Information on Who Invented The Airplane?
Most of us know who invented the airplane. If the question arises, we can raise our hands, stand up, and say "Wilbur and Orville Wright!" That's true to a degree, but not totally true. Wilbur and Orville made the first powered flight on December 17, 1903. It wasn't a very long flight, lasting only 12 seconds, and traveling about 120 feet, less than the wingspan of a 747. Orville was at the controls. Later in the day, Wilbur took the craft on a voyage lasting nearly a minute, during which he traveled 862 feet.
Many Cooks In The Kitchen - This is a piece of history we've all heard about, but really doesn't answer the question as to who invented the airplane. Many were involved in designing and developing early aircraft, include some which flew before the Wright brother's flight. These earlier planes however were either gliders, or when powered were models, or in any event were unmanned.
The Wright brothers, who designed and sold bicycles, didn't suddenly come up with the idea of what it would take to get a heavier than air machine airborne. Like most great inventors, they built upon the findings and experiments of others, several of whom came close to being the first to fly in a powered craft that could be called an airplane.
A Brazilian named Santos-Dumont who for a time claimed to be the first to fly, did come close. His initial flight was some time after the Wright brother's successful flight. Santos-Dumont's claim was that the Wright brothers used a catapult to get their airplane airborne, while his plane took of under its own power. As it turned out, the Wright brothers chose not to use wheels and to use a catapult for fear of damaging the airplane on take off. Many early aircraft suffered damage when one of their wheels hit a rough spot.
It All Started With da Vinci, Or Earlier - Leonardo da Vinci could be considered as one of those who invented the airplane. At least he designed some models which, although not powered, seemed capable of flight. A German engineer, Otto Lilienthal, developed a number of gliders, what we today call hang gliders, along with some later fixed wing gliders, and an Australian, Lawrence Hargrave, credited with inventing the box kite, made some important contributions the Wright brothers were able to build upon. A Dane, Lillehammer, and a Frenchman, Bleriot, made significant contributions during the first years of powered flight.
Weird Looking Machines - There were numerous attempts to fly, both before and after the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Some of the designs are quite comical to look at, yet the same could almost be said for the Wright brother's airplane, a somewhat frail looking craft that weighed all of 600 pounds and had an engine capable of getting it off the ground, but not much more. Look back in history and there are steam powered airplanes, a steam powered model actually flew in the 1860s, and a model of a triplane that also flew about that time. There were airplanes tested that looked like giant umbrellas, one, the multi plane, had 5 stacked wings, but collapsed on takeoff and never became airborne, and there were the ancestors of today's helicopters. As far as who invented the airplane is concerned, there were many cooks in the kitchen.
All of these, from da Vinci, to Lilienthal, Hargrave, and Orville and Wilbur Wright, understood the principle of the airfoil, the particular shape of an airplane wing, and an airplane propeller blade for that matter, that when moving, produces lift and makes flight possible. Who invented the airplane? To say the Wright brothers did is all right. You just need to know which type of airplane was involved.