 If you are good at reading blueprints you might be able to tell how these two pages of patent application paperwork led to issuance of:  Notice what the patent is for, a "flying machine." The word "airplane" had not yet been coined.  This is the view - obviously on a foggy day - from the top of Big Kill Devil Hill, just outside Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. From where I am standing they flew to where the buildings can just be seen on the top right of the photo. And yes, the reason you can get your license plate in NC with a "First in Flight" logo, is because powered flight happened here first.  The Wright brothers were bicycle mechanics. They spent four years working on making powered flight possible. (I can see my friend Micah, who co-owns Peninsula Bike Works in Monterey, CA doing something like this.) Many of the parts they used were re-imagined bicycle parts. It would take huge imagination, and dedicated drive to accomplish what they did.  And an amazing thing to consider: from the first powered flight on December 17, 1903 until man walked on the moon was 60 years. Neil Armstrong carried a bit of the cloth covering from the Wright Flyer with him on his walk on the moon. 
3 Comments
Larry Frazier
10/25/2022 10:00:04 pm
From our perspective, their flyer looks so sensible. If you've ever seen the ridiculous efforts in the preceding centuries, it makes their accomplishment all the more impressive.
Mark A Young
10/28/2022 08:00:51 pm
It is interesting just how sensible the flyer looks, and how much the brothers accomplished in the four years they worked on their flying machine.
Marian Yamaura Frazier
10/25/2022 11:31:08 pm
That happened almost 119 years ago! What a change it has made for the entire world! Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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