An interesting thought that always elicits a bit of a laugh: who was the first human that ___ and why did they do that? For example, which one of early man’s forefathers took one look at what was dripping out of the nest of those angry, painful buzzing things and went, “Hmm…bet that tastes amazing!” How desperate was someone that they shoved the calf out of the way and had themselves a drink? Who decided that working with metal so hot that it liquified was a valuable way to spend the day? For every advancement that Homo sapiens has made ever since the species appeared, there has to have been one individual who decided to dare, to attempt, and to risk failure. Somebody had to figure out electricity. Somebody had to figure out how to harness the explosive power of volatile fuels to create an engine. And eventually, one way or another, someone had to figure out how to harness the power of flight.
From the momemnt that the Wright Flyer aircraft flew at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, inventors the world over went absolutely insane with ideas on ways to improve upon the wing. Wilbur and Orville Wright’s aircraft flew, no doubt, but there were modifications that needed to be made, like functional ailerons instead of a device that warped the wings, for instance. As we know over a century later, there are many ways to make a heavier-than-air craft. We’ve seen everything from the monster AN-225 Mriya cargo aircraft to ultralight airframes that are little more than the crossing of a wheelbarrow, go-kart wheels, a small propellor engine and a hang glider. We’ve seen supersonic machines that warp the sense of time and we’ve seen flying wings like the B-2 Spirit bomber. Every advancement, a risk. In this video, you will see plenty of risk. Some have rewards. Others, while driven by good intentions, failed. All were conceived by people who had dreams, aspirations and the motivation to try.
