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India.com
06-07-2025
- General
- India.com
Who Really Invented The Airplane? The Century-Old Debate Still Divides The Skies
New Delhi: Ask anyone who built the first airplane, and they will tell you – the Wright brothers. But dig a little deeper; the story is not so straightforward. There has been an unspoken, and often physically violent, war over the past one hundred years between continents, cultures and claims. In the United States, the conquest and flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright, self-taught architects and bicycle mechanics, in their aircraft in 1903 is held with great pride. But in Brazil, one name often comes up – Alberto Santos-Dumont. Santos-Dumont is a member of a surrounding coffee-farming family. In 1906, he piloted his machine (14-Bis) in front of a crowd of Parisians and got an international recognition by the International Aeronautics Federation. This is where the story divides. Flying Before the World's Eyes The early 1900s were full of dreamers racing to build a machine that could fly not with balloons, but powered engines and wings. Paris became the heart of that dream. Engineers, investors and inventors flocked to the French capital. The city had money, metal, minds and momentum. Santos-Dumont soared right into this moment. On November 12, 1906, he flew 220 metres before hundreds of witnesses. No tricks. No launch rails. Just a man, a machine and a moment. A year later, he introduced another aircraft – the Demoiselle. It was light, quick and one of the first planes built for mass production. The Wright Brothers' Late Claim In 1908, the Wright brothers stepped forward and claimed they had flown five years earlier on a quiet December morning in 1903 near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Few had seen it. Just five people. The evidence? A telegraph, a few blurry photographs and Orville's diary. French aviation circles were stunned. They had never heard of the Wrights making any public flight before this. Letters between American and European flying clubs had been regular, but there had been no word of a breakthrough from the Wrights for years. The brothers explained they were waiting on a patent. They feared theft. But by then, doubt had crept in. In Kitty Hawk, the wind reportedly blew at 40 kilometre per hour that day – strong enough to lift a glider without an engine. Supporters of the Wrights disagreed. By 1904 and 1905, they argued, the brothers had already developed far superior flyers. Their machines could bank, turn and sustain long flights – capabilities no one else had achieved. Tom Crouch, a historian who has spent a lifetime studying the brothers, puts it plainly – the Wrights knew, on that cold morning in 1903, that they had solved the riddle of powered flight. But they chose secrecy. They kept improving, away from the public eye, until 1908 when they finally stepped onto the European stage. And when they did, it changed everything. They flew before packed crowds. In France and Italy, they made over 200 flights. In one demonstration, Wilbur flew 124 kilometres without landing. European royalty lined up for a chance to fly with them. At that point, even French aviation pioneers like Ferdinand Ferber admitted that these were not flukes. This level of control did not happen overnight. The Catapult Controversy But there remained a controversial issue. The Wrights launched the flyers on a catapult, essentially a mechanism that flung the plane into the air. European critics said this meant that the plane lacked the power to take off. Supporters countered that the catapult was just a tool, not a crutch. Still, Santos-Dumont needed no such help. His plane took off from wheels in front of a live crowd and on its own power. And the debate deepened. The Forgotten Flyers Lost in this duel were the many others who may have flown before or at least tried. It is claimed by some that a German who lived in the United States, Gustav Weißkopf (or Whitehead), flew as early as 1901. While some point to Richard Pearse in New Zealand with an October 1903 flight or an earlier March 1903 flight. Even earlier, in 1871, John Goodman, a South African, reportedly made the first manned glider flight decades before Kitty Hawk. Even earlier, in 1871, a South African man named John Goodman reportedly launched the first manned glider flight decades before Kitty Hawk. A memorial still stands in Howick near the site. That is why many aviation historians refuse to crown any single 'inventor'. Paul Jackson, who edited 'Jane's All the World's Aircraft' for 25 years, says the race to the skies was not won by a lone genius. It was the result of tireless and collective effort. 'No one just woke up one day, sketched a plane and flew. It took hundreds of minds, dozens of failures and years of determination,' he says. Recognition, or Lack of It Jackson believes Santos-Dumont, Whitehead, and others never got their due. He doe not mince words, 'In the end, it is the ones with the best lawyers who get remembered.' History, he argues, often rewards the wrong people. He points to Alexander Graham Bell who is famous for inventing the telephone. But in 2002, the US Congress acknowledged that the true inventor may have been Antonio Meucci – a poor Italian who shared a workshop with Bell. Marcia Cummings, a descendant of aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, runs a blog uncovering buried truths of early flight. The Wrights once dragged Curtiss into court for patent infringement in 1909. She believes the Wrights tried to erase rivals like Curtiss from the story. But Amanda Wright Lane, great-grandniece of Orville and Wilbur, does not buy that. She has spent years preserving their legacy and says the brothers only wanted credit for what they achieved – nothing more, nothing less. 'I knew Orville. I do not believe he wanted to take anything from anyone. He just wanted the truth of their work to survive,' she says. And the Truth? The truth may never land on one runway. The airplane was not born in a single place. It took shape over decades in barns, backyards and crowded labs across continents. The sky, after all, has room for many stories.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Mark Wright plugs axed family show which was scrapped after one season - despite the series including the most iconic moment on reality TV
Mark Wright shared a video from his axed family TV show which was scrapped after one series despite including a moment of television gold. The Wrights were dealt a blow that their BBC travel show will not be returning for a second series last year, but the one series is still available to watch on iPlayer. A clip from the show posted by Mark showed himself, his dad Mark Snr and his brother Josh bickering over directions in the car. Despite being the driver of the vehicle, Mark Snr hilariously argued that it should have been Josh keeping an eye on the sat nav and telling him where to go. A Wright Family Holiday aired summer 2023 and followed the TOWIE star, his footballer brother Josh and dad Mark Snr as they travelled from Scotland to Cornwall. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Yet despite healthy viewing figures and a good response from audiences, the programme was not recommissioned. While the Wright family may be disappointed with the outcome they can rejoice in knowing they have created one of the most iconic moments on reality TV. The family went viral with a clip of Mark Snr, 66, passing out during a 130ft bungee jump while his oblivious sons called out to him from the viewing platform. As Mark dangled in the air like a swinging pendulum, Mark, 37, was seen repeatedly shouting 'how do ya feel?' to his unresponsive father, seemingly unfazed by the lack of response. In a bid to spend some quality time together, Mark, his brother Josh, 34, and their dad had set out on a road trip across Britain which they peppered with a few white-knuckle activities. Upon discovering that they would be flinging themselves off a bridge, Mark Sr explained: 'Josh has chosen this activity to get one over on Mark, but he don't realise that I am in the middle of it all. I could throttle him at the moment, I really could!' He was then heard asking the instructor if it was 'dangerous', before adding: 'Mark is in bits, it won't surprise me if he don't do it... or I don't do it. But when I get up there, if I don't fancy it, I just won't do it.' Yet determined to set an example for his boys, Mark Snr confidently threw himself off the platform and into the abyss... with shocking consequences. Last year the family went viral with a clip of Mark Snr, 66, passing out during a 130ft bungee jump while his oblivious sons called out to him from the viewing platform In a bid to spend some quality time together, Mark, his brother Josh, 34, and their dad had set out on a road trip across Britain which they peppered with a few white-knuckle activities The intense fall caused Mark Snr's blood pressure to fall and heart rate to decrease, causing him to instantly pass out. While he flopped around upside down in his harness, Mark Jnr and Josh were none the wiser as they called out to him. 'Yes dad! Go on dad! How do you feel? Dad how do you feel?' Mark questioned, but with met by silence from his father. 'Dad, how do ya feel?' Josh mirrored. While the brothers seemed oblivious to the potential medical emergency unfolding 130 feet below them, the instructor sprang into action as he was heard on the radio asking: 'Is Mark okay? He's stopped moving.' Thankfully, Mark Snr soon regained consciousness and as if nothing had happened at all he triumphantly threw his fist into the air as he was hoisted back up onto the platform. Unfazed by his experience, he told his sons, 'That was amazing but terrifying, that was terrifying!' Still not having twigged that his father had lost consciousness, Josh said: 'You weren't answering us, were you shouting back when we asked if you were ok?' Mark Snr then cleared up the matter by explaining: 'I think I blacked out. 'All I can remember is that I went into a swing and that was that. 'Every thing else was a blur!' while Mark Jnr responded: 'You frightened the life out of me not shouting back.' Despite the scenes going viral, the Wright family won't be returning for a second season of their travel show. A TV insider told The Sun that the series was 'always going to be a suck-it-and-see job' however it 'wasn't meant to be'. 'If it went down well with audiences and got healthy viewing figures, the BBC would have been tempted to maybe explore another series,' the insider revealed. 'The Wrights would have been up for it, but it wasn't to be.' The source added though that a consolation for the Essex family is that the BBC is 'still keen to work with them' so another show could be on the cards. A BBC Spokesperson said: 'A Wright Family Holiday was commissioned as a one off and has not been axed.'
CBS News
06-04-2025
- Science
- CBS News
'Their Tesla': Pioneering brothers' Wright Flyer III is designated Ohio's official state plane
Ohio has adopted the 1905 Wright Flyer III as its official state airplane. Described as Orville and Wilbur Wright's crowning achievement, the world's first practical fixed-wing aircraft made its seminal sustained flight in an Ohio cow pasture called Huffman Prairie, outside Dayton. A grandniece to the pioneering Ohio brothers, Amanda Wright Lane, testified in February that the 1905 plane was "their Tesla," and represented the beginning of a human flight plan to Mars. Wright Lane noted that NASA's experimental Martian helicopter, Ingenuity, succeeded using what officials called Wright-like flights. The space agency subsequently named its air strip on Mars "Wright Brothers Field." "Present-day Ohio engineering ingenuity was a part of that Ingenuity mission. Why wouldn't we adopt the Wright Flyer III as an inspiring symbol of the genesis of human flight?" she said. "Ohioans lessened the distances between world peoples 125 years ago, and currently, Ohioans are lessening the distances in space." The Wright Flyer III featured a host of improvements to the Wright Flyer I, the plane in which the Wrights pioneered powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on Dec. 17, 1903. Those included a larger rudder, a vertical stabilizer relocated rearward and separate yaw and roll controls, the Ohio History Connection's Kevin Boehner told the committee. Choosing the plane as Ohio's designee glances past the state's long-running dispute with North Carolina over which can rightly call itself the "birthplace of aviation": the one where the Wrights did their inventing, or the one where they flew. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed its new state designation into law Wednesday. The plane, designated a historic landmark, can be seen at Dayton's Carillion Historical Park .
Washington Post
03-04-2025
- Science
- Washington Post
'Their Tesla': Pioneering brothers' Wright Flyer III is designated Ohio's official state plane
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has adopted the 1905 Wright Flyer III as its official state airplane. Described as Orville and Wilbur Wright's crowning achievement, the world's first practical fixed-wing aircraft made its seminal sustained flight in an Ohio cow pasture called Huffman Prairie, outside Dayton. A grandniece to the pioneering Ohio brothers, Amanda Wright Lane, testified in February that the 1905 plane was 'their Tesla,' and represented the beginning of a human flight plan to Mars. Wright Lane noted that NASA's experimental Martian helicopter , Ingenuity, succeeded using what officials called Wright-like flights. The space agency subsequently named its air strip on Mars 'Wright Brothers Field.' 'Present-day Ohio engineering ingenuity was a part of that Ingenuity mission. Why wouldn't we adopt the Wright Flyer III as an inspiring symbol of the genesis of human flight?' she said. 'Ohioans lessened the distances between world peoples 125 years ago, and currently, Ohioans are lessening the distances in space.' The Wright Flyer III featured a host of improvements to the Wright Flyer I, the plane in which the Wrights pioneered powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on Dec. 17, 1903. Those included a larger rudder, a vertical stabilizer relocated rearward and separate yaw and roll controls, the Ohio History Connection's Kevin Boehner told the committee. Choosing the later plane as Ohio's designee glances past the state's long-running dispute with North Carolina over which can rightly call itself the 'birthplace of aviation': the one where the Wrights did their inventing, or the one where they flew. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed its new state designation into law Wednesday. The plane, designated a historic landmark, can be seen at Dayton's Carillion Historical Park .
