AVIATION MARKETING 101: 1911–1913
THE INTERNET IS often likened to the Wild West because of its unruly activities, but today’s internet is fairly orderly in comparison to the early days of aviation. I’ve already … Continue reading
NEW ZEALANDER RICHARD PEARSE—FIRST TO FLY?
WHO WAS the first person to fly? Do balloonists count? What about piloting a glider? Was it Icarus? Orville or Wilber Wright? And what about New Zealander Richard Pearse? There’s evidence … Continue reading
LEARN TO FLY
A SHOW of hands, please, of all who have ever wanted to learn how to fly. I thought so. And, like me, maybe, what with one thing and another, you’ve … Continue reading
GABRIEL VOISIN VS THE WRIGHT BROS.
WELCOME TO today’s debate. Its topic, who invented the aeroplane? The Wright Bros. of Dayton, Ohio? Or Gabriel Voisin of Billancourt, Paris, France? In composing the Wright Bros. argument, I used … Continue reading
THE WRIGHT BROS. VS GLENN CURTISS
ON DECEMBER 17, 1903, on the windy sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the world’s first pilot-controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight. Others before had piloted … Continue reading
WILBUR WOWS ‘EM AT LE MANS
AVIATION HISTORY was made on August 8, 1908, not far from Le Mans, when Wilbur Wright showed Europeans the absolute state of aeroplane art. He did this just off what’s … Continue reading