And the bit about german technology and research was interesting, but they seemed to borrow heavily from Goddard's work on rockets.
Goddard was fully aware of the British Army's use of Congreve's explosive rockets a century or two previously, and of Chinese ones dating back to centuries earlier.
the montgolfiers didn't invent hot air!
Correct. Likewise the Wrights did not invent air, aerodynamics, wings, tailplanes, propellers internal combustion engines, and under-carriage. Furthermore, birds and insects have used wing warping for millions of years. In fact, once the IC engine had been invented, and was providing better power to weight ratios than other power sources, then Powered Controlled and Sustained flight was INEViTABLE, thanks to science and experiments by RAeS and others.
Exclude the Montgolfiers by that Criterion, and you logically exclude the Wrights!
I agree strongly with Cows getting bigger, I love AHN, I love good discussion and I am happy to learn new facts and even be proved wrong occasionally, but myopic nationalism and xenophobia spoil the discussion.
Last edited by joy ride; 17th Jun 2015 at 14:30.