For Jane's, Gustav Weißkopf's 1901 Liftoff Displaces Wright Bros.

gentryx writes "Newly found evidence supports earlier claims that Gustave Whitehead (a German immigrant, born Gustav Weißkopf, with Whitehead being the literal translation of Weißkopf) performed the first powered, controlled, heavier-than-air flight as early as 1901-08-14 — more than two years before the Wrights took off. A reconstructed image shows him mid-flight. A detailed analysis of said photo can be found here. Apparently the results are convincing enough that even Jane's chimes in. His plane is also better looking than the Wright Flyer I." (And when it comes to displacing the Wright brothers, don't forget Alberto Santos Dumont.)

Comments

Re:When will people learn

[blue trane]

Mendel tried to share. Wegener tried to share. Aristarchus of Samos tried to share. Society chose to cover their ears, close their eyes, and sing "la la la".

Re:When will people learn

[dmbasso]

While the Wright Brother's first reaction was to patent the invention, Santos Dumont freely spread his schematics and helped people who wanted to copy his inventions, in the true spirit of sharing knowledge (like Free Software). So by your own definition the W.B. should be forgotten...