we all know the Wright brothers who actually built and flew with the first motorised plane ever. of course, they didn't invent their Wright Flyer between lunch and dinner
no, thanks to many other pioneers, they managed to fulfil man's dream: flying like a bird!  8)

here i have some pictures listed (my "aviation walk of fame") of people who helped the Wrights developping their plane:

George Cayley

the father of the modern plane. he was the first man who thought about a scientific basis for aerodynamics. he came up with the drag formule and invented the wing profile like we know it nowadays. he actually built real flying models. he was too old to man them, so he forced his driver to fly them...the poor guy didn't realize he actually was the first man who flew through the air like a bird.

Octave Chanute

of course, Chanute...civil engineer from France who lived in the US. wrote a book about the aircraft through the eyes of a construction engineer.

Clément Ader

claims he was the first man who flew an airplane. his "Eole" had moving wings...but he couldn't stear it in the air. nobody really knows if his aircraft (with engine) came of the ground, so he isn't believed to be the first pilot ever. in 1990, a few symphatizers celebrated 100 years of motorised flight in France thanks to this man.  

Alphonse Pénaud

built a small toy helicopter. thanks to him, the Wright bros got interested in aviation...huray!  

Maxim Hiram

made a gaint biplane. he tested his plane on rails. in 1894 he proved his wings generated drag. he used two steam engines (180hp each)!

Otto Lilienthal

almost as famous as the Wright brothers is the German Otto Lilienthal. he wrote a book called 'Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst'. he studied all the basics of flight by looking to birds. his wings are also inspired by birds. he called his model 'Flugzeug'. it was the first glider ever built! he used an early elevator and was the first one who steared by changing the CoG (by stretching and retracting his legs).
he died in 1896 during a test flight from a hill he built in his garden.

Wilbur and Orville Wright

i gues (hope  ) you know the last two guys, so no further explanation needed!

i hope you enjoyed this short history lesson because i took me some time to get it all together. i know there are many more of them...but i think these are the most important.

Mr.Bones

Some very interesting History there.

Keep it up.

Maybe we should have a History Forum?????

Cheers.....Doug

Nice work Ken (especially the pics), and I bet you didn't learn a single bit of this in school during history lessons

Mark

Interesting stuff

The first guy, George Cayley is the inventor of the airplane. In 1853 his flying machine, piloted by his cheuffer flew 50 years before the wright brothers did. Also there are extracts from his notes that say he managed to fly another machine before that, in 1808. So there you go. The airplane is another british invention. If he was alive later on (When there were steam trains) and if he'd had access to a small enough engine then he would have invented powered flight too.

He also invented, an artificial hand, a form of parachute, caterpillar tracks and the bicycle wheel.

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Well, now we've had the Brits, the Aussies, the Germans, the French, and the Chinese (that's all I know of) that have tried to claim the title of 'First Flight'  Anyone else want a go?  I'm sure the Iraqis will at some point... 

Duuno about the Iraqis, Pippin, unless you want to include 'magic carpets'. 

Seriously now. I think the inventor of the internal combustion engine deserves a reasonable degree of thanks (not credit, per se), as powered flight would not have been remotely possible without the 'relatively' lightweight  engine, as opposed to the alternatives like the steam engine. 

Surely, Katahu, there must be some room in your 'hall of fame' for the deserving Mr Daimler and his Internal Combustion Engine, without which all the planes would still be sitting on the ground. (At least until the Jet engine was developed). 

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