Catching a flight now is easy and pretty much available wherever, something that wasn’t possible over a century ago, until two brothers changed the game.
Who can we thank for the possibility of flight today?
The first pioneers of flight were the Wright brothers: Wilbur and Orville Wright. These two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, flew in the air for the first time in 1903. They flew aboard the Wright Flyer, a power-controlled aircraft. This phenomenon wasn’t a single and isolated event, however.
The young men, who were interested in mechanics, had been dabbling with the notion of flight now and again since adolescence, starting with a single event in childhood that piqued their interest. Two decades before their first flight, their father, Milton Wright, brought home a rubber band-powered toy helicopter.
Instead of simply fluttering to the floor, this toy was described to have flown across the room and struck the ceiling. This phenomenon apparently inspired the brothers to construct their own miniature helicopters, and from this their career in aviation began.
Although the Wright brothers were the first ones to sustain controlled airplane flight, several key inventions that took place hundreds of years before paved the way to exploring the sky.
What are some examples of manned flight that served as a precursor to the Wright brothers’ achievement?
In the history of aviation, one of the earliest examples of manned flight points to kite-flying. Kite flying originated in China and traces all the way back to a few hundred years BC. The idea of aerial navigation was also explored during the Renaissance by none other than Leonardo da Vinci himself.
He designed the parachute and tinkered with sketches of flying machines. The invention of the hot-air balloon also gave rise to key mechanical theories.
What was the significance of the Wright brothers’ flight?
Their achievement set off an extremely rapid development of manned flight, which resulted in the establishment of organized military airborne forces within the decade. In addition, when the achievement of the Wright brothers came to light, almost immediately their technology was explored with the intention to be used for military purposes.
This has paved the way for military and industrial aircraft uses. It’s truly amazing how discovering and establishing the physics behind these manned devices quickly boosted the production and development of other aerial forces.
Their discovery and mission has been integral to the modern world as we know it. Next time you board a flight, make sure to thank the Wright brothers for their pioneering achievement.
