Rio Olympics

Ah, flight. Whet a thing. There were many excellent attempts, which we now treat, wrongly as 100% Wright brothers.

I think they merit praise for having been more organized about it than others. They (first and best) figured out that how a propeller ought to be shaped.

Meanwhile, wing warping turned out to be a goofy idea. Ailerons (as seen on Brazilian 14 bis, etc.) were the 'right' way, and Wrights spent years (decades) trying to sue everybody about that. A case could be made that they held the entire field back, after their auspicious efforts.

Ah but whaddayagonnado?

 

Glenn Curtiss is generally recognized as an aggrieved party here. There was a lot of dithering until WWI highlighted the need to just get on with it. US govt. more or less shut down Wright bros' trolling (I wish for a more apt term here).

But we yearn for simple stories and heroes. And so it goes.

 

Los Angeles air show 1910

1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

L.A. air show in 1910 awed a nation - latimes

So few years into the enterprise. I freely admit to having dreamed what that was like...