Comments on Dark Roasted Blend: Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines

The first man to fly was Santos Dumont.

2008-11-14T16:35:00.000-08:00

The first man to fly was Santos Dumont.

Hazerfan Ahmet ÇelebiHezarfen Ahmet Celebi (Turkis...

2008-11-14T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hazerfan Ahmet Çelebi

Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi (Turkish: Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi), who lived in the 17th century in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, is one of the first aviators to have succeeded in flying with artificial wings. He is supposed to have been inspired by and used the studies of Leonardo da Vinci on the flight of birds. He started flying from the Galata Tower, a high tower in Istanbul, and managed to fly over the Bosporus. The few people known to have succeeded in this kind of flight are an aviator from Moorish Spain and an English monk in the 9th and 12th centuries, respectively. One of Hezarfen's friends Lagari Hasan Celebi is known to have performed the first flight with a rocket in a conical cage filled with gun powder. Ahmet Celebi, because of his vast scientific knowledge was given the name Hezarfen, meaning "a thousand sciences". In his early studies of flying, he was motivated by the 10th century Turkish scientist Ismail Cevheri. Celebi, after carefully studying Cevheri's findings and when he felt confident enough arranged a public demonstration. He climbed the Galata Tower and launched himself into the wind; he passed over the Bosporus and landed in the slopes of Üsküdar on the Anatolian side.

This event created a great sensation. Sultan Murat IV was delighted and wanted to award Hezarfen but religious leaders and palace advisers soon changed his mind. Hezarfen was exiled to Algeria where he died soon at the age of 31.

Check Abbas Ibn Firnas's flight, although his unsu...

2008-11-13T07:06:00.000-08:00

Check Abbas Ibn Firnas's flight, although his unsuccessful landing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Ibn_Firnas

check...http://www.flyingmachines.org/

2008-11-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

check...

http://www.flyingmachines.org/

Curioso! No es la primera vez que en apenas pocos ...

2008-11-09T06:47:00.000-08:00

Curioso! No es la primera vez que en apenas pocos días publicamos cosas similares, ¿Nos leeremos el pensamiento a pesar de estar tan lejos? Gran blog!!

Traducido/Tarnslated
Funny! It is not this the firs time that with few days of diference we both have published similar post... Are we reading each other thinking? Great Blog!!

Great info, thanks - will go into next part.

2008-11-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

Great info, thanks - will go into next part.

During the early 20th century, Santos Dumont built...

2008-11-06T17:31:00.000-08:00

During the early 20th century, Santos Dumont built the 14-bis and later the Oiseau de Proie (French for "bird of prey"). This flying machine was the first fixed-wing aircraft officially witnessed to take off, fly, and land. (not catapulted)

Most americans don't know anything about Santos Dumont.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont

Ah, and yes, I'm brazilian, thanks.

Am I counting wrong, or does the Ca.60 Transaero h...

2008-11-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

Am I counting wrong, or does the Ca.60 Transaero have nine wings and not eight as stated in the captions? It sure looks like three sets of three wings each to this observer.

You forgot about the true first flight, by Burrell...

2008-11-06T07:03:00.000-08:00

You forgot about the true first flight, by Burrell Cannon in 1902 in Pittsburg, Texas. The plane is called the Ezekiel Airship and it's quite a looker... www.texasescapes.com/AllThingsHistorical/EzekielAirshipBB1103.htm

I hope that George Cayley gets a mention soonhttp:...

2008-11-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

I hope that George Cayley gets a mention soon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cayley

as he was working on flight a good 50 years before the Wright brothers. Richard Branson flew a replica of his machine a few years ago which was a hell of a sight, especially as Mr. Branson organised a Virgin jet to do a "fly past" over Brompton Dale the same day

I've heard about Richard Pierce, but there are a l...

2008-11-06T02:34:00.000-08:00

I've heard about Richard Pierce, but there are a lot of stories of people who achieved powered flight before the Wrights from all over the world. I'd say that the Wrights were certainly not the first. We must also remember that people were flying around in hot air balloons long before so it wasn't that revolutionary. History is not about sudden changes it's all gradual. I wish people would stop perpetuating the Wright brothers myth. If Americans looked around the world a bit they'd find that people don't hold to this myth.

Hi, if you're interested in old flying machines, a...

2008-11-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

Hi, if you're interested in old flying machines, a UK program called 'Scrapheap Challenge' did an international challenge to build flying machines of old. The English teams plane (approx. 4 minutes in) flys beautifully. Link > http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LIhRVAp1Qy4

Ask anyone from New Zealand and they would say tha...

2008-11-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

Ask anyone from New Zealand and they would say that Richard Pierce actually pioneered powered flight before the Wright Brothers

Google the name there is a reasonable amount of debate on the subject, but here are a couple of links.

http://www.royalhigh.edin.sch.uk/departments/departments/cdt/links.html

http://www.alldeaf.com/current-events/6400-wright-brothers-fraud.html

Where is Traian Vuia? ...http://en.wikipedia.org/w...

2008-11-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

Where is Traian Vuia? ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traian_Vuia

The other anonymous is correct. It isn't a Wright...

2008-11-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

The other anonymous is correct. It isn't a Wright brothers plane. It is a Voisin. For example, British Science Museum page on 1908 Voisin.

That unknown Cody kite looks like a Shadow ship fr...

2008-11-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

That unknown Cody kite looks like a Shadow ship from Babylon 5.

The Wright brothers do not appear among these pict...

2008-11-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

The Wright brothers do not appear among these pictures. The one identified as the Wright brothers is probably a craft by Glenn Curtiss, the Wrights didn't have an aft elevator and the pilot sat belly down, head forward w/o a seat.

Dale