December 17,1903

by Bryan

7 comments

1 Steve Bates { 12.17.06 at 4:09 am }

What a magnificent craft, not just from an engineering standpoint but as a visual work of art. I stood underneath the Wright flyer in the National Air and Space Museum (how much of it is original and how much is a reconstruction I am not certain) for literally an hour, taking possibly fifty photos from many different angles… and that was back in my pre-digital days, when film cost money.

I believe it was for the centennial that Smithsonian magazine devoted an issue to the history of the entire process, both the Wrights’ ultimately successful efforts and those of some of their better-funded competitors. Those must have been grand days to be alive and to be interested in flight… if you didn’t mind broken bones or worse when your calculations weren’t quite right.

2 jamsodonnell { 12.17.06 at 11:11 am }

It is astonishing to see how far technology has come. It would ahve been possible to have known both Orville Wright and Neil Armstrong.

3 Bryan { 12.17.06 at 11:53 am }

One one of the things that gets missed is that the Wrights weren’t “tinkerers”, they designed their aircraft, they worked out the principles and designed the aircraft around the materials they had available. They also did a lot of testing to reduce the risk. When they went to North Carolina they knew that their aircraft would fly because their numbers said it would.

Jams, my maternal grandfather learned to be a wheelwright as an apprentice. He built wooden wagon wheels from scratch. He was born on a farm with kerosene lamps and horses provided transportation away from the steam powered locomotives. Teams of mules or horses pulled barges along the canals.

He saw the first cars, the first airplanes, the first electric lights, radio, television, movies, and a man land on the surface of the moon.

He also lived through two world wars and the Depression.

The advances in the 20th century were amazing.

4 Mustang Bobby { 12.18.06 at 10:08 am }

Jams, my maternal grandmother was born ten months before the Wright brothers flew that plane, and she lived long enough to take a crack at surfing the internet.

PS: The Wright brothers and Neil Armstrong both grew up in my home state of Ohio, and in towns within fifty miles of each other.

5 jamsodonnell { 12.18.06 at 12:47 pm }

That is amazing Bobby.I did meet Neil Armstrong in 1989 – he had come to Scotland for a golfing holiday. He was one of the few people I’ve met I’ve felt genuinely in awe of.

6 Karen { 12.18.06 at 7:14 pm }

I’ve been there and they have a FAB museum and short movie about the first flight efforts. Love the pic!

🙂

7 Bryan { 12.18.06 at 8:02 pm }

I assure you I didn’t take it. It’s either Library of Congress or Smithsonian Air & Space.