*Gustave Whitehead Recognition 2013
*Gustave Whitehead's airplane (replica) in flight, Oct 4, 1997
*Commemorative Flight in Honor of Gustave Whitehead
*GUSTAVE WHITEHEAD 1901 #21 AEROPLANE REPLICA
December 17, 2014
German Immigrant to the U.S., Gustave Whitehead, was the First in Controlled, Powered, Air Flight. Stop the "Wright Brothers First in Flight" Lie
*Gustave Whitehead Recognition 2013
*Gustave Whitehead's airplane (replica) in flight, Oct 4, 1997
*Commemorative Flight in Honor of Gustave Whitehead
*GUSTAVE WHITEHEAD 1901 #21 AEROPLANE REPLICA
I think that the amount of lift coefficient created by the shape of the wing is really the more important factor. I notice that the wings of the planes we use today are not shaped like Whitehead's.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the Wright brothers probably borrowed that technology as well: http://truthinaviationhistory.blogspot.com/2014_05_01_archive.html
That link also questions whether the Wrights really did what they claimed, since they needed the assistance of a steady wind to make their "heavier than air" flight.
"Without the hills near Kitty Hawk, their take offs in Dayton needed the assistance of a catapult and in addition to that, a headwind. As late as 1908, they were still relying on their catapult, whereas Glenn Curtiss and Alberto Santos Dumont were already taking off from level ground with wheels and the power of their engines."
Prof Langley seems to be another unsung hero, having accurately measured the lift coefficient.
As with the case of Einstein and Newton, there seems to be a need by historians to make a single pivotal moment, without providing any context of previous experiments and advances in theory.