It's amazing to me, to see the faces and hear the voices of the men who made up the pantheon of the pioneer era of aviation. It was especially cool to see and hear from Charlie Taylor.
It is hard to find in today's world such a rich and complete documentary produced entirely of archived videos taken from the original people who lived the subject with no historian explaining it to us. This is among the best documentaries I have ever watched. @ 57:52 Personally, I loved Journalist Earl Friendly's storytelling skills. He is so captivating that I could talk to him all day without ever feeling bored.
Imagine that they made the first flight, and basically a decade later WW1 started and the sky was filled with your invention. Amd Wilber lived thru WW2 and saw all of that innovation. Must have been mind blowing.
Thank you so much for posting this. These interviews with the real pioneers are PRICELESS. How many areas of life could we use the saying “One test flight is worth more than a thousand ‘expert opinions’. “ ?
@@awancah7309 No Gustave Whitehead made multiple flights, some as early as 1899 when he flew his plane into the 2nd story of a building per the photos. But his better documented flights in 1901 in Bridgeport Connecticut were attested to by over 10 eyewitnesses including a Newspaper Reporter who all filed affidavits in US Court testifying to this.
Would be fascinating to see what these people would have thought of Concorde and even rockets/spacecraft etc…its also fascinating how rapidly our technology advanced and aviation progressed in the 20th Century. Now its so commonplace its almost trivial. Great to appreciate whats got us this far
Its amazing how many things we have today that are now extreme important to our society that were waved off at their time of invention with the thought that it would never become anything more than a curiosity.
On August 14, 1901, Gustave Whitehead, a German-born immigrant living in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was more than likely the first to achieve manned, self-propelled, sustained flight, somewhat under control, but did not have 3-axis control. He steered the machine by shifting his body weight from side to side. Some time after this flight the Wright Brothers visited Whitehead under the guise of financing his efforts (reported by a man who worked for Whitehead at that time). My theory is that during this visit, Whitehead shared some ideas which led the Wrights to 3-axis control which they tested and built into their 1902 glider. Add the fact that there were no photos of Whitehead's #21 machine in flight only photos of it on the ground. And zero original source documentation such as journals, letters, telegrams, etc. In 1903, the Wrights added an engine and propellers to what was essentially the 1902 glider (they never considered propulsion a big challenge), and on December 17, 1903 invited a few spectators and had the high-end camera at the ready. Kids, if you want to own the patents and make it into the Smithsonian, document your work... Thoroughly.
Whitehead's flight is a fish story he wrote himself. There's noway that unaerodynamic piece of garbage he had flew. It's odd it never flew again and he abandoned the design for something that looked more like a Wright Brothers craft later in his career.
Frank P. Lahm (November 17, 1877 - July 7, 1963) was an American aviation pioneer, the "nation's first military aviator", and a general officer in the United States Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces. He was trained by Orville Wright in 1909.✈
This is incorrect - Gustave Whitehead was the first to fly in 1901 - 2 years before the Wright Brothers, and he did it in Bridgeport Connecticut. The WRONG BROTHERS did not fly first. Whitehead had over 10 eyewitnesses who signed affidavits that Whitehead flew in 1901.
Those are opinions. If you are serious about your allegations, you should make a point by arguing with factually verifiable (not coming from obscure blogs or Wikipedia) or join another comment where this has been discussed before. Nothing new in what you bring to the table but rather disputed factoids. Considering that the claims mainly arose in the 30s, decades later, you can see how they have little credibility. If you look, for example. At the invention of the telephone (Meucci vs. Bell), you can see that Meucci disputed Bell almost immediately and, most importantly, substantially, so much so that U.S. Congress, not long ago, had to recognize Meucci as the actual inventor, and Bell as the idea thief he was. Unfortunately, the Italian genius never had life satisfaction, but ironically, if there was a descendant, he could easily sus AT&T for trillions of dollars. I invite you to make a good case for your allegations.
I think the veracity of this film is passingly summed up right in the opening sequence - ‘we saw it happen’. I mention this because nearly all of the ‘first’ are attributable to the fact that someone filmed the event, For example, everybody credits the Wright Brothers with creating the first example of powered flight. It just happened to caught on film. I have a problem with accepting this being ‘powered flight, for two reasons; a) the aeroplane is slung into the air via a catapult;m that powered glider would have travelled the same distance whether it had an engine or not. b), about the same time, there were a lot of powered flights being undertaken in France, Germany & other European countries - all of which were hauled into thee air using wheeled undercarriage. However, without the benefit of a camera crew. Also, it must be remembered that the Wright Brothers were still using a catapult launch system six or seven years later, when they turned up at an international air show in France.
Your point about the Wright's catapult launch is a good one, but nevertheless, they were routinely conducting well-controlled flights lasting several minutes at a time when no one in Europe was doing more than tiny hops going nowhere.
@richarddyasonihc --The 1903 Wright Flyer did not use a catapult at all, nor did the 1904 Flyer initially. The Wrights adopted the use of a catapult as a performance preference, not as a necessity anyway. It allowed operation from unsuitable surfaces and confined spaces, such as the soft dunes of Kill Devil Hills, and the hummocky, tree-lined Huffman Prairie, places where wheeled aircraft of the day likely couldn’t have operated at all. And as another poster mentioned, to remain aloft for a time and distance not producible by a catapult alone-such as 39 minutes and 24 miles, in 1905--invalidates the notion that the Wrights had not achieved powered flight before their competitors did. Keep in mind that early on, the Wrights believed that aviation’s future preference would be for small airports using assisted takeoff systems, rather than spread-out facilities on large plots of land. Of course, they were wrong about that, but it explains their use of a catapult for a time after others were already using wheeled undercarriages.
Robert, please feel free to fill the gaps. this is a documentary from many decades ago, so anything missing, you are more than welcome to add, especially if it is adding to the history of aviation.
Yo what about a shout-out for all the trans folks who helped us cross the transatlantic divide and developed the transmission and the transistor radios!?
I respect your opinion but I beg to differ from yours. This is one of the best documentaries I have seen so far. So much so that I am watching it today for the second time. What makes it best? The answer is the producers spend many months dusting old and short clips from all over the place, then zipping them together in a meaningful way to produce a coherent movie. The other thing I loved is there is no need for historians to explain it to us. They left the original authentic people who lived the era to tell us their stories. Believe me, you can't get such a gem this day. Now you can tell me what type of documentary makes you happy. 😼😼😼😼
Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes and their stories, missions: www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes
Hearing someone refer to the 1880's as "the 80's" is so peculiar.
🙂
In 10 years "the 20s" will get extremely peculiar for anyone over 45
@@sunkings5972Oh. The 'roaring' 20s or the 1920s.
The newer 20s, the 2020s.
💅💅💅❤❤❤
Globalskylove
It's amazing to me, to see the faces and hear the voices of the men who made up the pantheon of the pioneer era of aviation. It was especially cool to see and hear from Charlie Taylor.
👍
Wow, to hear these legends talk from their point of view is so enlightening.
😍😍💎💎❤❤💅💅skylove people
Amazing and beautiful documentary, thanks for sharing this. Its priceless. Now documentaries are not that good in details as this
It is hard to find in today's world such a rich and complete documentary produced entirely of archived videos taken from the original people who lived the subject with no historian explaining it to us. This is among the best documentaries I have ever watched.
@ 57:52 Personally, I loved Journalist Earl Friendly's storytelling skills. He is so captivating that I could talk to him all day without ever feeling bored.
Imagine that they made the first flight, and basically a decade later WW1 started and the sky was filled with your invention. Amd Wilber lived thru WW2 and saw all of that innovation. Must have been mind blowing.
"My helicopter. Which was a fine machine only it couldn't fly"
Imagine if he gave up! Greatest helicopter brand would never of existed
Thank you so much for posting this. These interviews with the real pioneers are PRICELESS. How many areas of life could we use the saying “One test flight is worth more than a thousand ‘expert opinions’. “ ?
🙏🙏
Globalskylove😍😍👑👑❤❤🙏🙏
The 80s as in 1880 is just crazy to hear.
Gustavo Whitehead was the first to fly in Bridgeport Connecticut in 1901.
then?where he fly again?or just one time only?
@@awancah7309 No Gustave Whitehead made multiple flights, some as early as 1899 when he flew his plane into the 2nd story of a building per the photos. But his better documented flights in 1901 in Bridgeport Connecticut were attested to by over 10 eyewitnesses including a Newspaper Reporter who all filed affidavits in US Court testifying to this.
Would be fascinating to see what these people would have thought of Concorde and even rockets/spacecraft etc…its also fascinating how rapidly our technology advanced and aviation progressed in the 20th Century. Now its so commonplace its almost trivial. Great to appreciate whats got us this far
Its amazing how many things we have today that are now extreme important to our society that were waved off at their time of invention with the thought that it would never become anything more than a curiosity.
On August 14, 1901, Gustave Whitehead, a German-born immigrant living in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was more than likely the first to achieve manned, self-propelled, sustained flight, somewhat under control, but did not have 3-axis control. He steered the machine by shifting his body weight from side to side. Some time after this flight the Wright Brothers visited Whitehead under the guise of financing his efforts (reported by a man who worked for Whitehead at that time).
My theory is that during this visit, Whitehead shared some ideas which led the Wrights to 3-axis control which they tested and built into their 1902 glider. Add the fact that there were no photos of Whitehead's #21 machine in flight only photos of it on the ground. And zero original source documentation such as journals, letters, telegrams, etc.
In 1903, the Wrights added an engine and propellers to what was essentially the 1902 glider (they never considered propulsion a big challenge), and on December 17, 1903 invited a few spectators and had the high-end camera at the ready.
Kids, if you want to own the patents and make it into the Smithsonian, document your work... Thoroughly.
Whitehead's flight is a fish story he wrote himself. There's noway that unaerodynamic piece of garbage he had flew. It's odd it never flew again and he abandoned the design for something that looked more like a Wright Brothers craft later in his career.
@@nickthompson318 You sir, are no lover of liberty.
Richard Pierce was the first flight prior the Wright brothers in New Zealand,
Thanks
Thank you 🙏
"It was a fine machine it just wouldn't fly" LOL
(These are just where I left off, so don't think about criticizing it)
My bookmarks:
- 5:50
-
who is the person (frank who?) at the end?
Frank P. Lahm (November 17, 1877 - July 7, 1963) was an American aviation pioneer, the "nation's first military aviator", and a general officer in the United States Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces. He was trained by Orville Wright in 1909.✈
Lots of firsts! but No mention of Frank Whittle who invented the jet engine.
But we have a wonderful,documentary on him on the channel: ruclips.net/video/G0T4-XG612Q/видео.html
Well considering the doco was about planes in general and the jet age didn't come into play until the last few minutes that's quite understandable.
@@SlickArmor and we have a wonderful documentary just on him on the channel at the following link: ruclips.net/video/G0T4-XG612Q/видео.html
This is incorrect - Gustave Whitehead was the first to fly in 1901 - 2 years before the Wright Brothers, and he did it in Bridgeport Connecticut. The WRONG BROTHERS did not fly first. Whitehead had over 10 eyewitnesses who signed affidavits that Whitehead flew in 1901.
Those are opinions.
If you are serious about your allegations, you should make a point by arguing with factually verifiable (not coming from obscure blogs or Wikipedia) or join another comment where this has been discussed before.
Nothing new in what you bring to the table but rather disputed factoids. Considering that the claims mainly arose in the 30s, decades later, you can see how they have little credibility.
If you look, for example. At the invention of the telephone (Meucci vs. Bell), you can see that Meucci disputed Bell almost immediately and, most importantly, substantially, so much so that U.S. Congress, not long ago, had to recognize Meucci as the actual inventor, and Bell as the idea thief he was.
Unfortunately, the Italian genius never had life satisfaction, but ironically, if there was a descendant, he could easily sus AT&T for trillions of dollars.
I invite you to make a good case for your allegations.
Just remember, the experts then stated that it was impossible to fly.
I think the veracity of this film is passingly summed up right in the opening sequence - ‘we saw it happen’. I mention this because nearly all of the ‘first’ are attributable to the fact that someone filmed the event, For example, everybody credits the Wright Brothers with creating the first example of powered flight. It just happened to caught on film. I have a problem with accepting this being ‘powered flight, for two reasons; a) the aeroplane is slung into the air via a catapult;m that powered glider would have travelled the same distance whether it had an engine or not. b), about the same time, there were a lot of powered flights being undertaken in France, Germany & other European countries - all of which were hauled into thee air using wheeled undercarriage. However, without the benefit of a camera crew. Also, it must be remembered that the Wright Brothers were still using a catapult launch system six or seven years later, when they turned up at an international air show in France.
Your point about the Wright's catapult launch is a good one, but nevertheless, they were routinely conducting well-controlled flights lasting several minutes at a time when no one in Europe was doing more than tiny hops going nowhere.
@richarddyasonihc --The 1903 Wright Flyer did not use a catapult at all, nor did the 1904 Flyer initially. The Wrights adopted the use of a catapult as a performance preference, not as a necessity anyway. It allowed operation from unsuitable surfaces and confined spaces, such as the soft dunes of Kill Devil Hills, and the hummocky, tree-lined Huffman Prairie, places where wheeled aircraft of the day likely couldn’t have operated at all. And as another poster mentioned, to remain aloft for a time and distance not producible by a catapult alone-such as 39 minutes and 24 miles, in 1905--invalidates the notion that the Wrights had not achieved powered flight before their competitors did.
Keep in mind that early on, the Wrights believed that aviation’s future preference would be for small airports using assisted takeoff systems, rather than spread-out facilities on large plots of land. Of course, they were wrong about that, but it explains their use of a catapult for a time after others were already using wheeled undercarriages.
✍️ Going Global - Who Dares Win - "Encik Lee Kuan Yew" ertinya Meneroka Dunia Siapa Berani Dia Menang - Dikalangan Mereka yang Berani Gagal 👍
Tq Sir I'm at 1:15:28
They d should have toilets in all air force bombers but I don't think that thay did.
I cant believe you ignored the contribution made to aviation made by African Engineers!
Robert, please feel free to fill the gaps. this is a documentary from many decades ago, so anything missing, you are more than welcome to add, especially if it is adding to the history of aviation.
Yo what about a shout-out for all the trans folks who helped us cross the transatlantic divide and developed the transmission and the transistor radios!?
@@dirtrascal1776 LOL I can't stop laughing about that post. Loved it.
Especially the integrated circuits- prior to that they had all been segregated.
The most boring documentary ever
I respect your opinion but I beg to differ from yours. This is one of the best documentaries I have seen so far. So much so that I am watching it today for the second time. What makes it best? The answer is the producers spend many months dusting old and short clips from all over the place, then zipping them together in a meaningful way to produce a coherent movie. The other thing I loved is there is no need for historians to explain it to us. They left the original authentic people who lived the era to tell us their stories. Believe me, you can't get such a gem this day.
Now you can tell me what type of documentary makes you happy. 😼😼😼😼