brian

[FarnboroJohn]

On the 17th December 1903, American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully made the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight and what would we be doing now if they hadn't.

Brian

Remembering Santos-Dumont, Deperdussin or one of the others who were working on the problem. Happy to celebrate the Wrights as successful engineers winning the race but not as revolutionaries inventing an entirely new field of endeavour.

John

[Glosterbloke]

I for one would be welcoming our Airship overlords.

[speedbird2639]

I for one would be welcoming our Airship overlords.

lol

I think recent events in Bedfordshire have proved airships weren't the way forwards.

I've always found intriguing that the Smithsonian refused to acknowledge their achievement for 45 years and when they bought the Wright's aircraft the family insisted on including conditions around how it was to be displayed and any accompanying text before the sale could complete.

[LN Strike Eagle]

I for one would be welcoming our Airship overlords.

"It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earthmen, or merely enslave them"

[qwerty]

History is full of examples of those who made an invention practical based on prior work by others, often those who had enough funds to keep going when others had to give up. Good to mark the anniversay of the Wrights and delve into other pioneers work.

[Spiny Norman]

I for one would be welcoming our Airship overlords.

lol

I think recent events in Bedfordshire have proved airships weren't the way forwards.

I've always found intriguing that the Smithsonian refused to acknowledge their achievement for 45 years and when they bought the Wright's aircraft the family insisted on including conditions around how it was to be displayed and any accompanying text before the sale could complete.

The story behind that dispute is best read about here.

https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/icon/feud.cfm

There can be no doubt the Wright brothers were streets ahead of anybody else at the time. When they visited Europe in 1908 they had been called 'bluffers' but that sort of talk soon stopped when everyone saw them flying. Louis Bleriot himself said, "I consider that for us in France and everywhere, a new era in mechanical flight has begun.”

[effects]

On the 17th December 1903, American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully made the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight and what would we be doing now if they hadn't.

Brian

Hailing Sam Cody, I guess.