[huskerlug] Re: Thoughts on the Wright Brothers and Desktops

On Monday 22 September 2003 04:49 pm, you wrote:
> The only problem with all this speculation about the
> invention of the aeroplane being solely in the hands
> of a couple of bicycle mechanics is that the proof
> lies in the hands of the curators of the Smithsonian
> Museum, in exchange for getting the entire works, of
> the family, to not be disclosed until 100 years after
> the death of the currently surviving members...
>
> Orville and Wilbur bought the aeroplane from a
> successful inventor/farmer, in Ohio... who had made
> many witnessed successful flights...

And here is another one of many examples of hopping, jumping,=20
flopping and other motions of devices built by folks who had=20
no real idea of what they were doing and no real chance of=20
sucess.
http://hnn.us/comments/5392.html
"He called it the Ezekiel Air Ship, because he was inspired=20
to build it from the writings of the Biblical prophet,=20
Ezekiel. The air ship flew only that one time, was destroyed=20
in a wind storm, and there is no documented evidence of the=20
flight,"

Here are some valid examples of non-powered flight.
http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/history1b.htm

"Cayley's First Airplane (England)
Sir George Cayley is known as the "Father of Aerial=20
Navigation." In 1799 he designed the first airplane with=20
wings, fuselage, tail unit and a means of propulsion. In=20
1804 he flew the first successful model airplane which had a=20
kite-shaped wing mounted on a pole with a=20
universally-jointed tail unit. The modern airplane has a=20
similar configuration."

Notice he flew a MODEL airplane, the plane did not carry him.

"Otto Lilienthal Glider (Germany)
Gliding by definition means to move smoothly, and=20
continuously. As man watched birds such as the albatross and=20
gull, he observed their ability to soar for long periods=20
without the need to flap their wings. To some it was a=20
mystery but to others who understood the movements of the=20
air, its cooling and heating, it was an incentive to design=20
a device, heavier than air, with no power source, which=20
could move through the air like a bird. This device is known=20
as a glider. One of the great pioneers of gliding was Otto=20
Lilienthal. Although he was successful in pioneering the art=20
of gliding, he lost control, crashed and died on a flight on=20
August 9, 1896."

Of course, Lilienthal never had an opportunity to extend his=20
glider to powered flight.

>
> Moreover, there were many successful flights around
> the world at the same time...

I'm not sure what motives you'd have for wanting to believe=20
that, but here is the first DOCUMENTED powered flight in=20
Europe, in 1906.  (There are spaces in the following URL:

"http://www.first-to-fly.com/History/History of=20
Airplane/santos_dumont.htm"

"In 1904 -- a year after the Wright brothers had made their=20
first powered flight-- Santos Dumont turned his attention to=20
heavier-than-air flying. He began with a glider, then built=20
an unsuccessful helicopter in 1905. In 1906, he built a =20
strange-looking flying machine -- a biplane of what the=20
=46rench had begun to call the type du Wright, loosely based=20
on the Wright biplane plans that had been published in=20
several European magazines. The box-like elevator and rudder=20
protruded in front of the wings like the head of a duck in=20
flight. It was promptly dubbed a canard (French for "duck"),=20
and the name was incorporated into the growing aeronautical=20
lexicon.

Santos Dumont called the airplane the 14-bis, meaning=20
"14-encore" since the airplane made its first appearance=20
suspended from the belly of Santos Dumont's No. 14=20
dirigible.  He flew it without the dirigible on September=20
13, 1906, making a hop of between 23 and 43 feet, depending=20
on who you talked to. On October 27, he managed to fly 197=20
feet. Then, on November 12, he set the first aviation record=20
in Europe, flying 722 feet (220 meters) in 21-1/2 seconds=20
with members of the Aero-Club du France in attendance. This=20
won Santos Dumont a prize of 1500 francs for making the=20
first flight in Europe over 100 meters, and because he was=20
observed  by officials from what would become the Federation=20
Aeronautique Internationale (the designated keeper of=20
aviation records), he was credited with making the first=20
powered flight in Europe."

You will notice Dumont's machine was called the "type du=20
Wright".

On that same website is a list of attempts at sustained=20
powered flight.  None ever flew above ground effect, and=20
even a spinning piece of 2X4 can 'fly' within ground effect.

http://www.first-to-fly.com/History/History of=20
Airplane/pilots.htm

>
> So, many of hte Western nations accept the successful,
> documented flights of Orville and Wilbur, as
> REPRESENTATIVE of all the famous, and also the
> unknown, pioneers of flight.
>
> Let us never lose sight of the facts that many
> technically competent inventors light upon the same
> breakthrough in a short time frame, because most
> inventions happen for those who strive, and, in an
> environment of leading edge experimentation, the
> invention is only something whose time has come.

You'll notice those 'breakthroughs' to sustained powered=20
flight higher than ground effect all came after exposure to=20
the "type du Wright".  Santos Dumont, the Brazillian, was=20
the closest thing to an Open Source flying machine builder.  =20
His only successful airplane, the Desmosielle, he gave away=20
free to the public and it was published in Popular Mechanics=20
in 1909. =20

>
> Whoever has the most money, to purchase the biggest
> press release, or is able to afford the court battle,
> gets the accolades!


Maybe now, but not necessarily then.   The Wright brothers=20
were not rich.  It took them till 1910 to form a company,=20
the Wright Company, and longer to sell planes here in=20
America.  They were successful in selling them abroad.

The big point I was trying to make was than even though the=20
Wright Brothers were the first to achieve sustained powered=20
flight above ground effect, they stay stuck in their design=20
parameters.  Other, here and abroad, who were able to see=20
the Wright Brothers airplane soon made copies of their own. =20
Not possessing the Wright Brothers experimental data they=20
thought 'outside' the box the Wright brothers had put=20
themselves into and came up with lots of improvements, many=20
of which the Wright Brothers later adopted.  They moved the=20
front canard to the rear and it became the elevator.  =20
Staying with the bi-wing design they never considered the=20
fuselage a tube which could be inclosed to reduce air drag.=20
Others did.  It was only their patents which kept them in=20
business:
http://www.avshop.com/catalog/product.html?productid=3D5193

"The patent for the"Flying Machine" turns 100 years old=20

In addition to celebrating the centennial anniversary of The=20
Wright Brother's first powered flight, the patent for their=20
"Flying Machine" also turns 100 years old on March 23, 2003.=20

Looking ahead, Orville and Wilbur Wright were able to=20
recognize at the end of the glider experiments in 1902 that=20
they needed to protect their work. In 1903 they did just=20
that when they applied for The Flying Machine Patent Number=20
821,393.=20

The Wright Brothers were aggressive in protecting their=20
invention and barring others who tried to use this knowledge=20
to make newer or better knock-offs. Orville estimated that=20
$150,000 was spent in court costs.=20


The heart of the issue was that, without fully explaining it,=20
The Wright Brothers had patented the concept of how to=20
control the aeroplane with wing warping along with the use=20
of rudders. It was believed by others that because they did=20
not use The Wright Brothers design for the flyer that they=20
should be able to use the concept. Needless to say after all=20
the lengthy litigation, the courts upheld The Wright=20
Brothers patent until 1917. "

See any similarities to todays patents?  Especially the part=20
about not fully explaining their concepts?   Their patents=20
were upheld for only 15 years.  The main reason why is=20
because everyone else moved to wing flaps instead of wing=20
warping because as wings got bigger and heavier to carry=20
heavier loads wing warping got harder to do.  Had the courts=20
upheld their attempts to stifle any wing technology is=20
'derivatives' of their own one can only speculate how much=20
progress in aviation IN THIS COUNTY would have been stifled.

This is the same kind of stifle that Microsoft and other=20
WinXX based corporations are trying to impose today.  The=20
only problem is that their effects will only be felt in=20
America and hence harm ONLY America.  Other countries will=20
move to Linux for its stability, security and TCO.
=2D-=20
=2D=20
Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by=20
professionals
GreyGeek

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