One hundred and six years ago today, man achieved controlled powered flight. The two bicycle mechanics pushed their ideas in the air and a new age for man was born.
Their first flights were really short, and at first read don't seem like much. Twelve seconds? Alert the Media? But try to jump up in the air and stay up longer than a split second. Yeah. Doesn't work.
It is hard to believe that in under 100 years we went from Kitty Hawk to the moon. And now, a little over 100 years after the first flight, we can travel in space and glide back down. Did you realize that the space shuttle is simply a glider?
Thank you Wilbur and Orville for being persistent. Thank you for all of those who came after them to build on their ideas and designs.
4 comments:
We took our kids to the air and space museum this summer and they LOVED the Wright Brothers' exhibit. At the exhibit there's a life-sized photograph of them on the porch of their house, so the whole gang of us stood around them and I took a photo; it's one of my favourite ones of the whole trip LOL.
Here's to creativity and a sense of adventure!
WOOT!!! Back at ya. Boy we have come a long way baby. I missed my calling in life. I should have been an astronaut or an airline pilot. I've always been fascinated with it. Thanks for sharing this. Did you see the test flight for the new Boeing 787? It's made of reusable material. Some kind of plastic. It's just awesome :)
Susan, we love it there too -- and even more so at the Udvar-Hazy annex here near Dulles Airport. It's 5 minutes from our house. They have a shuttle in there! Way cool! Have you take the kids to Duxford? http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/
Thom -- my husband says flying passengers around is like driving a bus (he has the fighter pilot's disdain for cargo haulers) -- so you're in the right seat after all!
Twelve seconds that changed the world.
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