Having a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_flying_machine you can see a total of 27 different people can claimed to be the inventors for one reason or the other.
I do know that Americans and Canadians are taught on their schools that the Americans Wright Brothers were the big inventors, but in Brazil they are taught it was Santos Dumont.
So according to your country, who was chosen to be the "real" inventor? Please mention your country name.
PLEASE, this is not intended to know anyone's opinion, or to try to seek any truth, but rather to research on different views on a country by country perspective.
Thank you.
2006-12-02 21:47:45 · 5 answers · asked by renatops 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
I'm from Australia and was taught the American Wright Brothers (Orville and ??) were the first to fly an airplane. In North Carolina maybe.
Been a while since I was in school.
2006-12-02 23:38:05 · answer #1 · answered by Yellowstonedogs 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
If "machine" is defined as something built by a human, and flying is pretty much self evident as in it moves through the air, the a hot air balloon was the first "flying machine". Now, some will argue that "flying machine" means it has power for propulsion and offers the pilot a means of controlling the direction of flight. If that is the case, then the first confirmed case of a powered, controlled [steered] flight is the the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk.
However, there was a hot air ballon used during the US Civil War that was able to be somewhat steered through use of a very long walkway/gondola, ballast, and a rudder. It didn't have an "engine" or "power" for propulsion, though.
2006-12-03 07:32:47 · answer #2 · answered by quntmphys238 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Wright brothers did not invent the first flying machine...
...They invented the first airplane.
Other such flying machines, whether it be gliders or hot-air balloons, we invented by several different people throughout history (some of which are listed there.) In fact, it's possible that Leonardo Di Vinci (while he did not build a working model) could be credited with designing the first concept of a "flying machine".
Other than whoever you believe made the first "flying machine" (whether it be Di Vinci or not), I feel that the Wright brothers are some of the most prominent people associated with flight, since we use airplanes as a transit device, and it's connected the world together.
2006-12-03 06:01:08 · answer #3 · answered by amg503 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A friend who visited Pyongyang reports that the North Koreans apparently invented the airplane, or so they claim.
2006-12-03 07:58:15 · answer #4 · answered by Jonathan B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Without any engine, it was around 9th century in Spain by a arabic guy whose name was Ibn Firnas.
Must have few monkeys before in a tornado!
2006-12-03 09:38:15 · answer #5 · answered by kesatria 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋