[RCSE] Wright's efforts - part one

[John Derstine]

Anyone who stops to think, will realize that no invention spontaneously appears fully developed with a practical use ready to assure its success as something demanded by society. Inventors do not sit back as a rule and decide to invent a heretofore unrealized conceptualization; they most often come up with the proverbial "better mousetrap".   Inventors often don't have a clue what their invention will be used for and sometimes they fail to capture the market they think will ensure their inventions success. Thomas Edison thought that the phonograph would be a tool for transcribing office memos and scoffed at the notion that it might be used for something as frivolous as recording popular music. He persisted in his approach and the invention went unused for years until finally its purpose in society was cemented as, you guessed it, recording popular music.   The Wrights achievement was merely a point in time when America decided to pick an event that symbolized the invention of the airplane. Many other preceded the Wrights with flying machines of one type or other, and many came after with better ideas and more commercial success, (Glen Curtis).   The Wrights had several things on their side. They documented their efforts, worked with the Smithsonian early on, and foresaw military applications of airplanes.   Continued…   Endless Mountain Models http://www.scalesoaring.net email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]