On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 20:19:19 -0400, "Lawrence Dillard"
wrote in Message-Id:
:

Not intending a flame war, but I seem to recall that an Australian inventor
got his powered, piloted, heavier-than-air a/c into sustained, controlled
flight to a safe landing even before (perhaps by years) the Wright
Brothers. His feat, however, did not get the publicity it deserved.

There's a web site I recall, that very thoroughly lists the
aeronautical events of a German immigrant who was reputed to have had
some success predating Orv and Wil. There are doubtless other like
minded, unpublicized individuals who realized some measure of
successful powered heavier-than-air, sustained, controlled flight.

The Wright's were the progeny of a clergyman, bright, educated for
their day, successful businessmen, and had the foresight to
photo-document and journal their work. But what truly set them apart
from other aeronautical (crackpot?) experimenters of the time was
their abhorrence of the press.

This was the beginning of the era that became (and still is) dominated
by the use of petro-power to provide useful work that had till then
been the provence of steam. Harnessing the energy of the oily remains
of the life that has populated this planet for aeons, made man's
taking to the skies inevitable.