Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Greetings Infomaniacs,

Experimenting with heavier-than-air powered flight was a popular thing at the time of the Wright brothers, and a number of inventors in the United States and Europe did launch crafts before the Wrights in 1903.

One name that keeps popping up is Gustave Whitehead who got a craft in the air in 1901 in Bridgeport, CT. Unlike the Wright Brothers he was unable to repeat his success.

But the real answer of who flew the first airplane depends on the definition of an airplane.

Enjoy!

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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "America is a nation that conceives many odd inventions for getting somewhere but it can think of nothing to do once it gets there."

HINT: (1879 - 1935) was a stage and motion picture actor, vaudeville performer, American cowboy, humorist, newspaper columnist, and social commentator, known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son".

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RANDOM TIDBITS
Experts say a real airplane must have the following qualifications; it must be heavier than air, manned and powered, it must be able to take off and land under its own power and most importantly, it must be controllable along all three axes; known as roll, pitch and yaw.

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All of the other inventors had a problem with this last qualification, leading to more than a few crashes. But the Wrights had patented a design to warp or flex their craft's wings, giving them the all-important maneuverability.

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Plus, unlike other dabblers and tinkerers, the Wright Brothers continued to work on and improve their designs, and by 1908 they had developed a practical aircraft that would carry 2 people on longer flights.

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Interestingly enough, Alexander Graham Bell, the famous scientist and inventor of the telephone, was also interested in inventing a practical airplane. He became obsessed with flight all the way back in 1898 and began studying equilibrium and stability by flying kites.

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He tried building a kite-like airplane using a geometric design he invented called a tetrahedral, but it was a failure. So in 1907 he founded the Aerial Experimental Association (AEA) in order to design and build a practical powered airplane. While the Wrights had already built a practical plane in 1905, Bell thought he could come up with a better design.

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Eventually he did come up with the concept of the modern aileron, which was an improvement on Wrights' wing warping design.




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*** Weekly Mind-Scrambler ***
I am word with six letters.
My motto is together as one.
If you remove my first and second letters, you can wear me.
If you remove my third letter I can be painful.
If you remove my second, third and sixth letters, Adam & Eve did it.
If you remove my second and third letters, you do this using your mouth.

What am I?

Submit your answer by clicking: TheDailyTease

Answer will be posted in Friday's Trivia Today. Good Luck! If your name appears in Friday's newsletter, EMAIL MICHELE your complete name and address to be shipped your prize.

Be sure to put "Winner" in the subject line.

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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "America is a nation that conceives many odd inventions for getting somewhere but it can think of nothing to do once it gets there."

ANSWER: Will Rogers