Who Invented the Airplane?: Wright Brothers vs. Whitehead
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION THE AERONAUTS CHAPTER 1 CHAMPS OF FLIGHT CHAPTER 2 A SERIOUS CONTENDER CHAPTER 3 THE FIGHT FOR FIRST CHAPTER 4 UNDISPUTED INVENTOR MATCHUP TIMELINE SOURCE NOTES GLOSSARY FURTHER READING INDEX
INTRODUCTION THE AERONAUTS Sitting Sitting in your airplane seat you can't stop smiling The airplane speeds down the runway and lifts It climbs higher Soon you're cruising at 35,000 feet 10,670 m It's time to recline and watch a movie on your personal screen Just think in a few hours you'll be in Hawaii Traveling by airplane is how most of us get to faraway places But in the early twentieth century flight was still a dream Many tried to get into the air and many failed Inventors like Octave Chanute and Otto Lilienthal created gliders in the nineteenth century They were the first aeronauts a new group of people who had traveled by air Some gliders lifted people into the sky and traveled a short distance To many people these days flying seems like no big deal But in the Wright brothers time it seemed extraordinary
This drawing shows an early aircraft created by Otto Lilienthal But controlled powered flight eluded even the best glider makers Was it possible Many inventors gave up on conquering the skies but some persisted The biggest names in the competition were the Wright brothers two bicycle mechanics from Ohio Another contender was German immigrant Gustave Whitehead a former sailor mechanic and coal miner These aeronauts raced to be the first in flight Who would soar across the finish line first And who would be able to prove it
