The Sunday Picture Show (December 17th, 2023)

texpat said:
But I feel I must correct something most folks take for granted, the Wright brothers did an awesome thing, all credit to them, but they weren't the first to make a powered flight (they were just really smart about advertising it and procuring witnesses). There were at least 3 previous that we know about, the first one being designed and built by Hiram Maxim, the famous gun inventor who created the Maxim machine gun. It was a monster, with a 100 ft wingspan, powered by two 180 hp steam engines and two 18 ft propellers in 1894. It got up just over 40 miles an hour and lifted off the track it was on, and flew some 200 feet before coming down.
Click to expand...
OFF TOPIC—One of the problems with deciding on "the first flight" is that not only did flight have to occur, it had to be controlled flight and had to be documented. Maxim's invention did get liftoff and flight, but it was not "controlled". A problem with the Burrell Cannon invention is that there is no documentation of the flight. In fact, the few observers were sworn to secrecy.

I have attached the wikipedia discussion of the Maxim "flight".

Bert

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A few more 116's

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texpat texpat bertl bertl Thanks for posting the alternative information. I thought about it but feel pressured to go for the "quick shot". Something with a picture I can summarize in a paragraph so people who I might otherwise bore stay interested in getting on with the show. I've enjoyed doing the "on this day" bit and no one has complained. The biggest negative surrounding the Wright brothers were the many ongoing patent lawsuits stifling our early aviation development leaving America at a disadvantage coming into WWI.

Great show today, thanks everyone!

Some of my SwissBuck stuff for picture content.
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