3 ms·

If I remember correctly the Wright Brothers were secretive. They were trying to perfect the Flyer to get a military contract and didn't want to publicize the a

If I remember correctly the Wright Brothers were secretive. They were trying to perfect the Flyer to get a military contract and didn't want to publicize the advances they were making. They didn't invite anyone to see the initial test flights. At the time, the French were getting much more/better press for doing less. Without the press reports no one believed they were actually flying. Wilbur and Orville Wright made their historic first powered flight on December 17, 1903, from Kill Devil Hill in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The longest of four flights that day lasted 59 seconds and covered a distance of 852 feet. There were few witnesses to the flights and no reporters http://www.wifcon.com/anal/analwright.htm http://www.wifcon.com/anal/analwright.htm

restalis 10y ago
"the Wright Brothers were secretive. They were trying to perfect the Flyer to get a military contract and didn't want to publicize the advances they were making" This alone makes one wonder if they deserve the recognition they get. Many people made great personal sacrifices to publicly make a point related to flight or something else. Whereas the Wright brothers played their secret mission game, Traian Vuia carried his plane all over the Europe from Lugoj to Paris (using the transport infrastructure of that time, mind you) only to publicly show and test it. That obviously happened long after the incremental development of the plane itself, considering the repeated postpones due to financial constraints (as all the required expenses were pretty much his own).
aidos 10y ago
There's a Kiwi inventor most people never heard of called Richard Pearse who was also working on flight (along with people all over the world, I'm sure). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse >> It is claimed Pearse flew and landed a powered heavier-than-air machine on 31 March 1903, some nine months before the Wright brothers flew their aircraft. The documentary evidence to support such a claim remains open to interpretation, and Pearse did not develop his aircraft to the same degree as the Wright brothers, who achieved sustained controlled flight. Pearse himself never made such claims, and in an interview he gave to the Timaru Post in 1909 only claimed he did not "attempt anything practical ... until 1904".
marcosdumay 10y ago
A few months before that "very very very very far future" quote, Santos Dumont had already flied around the Eiffel tower. That was anything but secretive. People just do not notice things. If you want, try asking some non geek if people ever landed a robot on a comet or asteroid.

restalis 10y ago

"the Wright Brothers were secretive. They were trying to perfect the Flyer to get a military contract and didn't want to publicize the advances they were making" This alone makes one wonder if they deserve the recognition they get. Many people made great personal sacrifices to publicly make a point related to flight or something else. Whereas the Wright brothers played their secret mission game, Traian Vuia carried his plane all over the Europe from Lugoj to Paris (using the transport infrastructure of that time, mind you) only to publicly show and test it. That obviously happened long after the incremental development of the plane itself, considering the repeated postpones due to financial constraints (as all the required expenses were pretty much his own).

aidos 10y ago

There's a Kiwi inventor most people never heard of called Richard Pearse who was also working on flight (along with people all over the world, I'm sure). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse >> It is claimed Pearse flew and landed a powered heavier-than-air machine on 31 March 1903, some nine months before the Wright brothers flew their aircraft. The documentary evidence to support such a claim remains open to interpretation, and Pearse did not develop his aircraft to the same degree as the Wright brothers, who achieved sustained controlled flight. Pearse himself never made such claims, and in an interview he gave to the Timaru Post in 1909 only claimed he did not "attempt anything practical ... until 1904".

marcosdumay 10y ago

A few months before that "very very very very far future" quote, Santos Dumont had already flied around the Eiffel tower. That was anything but secretive. People just do not notice things. If you want, try asking some non geek if people ever landed a robot on a comet or asteroid.