Manned Flight was reality in 1890's years before Wright Bros

Eechironin · Joined: 14 Jun 2010 Posts: 218

It is true, the Wright Brothers used flying research by the great Otto Lilienthal to develop and improve their Flyer.

The key difference is they are UNpowered, hang glider, flights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_hang_gliding

Most people think flying started with the Wright Brothers, but they where just a step in thousands of years of maned pursuit of flight.

Otto Lilienthal used gentle slopes to test his wings and practice flying, basically flying off hill, and moutains.

I can see the :idea: light up, BonBon is located in an alpine area, so here is a plot device for a great story!

(BTW, if our heroines need to use a glider for a quick escape, a soft landing in a lake would be a safe bet, and potentially humorous)

Otto Lilienthal, first documented controlled flights. Germany, 1895.

xAlucardx · Joined: 14 Mar 2010 Posts: 856

lol well a fellow member Bluehawk82 is in the process of creating a story where his character Sky is a glider pilot who crash lands in Bon Bon (its quite extensive and that doesnt nearly explain it). he has a few episodes up in the fursona(?) section i believe titled The Blue Sky of Bon Bon.

Silvador · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 10675

Let me stop you there. You're using two key words that are, though often mistaken for meaning the same thing, are actually quite different.

Flight and Glide. There is a significant difference between flying and gliding, this difference is in how the subject remains in the air. Before you start throwing around things like "The Wright Brothers were not the first to invent flying", I suggest you pick up a dictionary and learn just what exactly it is the defines flying as flying and not gliding.

Eechironin · Joined: 14 Jun 2010 Posts: 218

xAlucardx, thanks will look him up.

Silvador wrote: Let me stop you there. You're using two key words that are, though often mistaken for meaning the same thing, are actually quite different.

Flight and Glide. There is a significant difference between flying and gliding, this difference is in how the subject remains in the air. ...

I was using the terms loosely for dramatic effect. :)
(and to emphasis the achievements toward true manned flight before the WB's

Seems like you are well versed in flight.
Are you an engineer? Teacher? Pilot?
Or just a stickler for details. :)

.....

Manned Flight in lighter then air ships happened much earlier in the 1700's.
Controlled flight in LtA also happened around the same time as PBB with Count Zeppelin. Again, the WB's where just one of several pioneers in "flying"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin

Silvador · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 10675

Call me a stickler for details. I don't claim to know a lot about the concept of flight, but I have a minor understanding, enough to understand that there is a difference between flight and gliding.

Tearlach · Joined: 04 Oct 2008 Posts: 2699

My Furson is an aviator with a craft very similar to the one you have pictured. (Please see my back story for more on this.)
I hope to develop a RPG in which the " Mile High" Club is invented. :lol: :twisted: :shock: ::0tongue::

Eechironin · Joined: 14 Jun 2010 Posts: 218

Silvador wrote: Call me a stickler for details.

Stickler!

The mid to late 1800's was a very productive time for grand new technologies.
phonograph
photography
phlight ;)
elevators
lightbulb
electricity
telephone
cars
etc.

Just about everything we take for granted today was born in that time (except electronics).

So our beloved characters can enjoy a lot of interesting new experiences.

Including, ehm, toys. ;)

BlueHawk82 · Joined: 08 Mar 2010 Posts: 235

My twin tails are tingling! Someone mentioned the great BlueHawk82! :D

Hehe, yeah, xAlucardx is right, my dear Sky B. Fox is Bon Bon's glider champion and was blown into town from a contest during a thunderstorm. In fact, I even used Otto Lilienthal and Octave Chanute in my story whom you pictured. And Silvador is correct, gliders had been around since the early 1800s but "powered" flight aside from derrigables and balloons was not invetned until 1903 (or 1901 if you take a scholarly debate of another person). Tearlach is a lighter than air pilot but Sky is the true aviator in a sense he uses fixed wings to glide and is working on a form of powered flight, similar to the Birdman who flies for Red Bull.

Speaking of which, if anyone wants something incredible to see, and since I want to achieve a spot on the Red Bull Air Race team, checkout this incredible incident and the good pilot skills that caused this guy to HIT THE WATER then FLY AWAY after striking it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CB27K-wIsM

Eechironin · Joined: 14 Jun 2010 Posts: 218

BlueHawk82 wrote: My twin tails are tingling! Someone mentioned the great BlueHawk82! :D

Hehe, yeah, xAlucardx is right, my dear Sky B. Fox is Bon Bon's glider champion and was blown into town from a contest during a thunderstorm. In fact, I even used Otto Lilienthal and Octave Chanute in my story whom you pictured. And Silvador is correct, gliders had been around since the early 1800s but "powered" flight aside from derrigables and balloons was not invetned until 1903 (or 1901 if you take a scholarly debate of another person). Tearlach is a lighter than air pilot but Sky is the true aviator in a sense he uses fixed wings to glide and is working on a form of powered flight, similar to the Birdman who flies for Red Bull.

Speaking of which, if anyone wants something incredible to see, and since I want to achieve a spot on the Red Bull Air Race team, checkout this incredible incident and the good pilot skills that caused this guy to HIT THE WATER then FLY AWAY after striking it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CB27K-wIsM

Found your story and commented on it. :)

Powered fight was successfully accomplished in 1903, but was attempted many times before to various success.
The Clément Ader Avion III of 1897(!!) actually did fly, but had little control and gained only a couple of feet altitude, so it was a completely impractical aircraft.

Looks like something Scarlett would fly if she felt like not using her wings. ;)

That video is pretty amazing. He is lucky the wheels only touched the water. Any more and it could have flipped the ship on its back if the gear was not ripped out.
That was close!
(See him breathing hard as he was flying to base?)