Free Republic

For centuries, humans have been fascinated by flight. In ancient China, kites few to investigate the weather. Inventors such as Leonardo da Vinci developed many ideas about flight, too. Gliders and balloons lifted humans into the sky, but none of the inventions gave a person control of where they flew. Before Powered Flight The physics of flight and propulsion play key roles in who became pioneers. George Cayley used aerodynamics while designing fixed-wing aircraft. His designs would later inspire Orville and Wilbur Wright. Since propulsion is one of the primary requirements to lift a human into the sky for flight,...

Wednesday, Dec. 17, is the centennial of the Wright Brothers' flight over the dunes near Kitty Hawk, N.C. Tributes are appearing everywhere, and understandably so: It is one of the great achievements of modern history. The Smithsonian Institution, home of the brothers' 1903 Flyer, is celebrating the milestone with an elaborate Web presentation of the Wright Brothers' story and the grand opening of its much touted new branch of the Air and Space Museum. But the Smithsonian's tribute is really an act of audacity, considering that, beginning in 1914, the museum waged a 28-year campaign to rob the Wright Brothers...