Hi

It's about time I had a poll 

I only 8 slots, but if theres anyone else who deserves a mention please leave a post.

Happy voting.

Phil

Frank Whittle
Igor Sikorsky

I would think so... I mean, without the Wright brothers, there would be nothing to improve upon, charles lindbergh would not be known...

I feel it's like the car, Henry Ford didn't invent
it but he sure made the biggest impact in it!!
I do not mean to take anything away from
the brothers!!

X

Without a bird to try to emulate, would man have wondered what it is to fly ?..... ???

'we be all be speaking german if it wasn't for R.J.Mitchell!!!!!!!!

a thousand million salute to him 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Predictably patriotic! R.J. Mitchell created a legend in 1936 that is still alive and well today. Remaining in production until after the war and continuingly developed throughout it's live. The Vickers Supermarine Spitfire, greatest plane that ever flew.

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booooooooooooooo!

otto lilienthal

Most of the above made their own unique contribution to aviation. All respect to the Wright Brothers but if they hadn't done it, someone else would almost certainly have done so. von Ricthofen was a famous fighter pilot over a comparatively short period of time. I wouldn't say he was the best by a long chalk as many of his victories were against inferior opposition, usually slow, poorly armed reconaissance aircraft. Not sure what, if anything, he contributed to aviation in general.  ???

Some of the greatest contributions to aviation belong to the designers & developers of the aircraft & various components, like RADAR & GPS, we depend on today. Sorry Tempest but R.J Mitchell is a legend in the UK for one reason - designing the Spitfire. This undoubtedly contributed to the outcome of WWII but I don't think he would be remembered at all apart from this fact.

I would say one of the greatest contributions to aviation over the last 100 years (as far as military aircraft are concerned) was made by Martin-Baker & their ejector seats. If you visit their site there's a counter displaying the number of lives saved to date.  This is currently 7,000, 30 this year alone. http://www.martin-baker.co.uk/

I wouldn't like to single out one person who made the greatest contribution above all others. Most development is done on a team basis & all members contribute in some way. One of my all-time aviation heroes is James H. Doolittle. He's probably more famous for the WWII Tokyo raid these days but as a test pilot he made many pioneering contributions to aviation development & safety. He was the very first pilot to fly solo (including take-off & landing) on instruments alone. Without the risks taken by many incredibly brave but usually unknown test pilots just like him, aviation could not have progressed to where it is today.

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Which...is Frank Whittle...for those who dont know..
And you gotta give a seperate credit to Igor Sikorsky. Where would we be without helicopters 

The greatest contributors to aviation are every little boy and every little girl who has looked to the sky and smiled knowingly.

I'd have to say the Wrights of course but also Werner Von Braun (Did I spell his name correctly?), German inventer of the V2 rocket and also assisted in the design of the SaturnV rockets that would take man to the moon. He also worked on most of the early NASA projects including Gemini, which is why the rockts are painted black and white, to resemble his early V2s (before it was a bomb). The Wrights brought us aviaton but Von Braun took away it's Earthy limits, opening up the "final frontier", if you pardon the Star Trek expression, allowing us to "boldly go where man has gone before".

I should also mention Jim Floyd, Vice-President of Avro Canada, he brought the first jetliner to North America, which was simply called the Jetliner. This changed the way North Americans saw passenger air travel and would later pave the way for the Boeing 707.  Also Howard Hughs for introducing these first North American jets to the market.

Of course the Wrights are important but I cannot vote for them simply because, aerodynamics beginning to be understood in the early 20th century and there were numorous successful flights by others only weeks apart. The Wrights were one of the first to use areodynamic testing and wind tunnels to test there designs, so in reality, they were the first successful designers.

Maybe not so much the ejector seat people but the French bloke who invented the parachute!
He would have to be the greatest contributor to the saving of human life in aviation. That's gotta count for a HUGE contribution. (The ejector seat being just a clever extension, but still pretty useless without the 'chute.

Also the parachute allowed the dropping of equipment and supplies both during wartime and peacetime, especially to flood and famine victims. More saving of human life and easing of suffering through the parachute.

Yep.........I think my conscience vote will have to go to him.
(I'll just jump into google and find out his name........lol

I've just read that Stefan Banic gave the patent rights for his parachute to the Air Corp and the Society for the Promotion of Aviation. He made no money at all.
While at this time, others were making fortunes out of their inventions he chose to donate the device for the betterment of aviation and mankind.

Having read this, I really think this man must get the vote for the most unselfish, greatest contribution to aviation.

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You were right first time.
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I almost mentioned the inventor of the parachute myself. As it was invented & used before the first powered flight I thought it didn't qualify. 

I thought I was right - I distinctly remember the French bit and the Balloon bit.
But obviously it wasn't patented or thought to be useful (obviously there was no flight, so why would it be necessary).

As for the F86. Walsh or Welsh (I'll have to try and find the site dedicated to him) was a test pilot also, at the place that became known as 'Edwards' (where Yaeger was also) he broke the barrier in F86 test flights.

I'll post the story when I find it.    

All of these people have contributed a lot to aviation. But as mentioned before, the Wrights started it. Without them, Lindbergh, Earhart, and RJ Mitchel wouldnt have been able to achieve incredible feats. The Wrights inspired them, and every aviator and designer.

RJ Mitchels contribution to the RAF and Britain as a whole was very important. But the impact he had lasted for about a dozen or couple more decades. His Spit and other airplanes did bring victory to England during WWII, but in contribution we should try to point out the person whos work and creations will always influence man. Apart from simply being the first to create an airworthy craft, another Wright Bros' plane was modified, sold, and flown off a Navy ship, being the first American plane to do this (if i remember correctly..) This triggered an interest in carrier-borne airpower, although would be taken more seriously in the pacific.' Because of the Wrights, Lindbergh and Earhart and every aviator were inspired to do incredible things with a machine called the airplane. Frank Whittle, whose jet engine revolutionized aviation had a magnificent impact on the future..but Whittle created the jet engine for the airplane.

Final point being - Without the Wrights, there would be no future accomplishments. They started it

Oz,

I understand the importance of the Wrights contribution in that it proved the possibility and hence, the viability of powered flight. But they didn't invent the 'concept'. It goes back literally centuries (as stated to at least DaVinci) in terms of it being realiswtically possible.

So, althought their 'invention' made developments to follow possible, as you say, because the 'concept' was already well and truly alive and being seriously developed by many around the same time (and before), this is why we are saying that it would have been a reality within a short time after their first flight.

I still feel I have to go with the parachute bloke (whoever history decides is the one responsible).
I mean, if we want to get right down to it, what is more of a contribution to any pursuit than the preservation of life (in the order of 'countless 1000's) whilst the pursuit is being enjoyed or used for the betterment of mankind?

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Just something interesting!

X

My vote goes to Charles Lindbergh because his accomplishments showed the viability of commercial air travel and opened up the industry.  It wasn't just the famous flight, it was the [i]effect /i] of the famous flight.

I would have agreed with DaVinci if he had ever gotten anything off the ground.

The reasons (IMHO) DaVinci failed were lack of a lightweight power plant and the unknown Bernoulli Principle.  Once Daniel Bernoulli discovered the fluid equation we just had to wait for lightweight power to be invented, which was inevitable.

Somewhere between DaVinci, a brilliant dreamer, and the Wright brothers, who put it all together, Daniel Bernoulli figured out how to make a wing work.

Hagar:
Yeager did fall off a horse the night before be broke the barrier and broke his rib.  I read his autobiography, and it's a great read.  He has the most amasing stories from WWII, when he was a test pilot, and an interesting one about a trip he took to the USSR.  If anyone here hasn't read it I suggest you do.  I've read it maybe three times now.

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What's the title on the book? I would love to read it!

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Sorry, didn't even see the links

Visitor aka X,

Interesting bit on the X-1. I wasn't aware of it's ability to take off on it's own. (As we say, this is where we learn alot of the things we know.......lol)
Thanks for the info.

The 'quote' about the X-1 not being close to a fighter comes from the "george Welch' link that I posted.
Obviously, it is going to be a little biased.
But, in any case, this was an amazing fellow.
Being one of the very few who responded in aircraft at Pearl Harbour, plus another particular exploit with another pilot in P40's where 15 or so Vals were shot down in the one engagement and then to go on and create the first 'confirmed' sonic boom, and have the 'Powers that be' keep it all secret because they didn't want to be embarrassed.

Apparently, after doing more searching on the web, the North American Aircraft people were quite peeved when they learnt that their F86 had done this and it wasn;t to be announced.
Anyway, I believe, (not 100% sure) that the F86 turned out to be the first 'in service' Fighter to break the barrier, not long after.

Have a quick read of the George Welch site if your haven't a;ready. it's an interesting read.

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I know your being sarcastic in this 'accolade to these evil morons. (I hope everyone else realises this too).
It's the sort of comment I might post...........(he says with a evil snicker)

But seriously, it immediately got me thinking that in reality, the 2 wars (moreso WWII) were very much the reason for so much advancement in all aspects of powered flight. If not the wars themselves, especially the lead up to WWII.
Take for instance the Bf109 or the Spitfire. If not for the impending war on the horizon would RJ's design even have been considered? I beleive it was looked upon as expensive and difficult to mass produce (compared to the Hurricane) as it was, with the war looming. So I don't think either the Spit or 109 (arguably the benchmarks against which all later planes were measured) would have been.

The big question is, of course: Was all this advancement worth 50 million lives (just WWII).
Somehow, I don't think so! 

That's exactly what I meant Brensec.  Naturally there was an element of sarcasm but without the forced evolution (revolution) of aircraft design during both world wars we would still be in the sixties.

Jet engines were designed to make fighters ever faster and able to carry heavier weaponary.  Radar was designed to detect enemy bombers and to guide our bombers to the target.

Imagine modern aviation without just these two things.

Will (Evil grin smiley)

Re Dolittle.

His good friend Hap Arnold apparently made quite a contribution by way of test flying and influence on the design of planes and methods etc.

I recall seeing a bio' on him on the History Channel.
He was quite a bloke, for all intents and pyrposes. 

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So you keep saying............lol

It will be one of the best things you do in terms of educating yourself about many things, particularly WWII.
It seems they have a never ending supply of Doco's about virtually every subject, including bio's on the major players and important contributors etc (MH, VC winners and the like), weapons, battles, spy stuff (if I see one more about Bletchley Park, I think I'l go mad.......lol.
By the way, do any of you Poms know what Bletchley is used as today?

Is it up to you financially to get cable, or is it a 'mum & dad situation?

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It's actually just a 'mum' situation, remember

I'm sure everyone in our family would love to get cable or satellite, but we can't afford it.

Assuming we're talking about powered flight, how about Messrs Rolls & Royce? Also the other pioneer aircraft engine developers without whose efforts none of this would be possible. 

I can I just mention Richard Rutan and Jeana Yeager, who made the first circumnavigation of the globe in Voyager back in 1987.  Seems like only yesterday. I think that demonstrates just how far aviation really come in a 100 years.

Phil 

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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!................He says. 

Now I understand.

Sorry, I thought you were 'worlds greatest Dad'.
Now it all makes sense.

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For those who are 'un-trekised'

The Phoenix is 2063 and the first Enterprise (the current series) is set around 2152. That's about 100 years before Kirk and crew. 

Well......maybe Picard was taking a visit to Romulus and got sucked into a time vertex which sent him to 2100 which caused a big fuss with the humans and the humans destroyed the crew and named the enterprise as a 2100 ship........      

well close enough:)
something tells me they will be struggling to create an impulse drive by that time, let alone a warp drive(which theoretically is possible)(but very unlikely)
there is another ship in between phoenix and enterprise, it looks a bit like the NX01 but i cant remember its name, NX1a or something like that

The way I see it, Bernoulli's Principle is an excercise in fluid dynamics. It's often used to demonstrate how an aerofoil section works but he was not particularly interested in flight himself. The same goes for Sir Isaac Newton. Both were scientists & mathemeticians, not  pioneer aviators. An Englishman named Horatio F. Phillips made the first scientific experiments with aerofoil sections in a "wind box" & patented his Aerocurves - 1884 and 1891. http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/phillips.html
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The man generally credited for using the first successful aerofoil sections to actually fly is Otto Lilenthial. http://home.t-online.de/home/LilienthalMuseum/e213.htm
I read somewhere the Wright Brothers used his theories for their own experiments.