.....from the Wright brother's first flight, to sending a man to the moon. Isn't that the most incredible statistic you've ever heard? Man has been around for millennia! It took all that time to get us to the point were we could fly, and just another 66 years took us off planet, past the atmosphere and to the moon. We could never have done it without the Wright brothers.
I'm a day late to send my nod of recognition, but it's too important a date to let it slide by unacknowledged. I wish I could have been among the people watching the attempt to recreate the flight in North Carolina.
The Experimental Aircraft Association (eaa.org) commissioned the construction of an exact replica of the Wright brothers' original flyer. A group called the Wright Experience has been recreating the original Wright Fliers, and WGBH of Boston, a PBS station, filmed the work.
The documentary, which was shown on November 11, 2003, provided insight into the details the Wright brothers had to work out before they could try their plane at Kitty Hawk. The video of the program is available for sale, but you can also see a slide presentation on the replicas at this site.
Did you know that the Wrights determined how to create a propeller that gave them an efficiency rate of 80 percent? It can convert 80 percent of an aircraft's engine power into useful thrust. Despite all the innovations in aviation since the Wrights, today's propellers have efficiency rates of about 85 percent. The Wright's design was remarkably advanced.
You can learn other fascinating details about the Fliers, so go visit.
And....Congratulations Wilber and Orville! You flew us right into the 20th century and beyond!
Comments (1)
...and following on from your extrapolation - we landed on mars in 1987 - left out solar system in 1995 - and in 2001 we launched a spaceship driven by a computer called hal...you *are* mr.a.c.clarke and I claim my $10 :^)...
Posted by billy | December 19, 2003 5:27 AM
Posted on December 19, 2003 05:27