from 120 feet to 240,000 miles in less than a lifetime

Chris Marriott wrote:
The first "powered flights" were powered airships. I have a vague feeling
(but no more than that) that it was a Frenchman who first did that.

Presumably you were referring to powered flight by a "heavier than air"
machine?

I'm not sure. I thought the Wright Brothers flew in December 1903,
not quite 100 years ago. Count Ferdinand and his zeppelin flew in
July 1900. The Brothers Montgolfier flew in the late eighteenth
century, well before any of the directed flights. (In fact, the
zeppelin is also called the dirigible, isn't it?)

Brian Tung
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