debor008

..."Was the first Wright flight of December 17, 1903 (120 feet) sustained? Probably not...." -- Tom Crouch  Were the Wright brothers the first to fly as we've been taught in our  public schools? Orville Wright claimed that they made four actual flights on December 17, 1903, at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On December 14 Wilbur failed in the first attempt to fly  He had won the coin toss for the first trial but he quickly lost control of the plane and it crashed. After repairing the plane, they decided to try again on the cold, windy day of December 17. Since Wilbur got the first shot on the 14th, it was Orville's turn to try first. These are the flights he claimed they made: 1. Orville-- estimated 120 feet (100 feet beyond the track)--12 seconds 2. Wilbur--estimated 175 feet--13 seconds 3. Orville--estimated 200 feet--15 seconds 4. Wilbur --measured 852 feet--59 seconds But did they really fly? Below is the opinion of Tom Crouch, Senior Curator o...

We are taught in our history books that the Wright Brothers were the first to fly on December 17, 1903. The narrations about that day usually begin dramatically, something like this: "On a cold, windy day near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers lifted off the sand in their small plane and became the first in the history of mankind to fly." Obviously there were manned flights before that in balloons, kites, and gliders. Man even made powered flights. So the definition of what the Wrights claimed that day was changed to be more precise: the Wrights were "the first to make a manned, powered, controlled, sustained flight in a heavier than air machine." But we're looking for truth in aviation history. How do we know the Wrights actually flew that day? Well, there were witnesses who were there, five of them. They were three life guards, John Daniels, Adam Etheridge, and Willie Dough, W.C.Brinkley, a farmer who was said to be beach combing, and Johnny Moor...