Orville and Wilbur

[Beefitarian]

Flew their first powered flight one hundred and ten years ago. It may have been the first powered flight by humans. Start the debate!

[Masters Off]

Not nearly as monumental as when the first glider flew. They flew theirs, what, a few years before the wright flyer? So what if it had whipper sniper engines attached...it didn't go much further.

Wrong date to be focusing on...just sayin. All power flying got us was a race to the bottom, and grumpy passengers. I don't know many guys/gals that go soaring for work...so that's what I celebrate...

[Beefitarian]

Ok. Masters Off is grumpy. That's ok, let's help him get through his blue tuesday. Gliding is cool but today is an anniversary.

I think the golden age of flight may have happened sometime after December 17th 1903 but I tend to mix things up a bunch these days so...

Anyone want to tell us a story about visiting kitty hawk? They seem to have a neat monument. I personally like to discuss and read about any pilot's adventures. Flew an ultralight one circuit from a farm? Do tell.

[iflyforpie]

If Master's Off knew that the tow pilot with a CPL here took a whole summer with no pay to not even get 100 hours in.... all enabled by a bunch of millionaires and trust-fund children with quarter million dollar + gliders... he might re-think where the bottom is in this industry.

[iflyforpie]

As to the original post. Yep, Dec 17, 1903. The first flight wasn't spectacular, but the last flight of the day certainly was. The first powered, controlled, flight that ended at a place as high as it started and did not lose airspeed.

Oh, and I guess since it is the anniversary of powered flight... I've had my CPL for ten years now.

[Beefitarian]

That's not helping pie. He wanted to have fun gliding not be reminded the tow pilot might be asking for spare change.

Bad!

[Shiny Side Up]

Bit of Trivia: Wilbur and Orville were issued pilot's license numbers 4 and 5. Who had number 1 and why?

[iflyforpie]

Glenn Curtiss I believe. Orville and Wilbur did not have a fancy club for their aeronautical exploits, and their desire for secrecy and their litigious nature made them relative latecomers to organized aviation.

[5x5]

As well, remember all the powered flight folks that only fly for fun. Not everyone works in aviation, but this forum is predominately used by people that do work in the industry.

And lots of us do both - so celebration it is.

[Maynard]

I didn't know that Powered Flight only applied to Passenger jet/prop flying, Masters OFF. I guess you learn something new everyday.

[Shiny Side Up]

Glenn Curtiss I believe. Orville and Wilbur did not have a fancy club for their aeronautical exploits, and their desire for secrecy and their litigious nature made them relative latecomers to organized aviation.

Actually its of a more banal bureaucratic nature than that, indicating that aviation has been plagued from day one. The first licenses issued, were issued in alphabetical order.

Hey, does this sound familiar?

The ACA was also notorious for the inflexibility of its licensing process, which prescribed, among other items, a letter of application, a photograph of a candidate, appointment of an ACA examiner, and his report of examination, all of which had to be submitted in the correct form and sequence for a license to be issued, whether the candidate passed the flight test or not.

From the Aero Club of America Wiki page.

This idea for a license format look familiar?



Only took TC a hundred years to come around.

[Nark]

Beef,

Ask and you shall receive:


This is me recreating the first powered flight:

[Beefitarian]

Ok shiny gets second place for pilot's license injustice talk. Nark wins the thread. Happy anniversary everyone!

Shortly after a large enough lotto score by me, Nark is going for BBQ in a few southern cities then coffee and beignets in the big easy. http://www.cafedumonde.com/

[goldeneagle]

Glenn Curtiss I believe. Orville and Wilbur did not have a fancy club for their aeronautical exploits, and their desire for secrecy and their litigious nature made them relative latecomers to organized aviation.

Orville and Wilbur were well justified in thier litigations.

The smithsonian put Langley's Aerodrome (which never flew, only crashed, until years later when curtiss fixed it) on display for many many years as the first powered aircraft cable of flight. How did this come about, just check history. Langley was the administrator of the museum, and was bound and determined that he would not be upstaged by a couple of backwoods hicks that actually accomplished the feat at which he failed so miserabley, reference the aircraft dumped into the Potomac.

The Wrights ran into similar obastacles at the patent office, again, mostly because they were not part of the academic 'in' crowd, and there was significant resentment toward a couple of backwoods hicks that actually got an aircraft to fly. Lucky for them, the day it happened, they had a photographer on site, with impeccable credentials (us military), so the photograph provided indisputable evidence. Were it not for that photograph, Orville and Wilbur would only have ever been a footnote in the history books.

Pop quiz question. What was the part of the wright flyer that Curtiss applied to the aerodrome, to make it capable of flight ?

And the answer is, the propeller design. Wing warping for control is the invention most credited to the Wright brothers, but, in reality, it was thier twisted propeller design that made powered flight possible. They invented the first semi-efficient propeller, which allowed enough thrust to be generated, to actually get the Wright Flyer going. It's the most significant, and most overlooked detail of what they accomplished. They were the first to apply wing sections to the propeller, and twist it to give relatively constant angle of attack over the circumference of the blade.

[flatface]

Deleted

[xchox]

*starts making the popcorn*

[black hole]

To all: a Book;" The bishop' boys." Tells all, A good read, Check it out.!!??

BH

[CID]

The Wright brothers certainly were a significant part of aviation history but the focus isn't nearly broad enough. Americans are very good at promoting themselves while ignoring the achievements of others. I visited the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and found their "Milestones of Flight" to be VERY Ameri-centric. Absolutely no mention of non-American achievements or contributions.

But that's pretty typical of the culture down there.

[TheFrankestFrank]

I heard Orville eventually had to lay Wilbur off to cut down on costs.