Who Invented it, and who invented it first?

[kach22i]

The Airplane:

John Stringfellow (1848), Sir Hiram Maxim (1893), and Samuel Pierpoint Langley(1898?)
http://oldenginehouse.users.btopenworld.com/flight.htm

Gustave Whitehead
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Whitehead

On August 14, 1901 in Fairfield, Connecticut Whitehead reportedly flew his engine powered Number 21 800 m at 15 m height, according to articles in the Bridgeport Herald, the New York Herald and the Boston Transcript. (See References below for a link to the full article.) No photographs were taken, but a sketch of the plane in the air was made by Dick Howell of the Bridgeport Herald, who was present. This flight precedes the Wright brothers' Kitty Hawk, North Carolina flight by more than two years.

The Wright brothers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Brothers

The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were two Americans generally credited with building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, they developed their flying machine into the world's first practical fixed-wing aircraft.

The Hovercraft:

Christopher Cockerell
http://www.hovercraft-museum.org/cockerell.html

Melville Whitnel Beardsley:
http://www.geneabase.com/ACV/acv.htm

Walter A. Crowley:
http://www.historylink.org/essays/ou...m?file_id=7987

Charles J. Fletcher
http://www.njinvent.org/1993/inducte.../fletcher.html

While serving as a pilot in the U.S. Navy in Norfolk, Va., Charles J. Fletcher sketched the design for a vehicle envisioned to rise above the water or terrain (approximately 10 inches to two feet) depending on available horsepower. The vehicle would generate an airflow trapped against a uniform surface such as the ground or water, freeing it from the surface and eliminating friction. Positive control and movement would be attained using aircraft control techniques and the release of air. What Fletcher called the "Glidemobile" is known today ad the hovercraft. The hovercraft has proven to be a major advance in military land assault vehicles and modern inter-waterway travel. Hovercrafts are manufactured in the U.S. today and by Bell Aerosystems and sell for between $800,00 and $1.5 million each. Fletcher's claim as an inventor of the hovercraft, undocumented because the U.S. military suppressed the patent to keep the idea a secret, was recently validated during resolution of a lawsuit brought by British Hovercraft Ltd. against the United States, seeking royalties of $104 million. Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice found a 1960 edition of Design News which featured an article on Fletcher's hovercraft. Fletcher was tracked down and his records on the project which included 16 mm films of the "Glidemobile," documentation regarding his conceptual drawings, subsequent work, model flight trials, and various news articles proved easy to destroy the Hovercraft Ltd. case. Fletcher earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from the academy of Aeronautics at New York University in 1950. He holds 17 aeronautical patents on vertical lift and rocket engines plus five additional patents for industrial products.

Vladimir Levlov
http://milparade.udm.ru/32/062.htm

On October 2, 1935, state trials of the L-1 air-skimmer (this was the official term adopted for the craft) began on the Pleshcheyevo Lake (the Jaroslavl Region, Russia).

Sir John Isaac Thornycroft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovercraft

In the mid-1870s, the British engineer Sir John Isaac Thornycroft built a number of ground effect machine test models based on his idea of using air between the hull of a boat and the water to reduce drag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovercraft
DI Toivo J. Kaario

Finnish engineer DI Toivo J. Kaario, head inspector of Valtion Lentokonetehdas (VL) airplane engine workshop, began to design an air cushion craft in 1931. He constructed and tested his craft, dubbed pintaliitäjä (Surface Glider), and received its Finnish patents 18630 and 26122. Kaario is considered to have designed and built the first functional ground effect vehicle, but his invention did not receive sufficient funds for further development.

[Frosty]

I think that Fred and Wilma Flintstone went on holiday in a flight in the stone age.

Although not a mechanical fight( is this relative) was however a contolled flight with inflight entertainment,-I seem to remember.

Braking was a little difficult needing passenger participation.

[Bergalia]

A chap's really got to speak up for Australian initiative: John Keogh from Melbourne, in 2001 patented the wheel. However he says has, as yet, no plans to patent fire, crop rotation or other fundamental advances in civilization
Keogh wanted to prove the innovation patent system was flawed because submissions could be prepared without professional help and did not need to be examined by the Australian Patent Office. The name only has to be changed to "Registered Innovation" to avoid confusion with standard patents, he said.
He described his ‘wheel’ as a “Spherical object to facilitate smooth motion in non-stationery objects.”

Thankee for that, I was wondering what I was going to do this morning) interesting, ah BUT did you know, that ole Pute has the biggest Amphibian aircraft? If you can find pics of this , please do cos I,m busy working out how much plate I need for my new boat, which, has no wings and if you are real nice I may take you sailing

[Frosty]

Berglia,-- thats probably true.

In Yorkshire we invented the fart,--simply because people at that time didnt know what it was.

Being unabled to measure it -see it or even prove it existed, was difficult.

Also knowing when one would come was some what of a surprise.

However it was as you would imagine that toilet paper was a direct progression of work in this field.

[Bergalia]

[quote=jack frost;140243] In Yorkshire we invented the fart.... Being unabled to measure it -see it or even prove it existed, was difficult/QUOTE]

I'm afraid you are confused again Jack, that's not a fart. It's a quark.....
God knows what they were eating in Yorkshire....

The fart (naturally a Scots invention) is the elimentary note achieved and sustained by the bagpipes....

[charmc]

Originally Posted by jack frost

Also knowing when one would come was some what of a surprise.

???? Sounds like you're changing the subject, there, jack ...

[charmc]

The hang glider:

In 875 at an age of 65 years, Ibn Firnas built his own hang glider, and launched himself from a mountain. The flight was largely successful, and was widely observed by a crowd that he had invited. However, the landing was bad. He injured his back, and left critics saying he hadn't taken proper account of the way birds pull up into a stall, and land on their tails. He'd provided neither a tail, nor means for such a maneuver. He died twelve years later.

"Ibn Firnas was the first man in history to make a scientific attempt at flying."
—Philip Hitti, History of the Arabs.
As westerners teach their children about the Wright Brothers, the Islamic countries tell theirs about Ibn Firnas, a thousand years before the Wrights—though his flight was not powered. The Libyans produced a postage stamp honoring him. The Iraqis built a statue in his memory on the way to Baghdad International Airport, and the Ibn Firnas Airport to the north of Baghdad is named for him.

Ibn Firnas crater on the Moon is also named in his honor."
(J. Vernet, 'Abbas Ibn Firnas. Dictionary of Scientific Biography (C.C. Gilespie, ed.) Vol. I, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970-1980)

[Bergalia]

[quote=charmc;140289]The hang glider:
"Ibn Firnas was the first man in history to make a scientific attempt at flying."—Philip Hitti, History of the Arabs. QUOTE]

I see there are still doubters out there. It was of course that Highland lad Ian (misspelled in translation) McFirnas to whom Philip Hitti refers....

But it raises the question of Daedalus and his lad....

the Scuts neer invented oul bonny laddies
Frinstance, this is wot influenced my life out of USA, Cummins Engines and the engine brake, , Trace invertors,(indestructable) sivin sux sivin(kiwi for 767) Spectra low press desal plants, Bill Gates low press geek. Louis, high press trumpet blower.

But then porridge beats grits!

[PI Design]

Originally Posted by Bergalia

But it raises the question of Daedalus and his lad....

Yup, my money is on Icarus, even if he did have a crash landing.

[westlawn5554X]

I think I am slightly addicted to all this baby talk...

[Poida]

THree kids were trying to outdo each other.

The first said, "Yeah you guys, you know airoplanes?"
The other guys said,"Yeah."

The first kid said, "Well my Dad invented them."

The second kid said, "Well did you know that my Dad invented the television."

"Wow," said the other two.

Not to be outdone, the third kid said, "Well, you've heard about AIDS, haven't you."

"Gee" said the other guys, "Did your Dad invent that?"

"No," he said, "but he is the national distributor."

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by charmc

The hang glider:

One of the current hovercraft designers on the west coast also "invented" the modern hang glider (triangle wing). Others have tried to take credit for his work but he has moved on to bigger things. Like most inventive people he has had more than one good idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...g_hang_gliding

Barry Palmer, 1961. First hang glider based on the Para Wing or Rogallo wing.

I think Barry Palmer was the first to power one to if I'm not mistaken.

As for the rest of this thread, thanks for the early morning laugh.