Do you remember last week that I asked you if you ever wished you could fly? And if you could, where would you go? Would you visit a dear friend who lives far away? Would you fly to see a famous person giving a speech? Or would you fly to your ancestors’ (or your favorite) country and scout it out from above? Well, due to modern flight, we can do all of these. Not with our own arms, but in the planes that took centuries to create.
A number of people tried to get human flight off the ground (pun intended). China got interested in flight somewhere around 400 BC after kites successfully made it to the skies, but Leonardo Da Vinci was the first to make real studies of it in the 1480’s based on the flight of birds. Because Leonardo sketched over 100 drawings that illustrated his theories on flight, he made human flight more of a reality for the inventors to come. He even drew the first flying machine, the Ornithopter. He designed it to show how man could fly, and, although he didn’t get to see it built, our modern-day helicopter is based on his concept.
Kites were the forerunner to balloons and gliders. In 1783, Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier invented the first Hot Air Balloon, and between 1799 and 1850's, George Cayley designed many different versions of gliders, honing in on what made them fly the best. Otto Lilienthal (1891) designed the first glider that a person could fly in and fly long distances. Also in 1891, Samuel P. Langley built a model of a plane with a steam-powered engine called an aerodrome. The model flew for three quarters of a mile before running out of fuel.
By the time the Wright brothers came along, there were a dozen such inventors around the world striving to make human flight possible. The Wright brothers spent years studying earlier progress in flight concepts, and then began to add their own twists to it, testing it with kites and gliders. Many of the other inventors did achieve flight on their own, but Orville and Wilbur Wright finished the race first and built the first flyable airplane. That early engine they designed generated almost 12 horsepower – that’s the same power as two hand-propelled lawnmower engines. Considering modern day flight, it doesn’t seem like much to me, but it was enough to make it a successful machine to build upon. And look where it’s taken mankind! Everywhere on the planet and beyond.
Can you imagine how the Wright Brothers and those after them felt when their ideas came to life? Some dreams are just that: dreams. Some are just impossible; but some dreams can come true over time. Just work at them and be patient. If nothing else, you will give purpose to your life. Maybe we won’t all get to see the end result like Leonardo didn’t, but what we discover may be built upon by the next generations. Let your imaginations fly!
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