Cecil, I recall visiting a museum in Bridgeport, CT which claimed that a local resident built and flew an airplane in 1901. Any word as to the credibility of that claim?
A link to the column is appreciated. It’s this one: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/080808.html
Since the question was who was first in powered flight, it would have to be Santos-Dumont. Dumont is credited with the first controlled, powered flight. In 1901, he flew a dirigible around a pre-defined course that included the Eiffel Tower. For his efforts, Dumont was awarded the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize.
18 October 1903: August Greth flew from San Francisco in an airship named the “California Eagle.” This was featured in an article in Scientific American of 7 November 1903.
He beat the Wright Brothers by two months.
For a photo & more info, see:
http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/contest_128_results.html
Or–main link:Forensic Genealogy Book Homepage
go to “Photo Quiz” on right, & scroll down to #128 (The Greth Airship).
Susan Fortune
Southern California
Cecil doesn’t even mention Gustave_Whitehead?
I’ve been to the Whitehead exhibit at that museum* and while it’s a nice little display of local history I found it entirely unconvincing as a demonstration of first flight.
The Wiki article gives the objections. No photos, “eyewitness” accounts dating from 30 or more years later, no repeat flights, and a suspect design.
Santos-Dumont, while his career is fascinating, is not in the contest since the qualification is always for “heavier-than-air” controlled flight, not merely powered flight.
*Although it’s not in Bridgeport, but one of the little towns along I95 into NYC.
Hi Cecil-
Almost correct! The Wright brothers flight attempts all took place on the dunes of Kill Devil Hills, adjacent to Kitty Hawk and site of the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Kitty Hawk was the location of the post office the brothers used to send messages to their father on their progress. You couldn’t possibly berate me for correcting such an egregious mistake, could you? Facts are facts…
-NagsYourHead
Welcome to the Straight Dope, Nags!
When posting a comment on one of Cecil’s columns, it is customary to include a link to the original column. I believe you are referring to this one:
The Wright stuff? Who had the world’s first powered air flight?
Thanks for your input, and we hope you stick around!
I’ve merged this thread with a pre-existing one that discusses the same column.
Gfactor
Moderator
As my Teemings article “First Flights”* pointed out, (and Cecil says), Stringfellow did indeed successfully fly an unmanned steam-powered airplane of surprisingly modern design fifty years before the Wright Brothers. Obviously uncontrolled (and i can’t believe he never came up with a tail to give side-to-side stability. You’d think that a ship’s rudder would immediately suggest it.)
http://www.straightdope.com/teemings/issue15/calmeacham.html
But, as I point out at the end, there were heavier-than-air flights by helicopter-like devices even earlier:
By the way, regarding Gustave Whitehead, I can’t find the site now, but someone duplicated his device and successfully flew it a few years ago. Here’s a reference to it:
http://airsports.fai.org/jun98/jun9805.html
The original site had pictures of the device in flight.
It does prove that Whitehead flew first, but it certainly makes it plausible. (Of course, Curtiss was able to fly the Langley Aerodrome, too, after he rebuilt it and made some changes. I don’t know how faithful the Whitehead reconstruction was.)
*Heyyyyyyyyy! – the title’s the same!
Thanks for the wikipedia link to Whitehead - I forgot the name, so I didn’t do a very good job of looking up the details.
Here are some photos of the Whitehead replica in flight:
Sure, it’d work if you stretched the CG out further forward, as is shown in the 3/4 view photo vs the in-flight photo (did they use two aircraft, one conforming to Whitehead’s design vs one that would work?), but I’m kinda iffy about it being based on his planview.
However, there was a ferment in the air and the first ones to truly harness it we the winners. For my money that was Orville and Wilbur.
And if you know you have twins coming, just try to convince your wife to name then Orville and Wilbur. It’s best I had daughters.
Cecil makes an offhand comment about how the Wright’s behavior during the patent fight made them appear pretty unsympathetic. I thought that the major focus of the patent fight was the claim that the Langley Aerodrome flew first, bolstered by such evidence as the flights by Curtis’ reworked Aerodrome, all funded by the Federal gov’t via the Smithsonian. It’s hard to imagine anyone dealing with this kind of chicanery not exhibiting at least some bitterness. Esp. when it seemed that the motives of the people backing the fraud were just as mercenary.
Was there more to the Wright Brothers’ unsympathetic behavior than justifiable anger and frustration?