So he was kept out of history books because he forgot to write logs... now thats a shame

Woodlouse2002 wrote on Dec 26^th, 2006 at 7:43pm:
Well maybe he did it at night/early morning because he didn't want to crash into any people. That wouldn't be good. At night, people are sleeping so if the plane did something strange and crashed into a sidewalk or road, there wouldn't be anybody to hit. I don't think the plane was big enough to damage houses. As far as flight logs, not everybody wants to go public with things. However, the US Air Force teaches that he was the first to fly. 

Hagar wrote on Dec 27^th, 2006 at 5:14am:
The only reason that makes me believe that Whitehead did fly first is that the US Air Force teaches that he was the first to fly and trust me, they wouldn't teach that if they we not sure that he did fly first. 

For some strange reason I can't find that page anymore where it says that the US Air Force says that he was the first to fly, but I am 100% sure that it said that somewhere. If anyone happens to come across it please give me the link.

That wasn't the page but that still sheads some more light on it. Thank you for that link but if you find any others please post them so we can see them.

Maybe he didn't keep log books because there was no official way of doing things aeronautically back then. There weren't even airplanes, so who say's you have to have a log book? Oh, and for the record, I don't really care who was first. Even if they all made their flights simultaneously, they all developed their ideas independently so each one was a new invention in itself.

TacitBlue wrote on Jan 14^th, 2007 at 11:24pm:

Not the formal logbooks pilots use today but a diary or any sort of written records with dates & witness reports. Photos would also be useful as proof.

murjax wrote on Jan 15^th, 2007 at 11:51am:

"I think". That's the whole point & we simply don't know. Whitehead apparently never kept much in the way of accurate records. I've read that he did not consider his efforts a success & was not interested in claiming any credit. All he wanted to do was fly & anyone that did see him do it first-hand is probably long dead by now.

The Wright Brothers were businessmen & knew the value of keeping accurate records but even with photos they had problems convincing the authorities & public of their success. The original Flyer was wrecked on that day after four successful flights & would never fly again. They made no further flights until 1904 with the Flyer II & the invited reporters had strict instructions that no photos be taken. I'm sure the reason for this was to protect their patent rights which had still not been granted. They made no flights at all in 1906 and 1907.

PS. http://gustavewhitehead.org/

That was a second plane, thus could have been after the Wright Brothers.

But, we all know that a lot of aviatiors were bizzy in those days, all around the world, so it wouldnt surprise me if a whole lot more people managed to get themselves flying.