I rather think that what the Wright Brothers actually invented was the
aileron, or its immediate predecessor.
Everything else about the basic aeroplane that they flew was pretty much
already known and in existence.
One reason they came up with the idea was probably that they were
bicycle manufacturers and riders. How do you make a bike go round a
corner? Lean it over...
Cheers
/Tim/
/tra dire e fare c'รจ mezzo il mare/
On 22/01/2012 11:21, MIKE BORGELT wrote:
At 03:54 PM 16/01/2012, you wrote:
> Wilbur and Orville invented the "airplane" so that's what it should
> be called IMO. I'll go along with "ramp" too.
They did what?
I can't think of one thing that they invented.
Perhaps they were the first to achieve sustainable, controlled,
powered flight.
That usually is achieved using something called an "airplane" by
Wilbur and Orville's countrymen.
Putting together existing technology in new ways to achieve a useful
result usually qualifies for the term "invention", although the
Wrights identified the need for roll control amongst other things.
The Wrights set about improving their invention and did marketing and
sales and later merged with Curtiss. The Curtiss-Wright Corporation
for a long time manufactured ...airplanes and engines for them. They
still exist http://www.curtisswright.com/ and make aerospace
products amongst other things.
What did all the other pretenders to the claim to having invented the
airplane do?
BTW a variant of wing warping may yet make a comeback. Search for
morphing wings etc. The Wright's predecessors and contemporaries may
have called them 'Aerodromes' but they didn't fly. If the Wrights had
access to Langley's engine, powered flight would have been advanced by
several years.
Expensively government funded project vs a couple of businessmen. Sort
of reminds one of NASA and SpaceX nowadays.
Mike
Maybe I can think of things they patented which set the US aeroplane
industry back a decade or so, but nothing comes to mind that they
actually invented.
And their predecessors and contemporaries called them 'Aerodromes'.
D
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