100th anniversary of First Flight

“tomorrow (Dec 17th) at 10:35am, marks the 100th anniversary of the first time that the human race flew with a motor. Orville and Wilbur did it then, and there will be a major celebration at Kitty Hawk in honor of that momentous occasion, including a reenactment of the 1903 Wright Flyer. This will all be covered on C-Span. 9:30am eastern time.

there are no guarantees that the 03 flyer will fly, but they are gonna try.”

“Maybe the replica Wright Flyer will just bounce along the ground sorta like your canoe.”

“Oh, that was vicious.”

“Cool!

I'll have to fly some paper airplanes at work tommorrow.”

“Funny we don't read about it in US textbooks, but many consider Brazillian Alberto Santos-Dumont to be the true father of aviation. If you've ever been to Kitty Hawk and seen where the Wright Brothers flew from, you have to concede that Santos-Dumont boosters have a point.”

“cool I did know 100th for flight was this year too :-)
2003 has been a significant year of anniversary's for a few other American icons too....
100th Harley Davidson
100th New York Yankees
50th of Corvette
and if want to put in,
100th of Tour De France”

“"Funny we don't read about it in US textbooks"

its a vast right-wing (no pun intended) conspiracy”

“Sorry guys, I read somewhere that it was some Kiwis from New Zealand that had the "1st flight" in aviation history. I think they beat the Kitty Hawk by a couple of months or weeks.”

“They don't read about the Wright Bros. in Brazilian text books either.”

“those brazilians. theyre nuts (ok, pun intended this time)”

“Buddur....I would disagree....without going into an extended dissertation or debate....they didn't fly it first in Ohio....

ChuckD.....nice work dude...your commentary is A+....”

“First "contolled" flight, then.”

“"controlled", that is...”

“You guys crack me up....lame attempts to "google-ize" a topic and then pretend to really know something....there were many attempts at flight with and without mechanized propulsion prior to and after the Wright Brothers....

Try reading a book called Kill Devil Hill....a true account of the history behind flight.....”

“"lame attempts to "google-ize" a topic and then pretend to really know something"

Our specialty!”

“Why think when the Internet's right there to do it for you?”

“There was a special last week on the History Channel. Some guys were trying to follow the steps of the Wright Bros. They built the glider and were having military pilots try to fly it. They were planning to eventually finish building and try to fly the 1903 flyer but I fell asleep. It's amazing that those guys pulled flight off considering what they were using.”

“Actually I'd never heard of Santos-Dumont until this morning's story on NPR.

What the heck is "true history"?”

“that figured out the 3 necessary mathematical equations needed for flight. NO one else did it first, no one else did it second. They did it, and no one else...even Octave Chanute and the morons from the Smithsonian failed in comparrison to what the Wrights did.

I can see fuking around with many things...but why monkey around with the single most important discovery in the history of man? No one flew a controlled motorized flight before the Wrights, not the kiwis, not the Brizilians, not the French.

There are SOME subjects that I take VERY seriously...the Wright brothers and their accomplishments are one of them. Now put up your dukes, cause, I'm gonna punch you in your nose.”

“dontcha know, everything on the internet is true”

“Get this ---- According to my "C-SPAN Daily Alert" email, Bush will be there at 9:30 AM EST to try and glom onto the 'aerial festivities'. What a bozo.


BTW, Lance Armstrong will be speaking live at the National Press Club at 1:00 PM EST on C-SPAN2.”

“Buddur....I would disagree....without going into an extended dissertation or debate....they didn't fly it first in Ohio....
stratusloop
03:52:52 PM
12/16/03

OK then, will you please divulge in abstract form the Wright brothers affilliation with Ohio.”

“What about the Whitehead dude I heard on NPR this morning? Apparently people are arguing that he doesn't get enough credit. Don't know anything about this, but I am from the Dayton area so I want it to be the Wright brothers... and! I think North Carolina should get rid of that damn license plate!”

“The Wrights were Dayton residents. They ran newspapers and a bicycle shop and did work for thier father, who was a major leader in the Church of the United Bretheren in Christ.

They were also very good friends with Paul Lawrence Dunbar, a very famous black man, who was a renaisance man of the times. Dayton was where their "shop" and labratory and homes were...Kitty Hawk was a place that they sought after because of the constant high winds. The Weather service recommended it, they went there year after year and tested gliders that were researched and designed and built in Dayton and shipped later to Kitty Hawk during the windy season to do test flights. Kitty Hawk was a perfect place due to its isolation from humanity, as flight was a race that was being competed in by many factions. Stratusloop recommends a very good book, but, my favorite that I have read is "The Bishop's Boys" by Tom Crouch. Crouch is the Chairman of Aeronautics at the National Air & Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

Forget what propganda is saying...HISTORY has recorded and has SHOWN that the Wrights were the first humans to fly a motorized flying machine, and control that flight. Even prior to the motor, they were the first to glide under control. their were other gliders that flew, but the Wrights were the first to control that glide. nuff said.

Watch the story unfold again tomorrow...I can't wait!!!”

“why are those OHioans always so bent out of shape about North
Carolina? <GRIN>”

“Stikmon...thanks (stik)mon!”

“Santos-Dumont wasn't before the Wrights. He flew in 1906. However, he flew in still air, not into the strong headwinds of the Outer Banks.

The museum in Kitty Hawk is worth visiting. They have pages (copies?) out of their diaries on display. They're really quite inspiring. They felt they were on some sort of divine mission.

Santos-Dumont killed himself after aircraft were used to bomb people.”

“

"By our skill and daring, America has excelled in every area of aviation and space travel. And our national commitment remains firm: By our skill and daring, we will continue to lead the world in flight."

-- Bush's comments moments before the replica craft couldn't lift off the ground, dropped off the end of the wooden track and spluttered into a mud puddle”

“Yeah, what a smashing success that was. LOL!”

“I can't wait to see what Jon Stewart does with that footage.”

“Like I was telling my dad today at lunch, I'm thinking that if the Wrights were still around they'd be saying something like "Ya know, you guys got these jet airplanes that carry hundreds of people and rockets that carry stuff to other planets, why are you bothering with trying to rebuild our glorified box kite? To prove it can be done? Hell, we did that already!"”

“you go over the cliff FIRST...that will be MY reenactment of "first flight"...hahaha...LOL...

to say that I'm disappointed is an understatment, I had a 3rd grade class doing all sorts of lessons and stuff leading up to this event. They have all learned some really cool stuff and went to the local airport for a field trip today, so, it wasn't a total loss, but, man, I really wanted to see it fly today. Tune into the History channel tonight at 7 central time (8 eastern) to watch the show..."the Wright Challenge" very cool show which should have lead up to the reenactment today...oh well..so it goes...thank god the flew when they did.”

“Stikky, you might want to dig up the episode of "Mega Junkyard Wars" where three teams of guys built three airplanes out of junk in 22 hours, and show that to your third graders...Same concept, just with better design.”

“Wasn't their bicycle shop in Ohio, but the first flight took place in NC? Those darned Ohioans...”

“and remember, they built their gliders and planes in Dayton, then had them shipped to Kitty Hawk. There were NO roads that led to Kitty Hawk, they took train, then boat to get there. And when the propellar broke, they had to go back to Dayton to build a new one. It was a major undertaking and the process is more amazing then the actual flight.”

“yeah, i had all the stuff beat into my head - spent 18 years in the Dayton area. Fields trips galore to Carillon park and the old bicycle shop renactment. I even have been to their original home in Greenfield Village at Henry Ford's museum in Michigan. Very cool. What was the field that they practiced flying on in Dayton? Harriman field? Harman Field? dam!”

“I just heard about Santos Dumont last night on TV. Sounds like he came a few years short.

The first flight re-enactment did the same thing the Wrights did on their first try, so it was historically accurate.

Air Force One dipped its wing as it flew over Kitty Hawk to take the president back home. Nice gesture!”

“this was a cool day...

Smokygirl...huffman praire. After 03, they never returned to Kitty Hawk. They did all their flying and developments out of Dayton and the Praire. I was there 2 years ago...I could still feel the magic...or maybe it was your aura that remained behind.”

“...for picking up the slack...as you know I had a funeral to attend to yesterday and had no time to fiddle with internet banter...

Buddur...no personal offense dude....hopefully Stikmon's explanation will suffice in his 100 words or less composition....

To all....Stikmon & the loop family attended a lecture in the Outer Banks this past summer that covered this very topic: The Wright Brothers Inaugural Flight....and actually is was more of an exercise in decoding a historical photograph....and it was rather interesting to say the least...if at all your familar with the Wright Brothers...you'll have seen or know of the photo in question...so in your spare time...take a close look at this photo for it tells many stories for such a simple shot...have fun!


http://www.killdevilhills.com/graphics/wright/2a13.jpg

In Memory of Otto Lilienthal....a wonderful German visionary who was one the prime catalyst in igniting the Wright's desire to fly!”

“langley was a giant jack@ss! spent over $70,000 of government money and FAILED to accomplish anything except killing his pilot. The Wrights spent less then $2500 (of thier own funds) in 4 years of experimenting and succeded where everyone else failed, and didn't kill anyone till much later on. The Smithsonian refused to acknowledge the accomplishments of the Wrights till MUCH later on...bunch of stupid government lackies RULED the air. When they finally were granted their patents, they RIPPED the competition a new anus and burried the French and Brizilian's.

The Wrights, and only the Wrights discovered the secrets to Flight.”

“The story of the Wright Brothers and what they did is really quite amazing. Much of what they did and their wind-tunnel testing methods are still taught today.”

“Huffman Prairie!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!”

“is there ANYTHING else that I can be of assistance with?????hmmmmmmmm”

“Yesterday's Virginian-Pilot corrected the many inaccuracies from their first flight story - 100 years late!”

“The corrections:

Orville Wright was the pilot for the first flight of the Wright Flyer. It was not Wilbur, whose name is not spelled Wilber.

The plane’s wing span was 40 feet, 4 inches. The wings were 6 feet 2 inches apart vertically and 6 feet, 6 inches from front to rear. They were covered in muslin, not canvas.

The engine rested on top of the lower wing. It did not hang below it.

The propellers had two blades each, not six. They both were mounted on the rear side of the wings. There was no propeller providing upward force.

Rudders in the front and rear and warping of the wings controlled the plane. There was not a single, huge fan-shaped rudder that could be moved side to side and raised and lowered.

The pilot lay prone on the lower wing. There was no pilot’s car.

The Wrights have always said they were equal inventors of the machine. Wilbur never took credit as the chief inventor. The brothers had no plans to build a much larger machine and never did.

Their success came after four years of work, not three.

They took one trip to the Outer Banks in the summer and two trips in the fall prior to 1903. They did not spend almost the entire winter, fall and early spring on the Outer Banks for three years.

They arrived on Sept. 26 in 1903, not on Sept. 1.

The plane took off under its own power after traveling 40 feet down a rail on flat land. It was not sent down a slope after Orville Wright released a catch. The engine was started before takeoff. It was not started after the plane had rolled halfway down a 100-foot hill.

The plane flew 120 feet, 8 to 10 feet off the ground in a straight line on the first of four flights. It did not soar 60 feet in the air. It did not circle and fly 3 miles over breakers and dunes. It did not tack to port, then to starboard.

The plane’s ground speed was 8 to 10 mph. Its air speed was 30 to 35 mph. It did not fly at 8 mph.

The plane hit the ground nose-first after its fourth flight, damaging the front rudder mechanism, and was later destroyed by a gust of wind. It did not descend gracefully and rest lightly at a spot chosen by the aviator after one attempt.

Five onlookers helped the brothers and watched the flights. A small crowd did not run after the plane and give up after it outpaced them.

The flight took place at the foot of Kill Devil Hill. Orville Wright did not declare the flight a success before a crowd on the beach after the first mile. The flights were not on the beach.

Wilbur Wright was 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds. His eyes were blue-gray and his hair dark brown. He was not 5 feet 6 inches tall and did not weigh 150 pounds. He did not have raven-hued hair. His eyes were not deep blue.

Orville Wright was 5 feet 8 inches tall and had blue-gray eyes and dark brown hair. He did not have black eyes. He did not have sandy blond hair.”

“I was at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Museum last May and flew in their Wright Flyer simulator. You had to move your hips just like on the original flyer. It was sooooooo unstable. After my flight (in which I crashed of course) the attendant said I did way above average. Cool!”

“Phil...you do man!!! That must have been so neat to do.

Violin...you're weirder than I am...and that's hard to beat.”