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Old 15th Jul 2015, 22:12
  #131 (permalink)  
carrollfgray
 
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Voisin, et al

As you probably know, the Voisin had a marginally effective three-axis control, skittering/sliding around turns, and could not make coordinated turns.

I admit the definition I use is not the usual one but it does highlight the difference between what Wilbur and Orville Wright managed to invent (an effective three-axis control system capable of coordinated turns) and what others were doing at the time.

I know most people might hear that and ask 'what's the difference?' - but it seems to me that being able to actively control the flight of an aerial machine to go where the operator/pilot wants to go is an essential for a proper aeroplane.

Notice I have not said others could not fly, and the Voisin is a good example of one that flew, but was not fully controllable so - in my view - it was not yet a fully developed aeroplane. The Farman, which derived a good bit of its design from the Voisin, was a fully realized aeroplane.

No one else needs to feel any pressure whatsoever to adopt the view I have, but it does have the merit of allowing people to better understand what Wilbur and Orville Wright accomplished.

Recall the reaction of European aviators when they witnessed Wilbur flying in 1908 - Louis Bleriot was quoted as saying something to the effect that "We are as children" when he saw how much control Wilbur had over his machine, and what it was capable of doing.

I do think it's correct to say that the Wrights (especially Wilbur on the last flight of 17 December 1903) were the first to make a controlled, sustained, powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine.

I think it's also correct to say that the Wrights invented the three-axis control system, which is the basis of very nearly all subsequent aeroplanes.

Admittedly, there were and are aeroplanes that did fly and could be maneuvered to some degree without fully-developed three-axis control, but if you're thinking about an aeroplane in flight as we now understand it, you're thinking of a three-axis control system as being an essential element of that aeroplane.
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