PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - The Wright brothers just glided in 1903. They flew in 1908.
Old 1st Jun 2014, 09:02
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simplex1
 
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About the 1875 plane of Thomas Moy, Octave Chanute wrote in 1892:

"the machine (which was only a large model and could not carry an engineer) being wholly propelled by the action of the aerial wheels upon the air, acting only as driven.
The utmost speed attained was 12 miles per hour, while 35 miles an hour was required to cause it to leave the ground."

( see: Chanute, Octave (November 1892), "Progress in Flying Machines: Aeroplanes, Part IV". The Railroad and Engineering Journal, Progress in Flying Machines: Aeroplanes, November 1892 )

The 1875 plane of Moy did not fly at all and it was not a man carrying machine. This airplane was about three times below the takeoff speed. It was far from achieving even the shortest, smallest hop possible.

Honestly I do not find any credible man carrying plane, powered by steam, that really hopped a bit (took off under its own power) before 1906.
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