THE FIRST FLIGHT EVER | The Wright brothers' first flight. The first airplane in the world. Aviation
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2021
- The FIRST FLIGHT ever of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft which was under human control and could be sustained for any length of time, took place near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on 17 December 1903. It lasted just 12 seconds, but it made this spot of little known land the birthplace of aviation as we know it today.
The first airplane in the world (at least the first one which we would recognise as a plane today) was built and flown by brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. The Wright brothers’ first flight secured them a place in the history books and heralded the birth of modern aviation. In this aviation history documentary from History Calling, I’ll explain how the first airplane was invented and how the first successful flight in history was achieved, despite the fact that no airports or runways had yet been invented to launch it from. The Kitty Hawk Flyer, also known as the First Flyer and the Wright Flyer was undoubtedly one of the greatest inventions ever, but it took the brothers years and many failed experiments to get it right. I’ll also reveal how pieces of this flyer ended up on the moon and even Mars, while most of it is now in the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
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LEARN MORE:
The Wright Brothers: The Inventors of the Aerial Age. Online exhibition by the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
airandspace.si.edu/exhibition...
Image of Orville Wright’s original diary entry, 17 Dec. 1903 [day of first flight]
www.loc.gov/resource/mwright....
John T. Daniels’ eye witness account (written 30 June 1933) of the first flight and of being the first modern aviation injury victim
wrightstories.com/eyewitness-...
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Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses/
What do you think the best and/or worst result of the invention of the airplane is? Let me know below and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE with NOTIFICATIONS on. You can also check out my PATREON site for extra perks at www.patreon.com/historycalling
Best use of the airplane: emergency medical transport. Worst use of the airplane: dropping bombs in acts of genocide.
Yes, I think those are good choices. The environmental effects are a big downside as well I think.
@@davea6314 I totally agree. Well put.
Tricky to imagine a world without planes! 🤔 The spread and influence of tourism and it’s money would have been so slow in comparison, as a result countries would have far more isolated out looks, with less mixing and swapping of job skills, knowledge, technology… as well as less things like foreign aid to physically and politically difficult areas - you’d need to travel through every country between you and the people in need. Wars would have had different outcomes as powerful countries rely heavily on airpower, WW2 to Afghanistan and everything in-between. But most important of all, we couldn’t write “TRACY MARRY ME?” in massive letters across a blue summer sky… 😥
I love the fast travel. Able to enjoy my destination a little while longer. On the other hand. My mother is firmly convinced the Wright brothers were WRONG! Does not enjoy any part of flight at all.
My Great Grandmother who lived with us was 25 years old when the Wight Brothers took their first flight in 1903. She lived to see all six moon landings. The accomplishments and advancements of the 20th century are hard to comprehend.
Wow, the world had certainly changed a lot in her lifetime. I bet she had some stories to tell.
Amazing as always. The research and all! However most people don't know this but they had a sister who without dear Katherine they would not have gotten as far as they did. She was highly educated even more so than her brothers-the only one to go to college actually out of the three of them. As you mentioned a lot of their early experiments were based off other works many of them in other languages such as German which their sister actually TRANSLATED for them. After the first successful flight they actually did tours around the country and Katherine actually became a type of business manager of her brothers and their success. She would even sit with her brother in the plane when they would do demonstrative test flights which shocked MANY. I believe she is not given enough credit for her work and as a female and a aviation enthusiast I believe she is part of this story just as much as her brothers. But there is no doubt I loved this video very much as an aviation enthusiast! BRAVO.
As always, your presentation is rich in detail. I of course read of the Wright Brothers as a boy but our school texts provided only a cursory account of the events. This is the first I've ever heard of John T. Daniels' misadventures in the windblown Flyer; it could have been used in a scene from "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines". Once again, I thank you for putting your personal stamp on historical events in such an entertaining way. Be well.
Thanks Stephen. We don't really get any of this kind of history in schools in the UK, so I knew basically nothing (which made it interesting to research). I would LOVE to have included the song from the movie in the video, but sadly copyright prevented me.
Thank you my dear. Your presentation was excellent in every possible way. In fact, their incredible flights were indeed heroic.
Thank you very much! :-)
Thank you. informative as always. I was just thinking about the audacity of the whole thing. How we went from the Wright brothers to Neil Armstrong in less than 70 years.
I know, it is crazy when you think about it, but then cars, electricity and the internet all developed very fast too I suppose.
In 5 generations… and humans have been around for 8,000 generations. Lost civilizations were real, lost to time and natural disasters again and again
Well, as usual… you crushed it. You’ve even crossed the pond… I’m flattered. Ha ha. Ive seen the Wright Bros. craft at the Smithsonian many years ago. Your research into the beginnings of the Wrights and how cleverly you’ve weaved them is, as always, a joy. Still the very best.
Thanks Manny. Glad you enjoyed it :-)
Wonderful video! As an American, I wish your American history videos were more popular because I'd love to see your research efforts applied to American history topics, but c'est la vie. 🙂 I completely understand that we must do what puts bread on our tables.
Wow thanks for this history lesson.
You're very welcome. Glad you liked it :-)
thanks for the great video!
Love it thank you.
Wonderful account of the wonderful Wright bros.
Thank you :-)
Lovely as always!
Thanks Marie :-)
@@HistoryCalling You’re welcome :-)
A very nice change of subject and a fascinating video. Thanks!
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it :-)
Its truly unbelievable how we went from the Wright Brothers to an aircraft like a Boeing 737 in just 64 YEARS or the A380; just 104 years later.
Thank you for yet an other great video.
Enjoy listening to your northern Irish accent to.
😊 thank you
Read The Wright Brothers by David McCullough this year. Great book! This video reminds me of years ago when flying was still considered special.
Brilliant video! ✈️
Thank you :-)
Very interesting stuff. Thanks .
Thank you :-)
Well done, I did enjoy this video
Thank you :-)
Thank you for this interesting look at the beginning of aviation. Today planes take us all over the world, with such ease we forget it was not so long ago that air travel started. I hope my comment isn’t too long, but you asked for our opinions.
I lived next door to an airline pilot growing up. He flew passenger jets. He had a small 4 seater airplane and took me up for a flight on my birthday, I was 10 years old. How amazing it was to be in such a small plane flying in the wind, it was absolutely amazing. Later I watched him in his garage as he built his own aircraft. It was so interesting. He had a blueprint set up on a board, I saw the type of wood he used, the fabric that covered the wings, the tape that held the fabric which had to be glued & how it was all put together. He finish it, it was one passenger, the pilot, and he flew the plane he built in his garage. When he retired he purchased land in Homestead Florida and built a private airport for small planes. I was older then, he moved building a house at his airport. I went to college in Washington DC, then traveled all over the world, so I lost track of him. From flying in the small plane, I flew on passenger jets, a large medi-vac military helicopter in Asia., Now, living in a rural area, I use commuter airplanes to get to the larger airports. I always held in my bucket list the thought of flying in a military fighter jet that could go to such speeds to break the sound barrier, it would be so much fun, but don’t think that will ever happen.
I guess aviation has been an interest, visiting Cape Canaveral during the beginning of the space race, visiting the Air & Space museum in Washington DC when it first opened & With my three year old son,watching the space shuttle launch, in the early 1980s, as we lived 100 miles from the launch pad. It is amazing how far we have come in such a short period of time, thanks to Orville & Wilbur Wright.
As for the bad things aviation brought us, it was used as weapons of war, let go two atomic bombs, & has been a transport for illegal trades. Our challenges today, with climate change is to make flight greener possibly with different fuels. But for the most part aviation has been an incredible achievement I think the good outweighs the bad. Bringing food, materials, and people to areas that have been damaged by earthquake or storm. Helicopters bring patients to hospitals & are used in rescue missions all over the world. Thanks to two brothers with an analytical mind with the dream of flying which they made a reality.
Thank you for this video. Not only did it bring back the achievement of the Wright Brothers, it brought a nice trip down memory lane.
Thank you for such a detailed and wonderful comment. I loved reading about your 10th birthday flight. What an amazing gift! Yes, I think the benefits of aviation outweigh the disadvantages overall, but I still wish it could be made more environmentally friendly. I'm so jealous you got to see a space shuttle launch live. Here in the UK, that's just not something anyone can say :-) It's a shame Concorde is no more or you could potentially have broken the speed barrier in that (though tickets on it were wildly expensive). I sat on one of the Concorde planes in the Intrepid Museum in NYC a few years ago and was sad to think it would never fly again. As one of my friends once said, it's bizarre to think that you could travel between the UK and the USA faster in the 1970s than you can today.
I can't believe this is the first time I've found this channel! Really great video, very well presented and super interesting too! 😄
Thank you so much and welcome :-)
The first flight in the British Empire was made on February 23, 1909 at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada by J.A.D. (Douglas) McCurdy, under the auspices of Alexander Graham Bell, who had a summer home on Baddeck Bay…The plane was named “The Silver Dart.” I presently live about 2 hours from that area. I had recognized the name Thomas Selfridge from my research. Thank you for this excellent presentation!
You're very welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :-)
Thank you for this. My maternal grandfather was 15 at this time & lived to see the 1st moonwalk. For a few years, he was the oldest licensed pilot in the U.S. Paul Harvey wrote an article about him. His name was Spence B. Swigert.
Oh wow, that's a great story. :-) Any relation to the Apollo 13 Swigert (it doesn't seem like that common a surname)?
@@HistoryCalling We looked into that & there doesn't seem to be any relationship, or else it's really, really distant.
Ah well. Your grandfather's story is still a great one. ✈
I didn't know the flight was only a matter of seconds, I thought it was about a minute or two. That's why I love channels like this, where you learn something besides being entertained.
I didn't know either actually, until researching the video. They progressed to much longer flights very fast though.
Flight duration was 12 seconds.
I don't know who you are but you have the best voice ever!
Hehe, thank you :-)
Ashamed to say I knew very little about the Wright brothers. Thank you so much for your information and how it affected their lives. In 66 years a trip to the moon! Amazing! I will think of them the next time I board that giant plane.
My pleasure. Glad you liked the video :-)
I worked at Bradley Int. as runway electrician for many years. I always enjoyed the close up views of all kinds of aircraft taking off and landing...
That would be really interesting, especially if you're an aviation enthusiast. There's a channel about aviation called 74 Gear that you might enjoy. It's run by a 747 pilot.
My grandpa (Dad’s dad) was just 2 months old when the Wright Bros. completed their first flight. He died just a few months after the first space shuttle launch. Just the advancements in flight made in his lifetime, dying just weeks short of his 78th birthday, are incredible-planes used in wartime little more than a decade after Kitty Hawk, Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic, planes being used to deliver mail across the North American continent, passenger flight, Amelia Earhart’s around the world attempt, jet engines invented, international passenger air travel, space flight, the Concorde, and the space shuttle.
I don’t think the brothers could have fathomed the engineering advances their Kitty Hawk flights kicked off.
Yes, the speed at which flight advanced after the Wright brothers' invention is mind boggling isn't it? I'm sure they couldn't have foreseen where it would all lead. So many people have their own little aircrafts now too, in drones.
Wow. 1903? That's practically last week compared to most of our posts. I'm choosing to pretend it was 1903BC in which case the Wright Brothers were even more amazing. Great post. Thanks for not getting your research from me.
Yes, it is pretty recent compared to most of the stuff I do videos on. Glad you liked it :-)
Absolutely. Aviation has progressed at a mind-blowing rate.
I have been to Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hill, and they have a museum there with a copy of the original Flyer. It's a marvelous place to go to, the deep blue sky, wide open spaces, and the peace of it all. (or at least it was like that back in the 1970's)
I'd love to go see it myself. The memorial and the museum looked very interesting from my research for this video.
Yes! Some of the North Carolina beaches have rock-hard sand!
Really? I've never been. I just assumed it was the force of the impact that did the damage, rather than hard sand. That's an interesting little bit of extra info. though. Thank you for sharing :-)
Hard-baked like cement along certain stretches! I had always told my children, when they had learned in primary school about the first flight, that the Wright brothers probably chose Kitty Hawk because the sand was so hard. I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture! Please consider doing a series on inventors throughout history. It would be great!
Yes, the hard sand would have been good if they wanted a kind of early runway. Glad you enjoyed the video. I'm certainly open to other inventors, but we'll see how this video does. To be honest the early viewer numbers aren't very encouraging :-( Oh well, win some lose some I guess.
According to the biography by David McCullough, they chose Kitty Hawk specifically because of the near-constant winds. Highly recommend the book. I could not put it down!
You should do a video on Santos Dumont who was another pioneer of aviation.
Please include Susan Wright, their mother. She was very mechanical and even invented simple devices for herself, as well as improving her children's mechanical toys. Her ability was passed on to Wil and Or as the family called them. Please do this in her memory. The boys were both very fond of her; Wil cared for her in her last illness. Don't let her contribution to her son's efforts be whitewashed away. Thanks
If it weren't for the Wright Brothers, I doubt much of Belfast who work in Shorts would have their employment including my own father so I thank them for that. I do feel sad that Wilbur never got to see like Orville did how their invention would improve and change the world.
Exactly. Shorts has been such an important employer. A bit like Harland and Wolff back in the day were for shipbuilding.
I'd quite like to see a follow up of this about John Stringfellow. (My hometown of Chard is the Birthplace of Powered flight)
so excited to watch this!! i’m located right here in dayton 😎
Oh wow! It's good local history for you then :-)
@@HistoryCalling it sure is! i’ve been to the museums here several different times, it is always so fascinating! tons of stuff in dayton is named after them haha
Oh, I'd love to see those museums. I've just been to the Air and Space museum in D.C. (which was amazing).
@@HistoryCalling i’ve never been to that one myself! as i’m watching i’m hearing the date may 30th which is my birthday 😯 so many connections with this one i love it!🤣
Excellent. Glad you like it :-)
Flight can be summed up as follows: all aircraft go "up", and come "down". A successful flight is one where both "states" are achieved "in a controlled manner".
As an old pilot once said about flight; landing on the runway = happiness, landing below the runway = unhappiness.
Another fine, highly detailed video. However, my own interest in aviation lies more with the first female flyers, pre-Amelia Earhart. They're a fascinating group, the first being Raymonde de la Roche (actually born Deroche; de la Roche was a stage name she used during a stint as an actress). She's credited with being the first female to pilot an airplane and was the first to get her pilot's license. I'm also fascinated with the early planes and pilots in World War I. "Wings" is a fantastic film from the '20s that shows extensive dogfight scenes. Of course, there are later films that cover that period; one that is especially good in the air scenes is "The Blue Max."
Look up Katherine Wright if you don't already know who she is. She was Wilbur and Orville's sister and without her we would not know flight as we do today.
@@Izzy_Gyrl Yes, thanks. I was aware of the contributions of Katharine Wright. But I was speaking of female flyers.
Hi Kat. Thanks for your comment. I wasn't aware of Raymonde de la Roche/Deroche. I've heard of Wings but haven't seen it. I'll see if I can find it on UA-cam.
The Air & Space Museum is wicked cool. They also have an Apollo capsule.
It's about an 11 hour drive by car over modern highway to get between Kitty Hawk and Dayton, through those steep Appalachians. Must've taken just about forever in 1903, even taking the train much of the way.
(um, btw your blurb/description says Kitty Hawk, Ohio. )
I LOVE the Air and Space Museum. I spent a very enjoyable day there back in 2016, which is actually what inspired me to make this video. It immediately became one of my favourite museums and my tour guide (a guy called Lesley if I recall) was so interesting and well informed. Thank you for catching my Ohio typo (I'm mortified here). I'm off to fix it now :-)
The Wright brother's home and cycle shop have been moved to Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan.
Good mini-doc.
I've spent 2 days at the Wright Paterson USAF Museum.. A real treat. Of interest is the Wright Modified "B" Flyer pictures and write up worth a search.
It was the flight in France and winning its prize that got real world attention drawn to the Brothers.
It was the questionable character Glenn Curtis who was the biggest thorn in the Wright Bros side.
Powered flight was a Pandora's Box once opened it can't be contained again. The War to End All Wars is proof of the value of flight in armed conflict. I read that Pandora closed the box too quickly trapping hope inside.
Now to be class clown.
For solo balloon flight nobody can top Lawn Chair Larry. I don't recall the exact number but he attached 40+ helium filled weather balloons to a lawn chair and took off. Commercial pilots landing at LAX were quite surprised upon seeing him at 10k feet+.. His decent device was a BB gun, lunch was a 6 pack of beer... He took no jacket. Videos on yt.
🍎
Haha, I've never heard of Lawn Chair Larry, but I'm off to look him up. Thanks for sharing :-)
Can you please do Victoria and her children please…
Something Victorian is definitely on the list :-)
It's more than likely the Wright Brothers were not the first to accomplish this particular feat. Humans have been trying to fly since we stood on 2 feet, and especially around the turn of the last century. The Wrights certainly did not figure out lift and wing shape... One only need look closely at a dead bird to sort that one out. Propulsion was not a huge challenge... Propellers and steam engines had been around for decades. I used to be convinced the Wright's unique contribution was to figure out control on 3 axis... Pitch, roll and yaw.... But after learning more about the work of other early aviators I am no longer convinced of that with a high degree of certainty.
What they did better than all the others without question, is document their work. The Wrights were well aware of the efforts of those that came before them, and they knew if they wanted to make it into the history books, and if they wanted to own the patents, then they must demonstrate with absolute clarity what they did and when they did it. And so they did. Journals, telegrams, personal correspondence, speeches to scientific communities, articles in scientific publications, 300+ photographs with the best camera one could buy in 1900... They knew exactly what they were doing. We lived in Kitty Hawk when I was born, I've been a Wright Bros fan from about age 10, I have a pretty fair collection of books (and photos) about the story of first flight, and I have five 1903 Flyers on display around my home, so it's not without pause that I make these claims.
They were from right here in Orville Ohio. We are the birthplace of Aviation
You are indeed :-)
Yeah but kitty hawk is where the first flights took place
To think that Orville was born when Ulysses S. Grant was president of the United States, and lived to see the atomic age is nothing short of incredible.
I know. Humans certainly did advance a lot (technologically I mean) in a very short space of time.
Thanks. Interesting.. Sightings of Aircraft ( Zepplin - like most probably) were printed in papers in the late 1800s on the West Coast of the U.S. April 1895 E.D. Parrott in Washington State supposedly flew in an Powered Aluminum skinned ? AC ( Zepplin ? ) 55 feet in the air once in a large circle. ... never to fly again . I don't know how true these reports are but I find it interesting .
That is indeed interesting. If it's true, I would guess that for some reason those flights didn't fulfil the same criteria as the Wright brothers' flight.
Aviation has opened up the world. With airplanes, one can get almost anywhere on Earth in mere hours. That is the best result of its invention. I haven’t done much traveling, comparatively, but I have been to Europe and Africa, as well as Mexico, none of which could have been accomplished by this girl from the East Coast of the USA without airplanes!
The worst effect of aviation? I’d have to say air pollution, like most other commenters. And, given the events of the past couple of years, we see that an open world can see the rapid spread of disease as well-although the Black Death shows us that aviation has merely sped up such events, not created them.
I think you're much better travelled than you give yourself credit for :-) I totally agree that travel is one of the best results and pollution and the spread of illness are surely the worst.
Great job as always! Have you given thought to doing shows on the signers of the Declaration of Independence for the United States of American?
I have indeed, as I saw the Declaration in the National Archives a few years ago. However my videos on American history don't seem to be doing very well. :-( It's odd, given that I can see from my analytics that a big chunk of my viewers are from the US, but it seems to be English royalty that people want the most.
it was basically a powered kite - the early days of flight discuss "repairs" a fair bit - the video choices are nice - a very pleasant looking video ty
Thank you :-)
@@HistoryCalling - really colourful balloons etc. - colour choice for the photos was very nice - good edit -
Thank you. I thought the balloons were gorgeous too (though I don't think I'd ever be brave enough to go up in one).
@@HistoryCalling - they are safe in the calmest of weather usually - too be honest the little basket does not help the whole idea - I'll pass for now - have a nice evening - 🛸
Yes, it's the basket that puts me off. I don't mind heights as long as I feel very well contained and like I can't fall off, but I don't think I'd have that feeling in a basket somehow.
I can’t imagine the world without aviation. We can travel around the world in hours. The downside is air pollution. I hope someone can come up with a way to fly without leaving a carbon footprint.
Yes, non-polluting planes would be amazing. Fingers crossed they're invented some day!
Let us not forget the New Zealander Richard Pearse who was airborne about 9 months before the Wright bros. Who says kiwis can't fly.
The gliders of 1902 did not reach a height of 600 feet. They covered a distance of 600 feet.
Dayton has a large number of famous inventor types for a town of its size. The Wright Patterson Air Force Museum there is a great place to visit. It's supposed to be the most haunted public venue in the state of Ohio.
Oh wow. Who is supposed to haunt it?
@@HistoryCalling Dead pilots who don't want to leave their planes, POWs whose possessions are on display, the crew of the Lady Be Good that was never found although bits of the plane survived, and of course, the spirits of the little green men from Rozwell who were actually gray, and so forth. I used to work at the museum and kids were always asking about the little green men. We had all kinds of fun with them.
The downside has to be the environmental impact aviation and space travel has had, and is having now, on our planet!! I love the wonderful opportunities being able to travel to other countries - but.....! Thank you as always. X
You're welcome :-) Yes, I think the environmental factors are the big negative too.
I remember as a little kid my Dad telling me a story of how they studied the birds and if they could fly so could we..
And he was right (or should that be Wright!) :-)
Literally every Brazillian: There is another
Please do an Amelia Earhart video! I always like your takes on historical mysteries
I've considered doing on a video on her disappearance before actually, but to be honest, the non-royalty videos I make aren't doing well, so I might have to stop making them :-(
@@HistoryCalling darn, that's too bad. I think that just speaks to how good your royalty videos are tho
There is, however, another possible contender for the first heavier-than-air powered flight: one Gustave Whitehead ( _né_ Weisskopf), a former protegé of the Lilienthals, who was reported in newspapers as making a 1/2 mile flight outside of Bridgeport, CT in the summer of 1901. He also claimed to have made a 1 1/2 mile circular flight over Long Island Sound in 1902.
Unfortunately, Whitehead was apparently never photographed in flight; and in later life, he became very bitter towards the Wrights, accusing them of conspiring with the Smithsonian to suppress any evidence of earlier flights.
Whatever the verdict of history, modern replicas of Whitehead's flyer have shown that it was certainly airworthy...
Yes, other commenters have mentioned Whitehead. It's a fascinating story and to be honest, not one I was aware of. There's no definitive evidence that he beat the Wrights to it though, so I think they'll continue to get the credit. If he really did fly in 1902, I can completely understand his bitterness.
If you do a series dedicated to Aviation could you shine a light on females in aviation? As a female aviation enthusiast I feel like women (besides the story of Amelia Earhart) have been swept under the rug. For example Katherine Wright the sister of the Wright Brothers who was a insanely important part of their work who translated works for her brothers that they could not do themselves. Who went on test flights and managed her brothers as they went on tours around the country. Women like the WASPS (Womens Airforce Service Pilots) who were just as good IF NOT BETTER than the men and many who lost their lives taking risky test flights of new crafts when men wouldn't. You also have the amazing Soviet female squadron of the 558 Night Bomber Regiment who were nicknamed by the German forces "The Night Witches" for their daring and amazing service during WW2.
Women in aviation have a story that I believe should be told. I know many female pilots and as a female and aviation enthusiast myself I'd love to see those stories be told. I believe that you would be amazing at telling those stories if you choose to. Your dedication and intricate and fantastically vetted research and your skill at presentation with your videos and stories would do these women who have so long been overlooked justice in my opinion. < 3
Thank you for watching and for your excellent comments and info. on Katherine Wright. Unfortunately I didn't have space in a single video to cover every angle of the story, but I'm delighted to have your comments (and those of others) highlighting Katherine's contribution to aviation. To answer your question in another comment, I don't know if I'll do an aviation series. To be brutally honest, I need to do videos which attract views (and therefore income) and this one sadly isn't, which is a great shame as I think it's a fascinating story.
If only we could get through the non existent van Allen belt...
Surely we all know Eilmer of Malmesbury was the first plane? ;)
Amazing video as always Ms Calling!
Haha, I wouldn't like to try Malmesbury's approach. I believe he broke his legs on landing. Ouch! :-)
@@HistoryCalling he did! I believe he walked with a limp for the rest of his life, though I believe he wrote that he flew about a furlong, so what, a good 10-15 seconds? I guess if he hadn’t been so busy writing about the kings of England’s deeds, he’d have been able to sell a good pamphlet for dangerous adventures!
I suppose he was lucky he didn't kill himself, but 2 broken legs in an era before painkillers would surely put anyone off trying that again.
@@HistoryCalling oh most certainly. Though he'd have probably had access to herbs used to dull pain.
As a side note, have you ever made it to Malmesbury Abbey? Some beautiful ruins. Not the original abbey, so not the one Elimer would have lived in, but still gorgeous!
Sadly not, though I have done a lot of abbeys in my time and I do love them too.
oh I love this, seems like another world! Modern technology is great all (I suppose! 😁), but with computers and throw away manufacturing, it seems impossible to work on or repair any machine yourself nowadays.
Irrelevant Personal History Calling: The brothers reminds me the bicycle shop as a kid (70’s, East Grinstead, w sussex 👍) Just one man, no counter, you just walked into this amazing workshop full of bikes, parts, machines, with tools scattered about, all smelling of oily rags. I think he resented customers coming in and interrupting his work! I watched an argument he had with a lady because he never accepted cheques - “don’t trust ‘em”, so she couldn’t have her repaired bike back until she got cash, and bank didn’t have cash machine so she’d have to wait till Monday to go into the bank at lunch time, get enough cash out then come all the way back to the high street on a different day, and the bike was her only transport - she was NOT happy. 😱 The things you remember from the good ‘ol days, when everyone getting on and helped each other… 😁
Haha, that's quite funny (though not for her). He was ahead of his time though. You hardly see cheques any more. Mind you, he might not have liked chip and pin cards either.
@@HistoryCalling true, though I think he's like selling on eBay, he'd never be interrupted at work ever again! 😁
And what about Santos Dumont?
A very important contributor to aviation, but not the first to achieve powered, sustained flight in a heavier than air aircraft.
Unfortunately, Brazilian nationalism has led to a bunch of false propaganda put out about the Wrights to try to justify their claim that a Brazilian was first to fly.
They are taught that the Wrights had no witnesses to their flights. Incorrect; there was a US coast Guard observer to the flights, who made an official log of the event, along with other people.
Or they are told that the Wrights made a single flight that had to use a catapult to get airborne, so it wasn't really flying. In fact they made 4 flights on the first day, and the last flight of the day lasted a full minute, which is not just being "thrown" through the air. Besides that argument is ridiculous, as it implies that carrier aircraft don't really fly because they launch with a catapult.
It also ignores the fact, which Brazilians are not taught, that the second Wright Flyer was able to get off the ground in 1904 (before Dumont) without a catapult.
Or they are taught that the Wrights couldn't have been first because they bought their first aircraft engine from Dumont after he flew, which ignores the fact that the Wrights had a written contract with a machinist to produce their first engine block in 1903.
Brazilians are not told that the Wrights had spent years flying gliders in preparation for their first powered flights, or that they created the first wind tunnel to test their designs.
Dumont was indeed an important contributor to the start of aviation, but he was not first, and the people of his homeland either don't bother doing real accurate research or just believe the hogwash that is used to indoctrinate them without question.
The real aviation historians around the world, who have had access to archives, agree that the Wrights were first; only 1 nation out of about 200 tries to seriously dispute that.
The best is easy, made it easy to travel to different parts of the world quickly....The worst, probably the same, it is easy to travel to different parts of the world thereby transmitting disease and war, quickly. There is also the pollution issues.
Yes, I think travel/pollution are the biggies as well.
Very true.
The Smithsonian is contractually forced to tell the Wright’s version of flying. There were multiple previous flights by others. The rigor of proof is poor and there are many doubts about the photograph which was not released for about 3 years.
See documentary Who Flew First
The Smithsonian can tell whatever version it cares to. The contract with the Wright estate pertains only to the loan of the 1903 Flyer for display. I encourage you to research the topic, because the contract is not the nefarious thing you seem to think it is.
@@cardinalRG
I have read the whole contract, it clearly states that to be able to display the Flyer they (Smithsonian) must only tell the Wrights version of history, where they flew first.
@@sailingkarma6772 --And like I said, the Smithsonian is free to promote another version if it wants to. It will lose the right to display the Flyer I, that’s all. There is no “forcing” here, the Smithsonian has freely chosen which version it wants to tell.
@@cardinalRG
Exactly how much revenue and foot traffic do you think the Wright Flyer is directly responsible for?
Like I said they are financially bound to tell their story.
The Smithsonian has compromised their integrity with this agreement, why do you think they fought tooth and nail to keep this contract secret for sooo many years?
@@sailingkarma6772 --I’ve no idea what revenue difference the presence of the Wright Flyer presently makes for the museum, and neither do you. Moreover, the contract was made seventy-five years ago, before the Air & Space museum even existed, so you’d be hard pressed to prove a revenue motive for way back then, when the pivotal decision was made. Also, you’re forgetting that by confessing publicly to its prior, deceptive promotion of Langley’s _aerodrome,_ the museum incurred a meaningful hit to its reputation, so it’s reasonable to suppose that its revenue was put at risk to some degree, because of it. In addition, it’s axiomatic that if the Smithsonian had promoted the primacy of Whitehead instead of the Wrights, then the Whitehead narrative would have some dedicated appeal of its own today, which would naturally account for some dedicated revenue. All in all, your notion that the contract was a cynical move to maximize revenue, is merely guesswork. I mean, can you produce one document, one quote, one statement by anyone at the time, exhibiting that motive? Is anyone on record saying, “We’ll promote the Wrights and marginalize everyone else, just so we can sell more tickets!”
I know this is disputed but Gustave Whitehead is reputed to have made the first powered flights between 1901 & 1902, predating the Wright borthers by 2 - 3 years. The archival film of Whitehead flying in 1902 puts paid to the Wright brothers claim. The Wright brothers also left a huge endowment to the Smithsonian hence the prominent display of their aircraft and their erroneous claim (IMHO) to the first powered flight being pushed to the forefront.
Is there archival film? I know he wrote to Edison to film his flyer; but I have not heard of any reply. If you have a link to any extant footage, please post it.
I'm unaware of any 1902 footage of a Whitehead flight either, but would love to see it too.
Posted additional information above.
Whitehead is interesting but there is no photo or film of any flying he did. Yes, the Wrights have been promoted by the Smithsonian because their holding of the Wright Flyer is dependent of them not questioning the Wrights being the first flyers.
Let's be honest, after the Curtis/great aerodrome debacle withe Smithsonian, they kind of had egg on thier face. It was not for not that they made the Wright deal. As to Witehead's claim, his propellor design was very much lacking.
There are some ignorant people who actually call actual history of first flight s non fact in NC. They are from Alabama probably. First flight is not paranoia. Lol.....
According to Wikipedia: "In 1906, the Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont made what was claimed to be the first airplane flight unassisted by catapult[25] and set the first world record recognized by the Aéro-Club de France by flying 220 meters (720 ft) in less than 22 seconds.[26] This flight was also certified by the FAI.[27][28]"
An airplane unable to take off by itself is a motorized glider not an airplane. Sorry, Wright Brothers ...
You're misinformed. The 1903 Wright Flyer did not use a catapult. Their follow-on models did not require catapults, that was merely the Wrights' preferred method of takeoff. I encourage you to do some genuine research.
This was disproved in the 1908 flight in france when they took off without the catapult to prove that model was very capable without it. This is not a very convincing argument since the catapult cannot keep the aircraft in the air. Today modern jet fighters, like the F/A 18 takes off with the assist of a catapult. No one would argue that the catapult keeps the jet in the air.
The newspaper reported that on August 14, 1901 Gustav Weisskopf flew his "No.21" monoplane to a height of 50 ft