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To: servo1969

Powered flight is not controlled flight. The Wright Bros. were the first to achieve controlled flight with “wing warping,” the precursors to ailerons.


17 posted on 06/05/2013 10:25:58 AM PDT by Excellence (9/11 was an act of faith.)
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To: Excellence
Powered flight is not controlled flight. The Wright Bros. were the first to achieve controlled flight with “wing warping,” the precursors to ailerons.

Not just controlled flight, but sustained flight. The most historically significant happening in the field of flight was the development of a heavier-than-air craft whose airborne range was for all practical purposes limited only by fuel capacity. The Wright Brothers' first powered flight would not have been historically significant but for the fact that it paved the way for sustained flight. Even if someone else could fly with some degree of control before the Wright Brothers did so, such ability would be historically insignificant if they didn't develop the ability to fly for miles at a stretch.

103 posted on 06/05/2013 3:36:50 PM PDT by supercat (Renounce Covetousness.)
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To: Excellence

Correct. Lots of people got contraptions into the air, the Wright Brothers were light-years ahead of everyone in controlled flight. The Wright Brothers airfoil wings and wing warping with the rudder control to prevent skidding were the decisive inventions that made aviation practical.


137 posted on 06/06/2013 9:51:24 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Doing the same thing and expecting different results is called software engineering.)
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