"Kim Dammers" wrote in message
om...
According to an article in the current issue (Nr. 49, 2003) of the
Rheinischer Merkur, Gustav Whitehead (Gustav Weißkopf) flew his plane
(photo shown on p. 22 of the newspaper) on the night of 13 August 1901
in Fairfield, Conn.

This is like discussing who REALLY killed Kennedy; mere mental
masturbation actually. There were aircraft sprinkled around the world
before 1903, there may well have been controlled, powered flight before
1903. We would certainly have airplanes today with or without the help of
the Wrights; but the Wrights were the first ones who actually built a
flyable, controllable airplane with a real operating internal combustion
engine that you could really buy and really take out and aviate (if you
survived).

Many countries have their own candidate for the world's first aviator,
and they are welcome to them, you can even find several viable candidates
within the United States; more power to them all! Much of the argument
centers around the definition of flight and much of the argument is made
forever theoretical by a lack of solid evidence. Continue on if you must.

Vaughn