Were The Wright Brothers really the first?

Like many things in Aviation the Wrights achievement has been "Dumbed Down".

People who are actually familiar know that the Wrights where not the first people to achieve heavier than air flight.

What the Wrights did was achieve the first "Heavier than air controlled sustained flight". The most important part was controlled. By putting all the previous discoveries together then adding a means of directing the aircraft threw all three axis Roll, pitch and Yaw. In the Wrights case by means of "Wing Warping" on the main wings combinded with rudders and elevators. This added to a small compact engine they where the one's that got it all together.

It's just that the General press and history books prefer to shorten to the "First Successful aeroplane flight"

Orville and Wilbur Wright stepped forward a chain of gliders and straightforward powered airplanes over a era of approximately seven years. for this reason the assumption of the Wright Brothers "inventing" the plane on a particular date isn't probable a valid thought. They stepped forward lots of the technologies that made powered flight sensible at a primitive point. They did perform the plane this is credited with the 1st useful powered flight, which got here approximately on December 17, 1903. The concept that this replaced into the 1st powered flight is broadly contested, and there is a few data that ecu builders beat them to it; the data isn't as sparkling because of the fact the Wrights' data. there is a lot greater to be found out approximately this subject be counted. flow to the library and/or do an cyber web seek on "wright brothers' first flight."

No

n 1804 Cayley built and successfully flew a 5 ft (1.5 m) glider with a kite-shaped wing and an adjustable cruciform tail.

Lawrence Hargrave, Australia — November 12, 1894 the Father of Aircraft Flight

The Australian inventor of the box kite linked four of his kites together, added a sling seat, and flew 16 feet (4.9 m). By demonstrating to a sceptical public that it was possible to build a safe and stable flying machine, Hargrave opened the door to other inventors and pioneers. Hargrave devoted most of his life to constructing a machine that would fly. He believed passionately in open communication within the scientific community and would not patent his inventions. Instead, he scrupulously published the results of his experiments in order that a mutual interchange of ideas may take place with other inventors working in the same field, so as to expedite joint progress.

Carl Rickard Nyberg, Sweden 1897 Managed a few short jumps in his Flugan, a steam powered, manned aircraft

To be fair they were the first, however they weren't alone in trying. A British guy discovered the shape of the wings for lift (that we still use) & many other engineering elements of flight. He made a glider that work perfectly, he was about to fit a propeller... then he died(!) this is the way it goes I guess

The Wight Bros. did it, simple as that really but there were many other 'pioneers' of flight esp. in the UK & Germany as flight technology grew at an enormous rate

Would it really make a difference if it were true ? ... It's what happened after the flight that was important. ... The Wright Brother's flight initiated a series of developments in "heavier than air" flight that brought us to where we are today; while Adler and Whithead (and dare I say da Vinci ?) did not.

To add to what Toni Parr wrote, the Wright Brothers were also able to make a controlled landing and launch and fly their aircraft more than once. It wasn't a stunt, but a real airplane.

honestly, there were other inventors before the invention of film camera.

the others you mentioned needed proper documentation, reliable eye witness

and

that is what the wright brothers had

gustave whithead, could of had eyewitness and documentation, if that was the case

i know alexander bell, had a patent problem himself, but won in court

I would say the wright brothers were the first to fly, and further develop, the airplane in America

I have always been taught that they were thr first, however i have read and heard that they were not the first. i cant tell you who was because i cannot remember, but i am sure you can look it up.

only in the usa