h (Rand Simberg) wrote in message . ..
In honor of the centennial, I have an essay about the brothers Wright
up at TechCentralStation:

http://www.techcentralstation.com/121703D.html

The Wright brothers did some other things as well. They studied
chinese propellor toys, birds, and warping cardboard boxes. They
studied the hang glider pilots before them, and found errors in their
beliefs. They also tested, employed and rejected many alternate means
of control, including weight shift. They did what it took to fly with
the technology that they had available. Italian scientists today think
that Da Vinci sketched a craft that could fly hundreds of years
earlier, but as far as I know Da Vinci didn't ever build it.

It is easy to sit behind a computer and punch keys or push a pencil.
It usually takes much more effort, and money, to actually build and
test something. The right mix of courage and safety considerations is
another important thing to balance. The Wright Bros. killed an army
man, lots of aviation pioneers were killed flying their craft. Lucky
Lindburgh was saved by a parachute four times.

Brian Binnie is the real hero of our time. And I bet one in a hundred
people off the street even know his name. I really can't believe that
the TV media out here in California didn't even cover this historic
event.