Comments on: Who flew before the Wright Brothers?

By: Nagia Ortiz

Nagia Ortiz — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:54:29 +0000

It really doesn’t matter who was the first, the fact is that in Brazil we still think that Santos-Dumont is the father of Aviation… and I would like another people to know that.
Actually in 2005 I had the great opportunity to visit the Ford Museum and I think it is a great place to go… many old cars, planes and electronics… just great!!!
I wish American people would/should explore more of what they DO have.

By: Vince Rollen

Vince Rollen — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:41:28 +0000

maureen, no the arcticle is correct they rebuilt the aircraft and tested the design to test possibilities….

this arcticle is garbage.. USA is best

By: a fan of traian vuia

a fan of traian vuia — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:46:14 +0000

yeah i think you should add a section for Traian Vuia..

By: Walt Landmesser

Walt Landmesser — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:42:24 +0000

Does it really matter who was the first? American obsession with getting over mountains the easy way would have brought us to exactly the same spot we are today. I am just happy to know that aircraft were first used as mail carriers instead of bomb carriers.

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:22:12 +0000

Maureen, no, this was an investigation in 1997 as to whether the plane Whitehead designed 100 years earlier could have been flightworthy. But I AM prone to such typos occasionally!

By: Moroni

Moroni — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:21:47 +0000

The problem with the argument is that the definition of “flight” is a broad topic so there’s a lot of different ways we can interpret it.

I think Sid Morrison and Jenson both have good points though, the Wright brothers did research and come up with a wing design that’s still used today AND the bothers did keep very good documentation of their achievements.

By: Maureen

Maureen — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:10:47 +0000

From your article, “A reproduction of the airplane Whitehead used in the 1901 flight (known as Number 21) was built and successfully flight tested in 1997, pointing to the possibility that he could have flown earlier than the Wright Brothers.”

Did you mean 1897?

By: Barry

Barry — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:27:53 +0000

This just goes to show that Most of what we have learned in American History is a crock. I myself had to explain to the Smithsonian just after the movie “TOP GUN” came out that the planes they had displayed in the TOP GUN display, F-15, F-16 Etc, were Air Force Jets not Navy Jets and that TOP GUN was a Navy School. within 15 minutes they were changing their display

By: iblees

iblees — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:41:26 +0000

Just want to add, that first ever attempt to flight experiment was done by an Andalusian polymath, Ibn Farnas, in 875 AD.

By: Avinash Machado

Avinash Machado — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:18:46 +0000

One more thing to note is that in 1896-97
there were sightings of flying machines in American skies. This series of sightings is known as “The Great Airship Mystery”. The possibility exists that these were experimental dirigibles being test flown either by private inventors or the US military. If these reports are true then it proves that are more people who can claim the title of being the first to fly.