IT is now nearly a century since one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century got off the ground, literally. On December 17th, 1903, two brothers, hobbyists at best at what they were attempting, powered the first heavier than air machine into skies over Kitty Hawk, and made names like Wright, The Flyer and the airplane, part of history, till eternity.
Of course it was Oliver and Wilbur Wright who were the two brothers and The Flyer was their flimsy plane that barely managed to stay in the air for a few seconds. But it was in those seconds that the future of things to come was shaped. Controlled air flight was finally possible. Man could now take to the skies and follow his destiny wherever his plane would take him. In fact, in the years to come, man even left the gravitational spectrum of earth and is at present venturing deep into the Universe, all because on that day. History powered itself into the air. And it is this history that we recently set out in search of, on the web.
Finding information about the Wright Brothers and their adventures is easy. The tough part is finding relevant information, as is always the case in web surfing. One such relavent address is the http://www.first-to-fly.com/. If it’s the Wright Brothers that you are in search of, then home page of the, hold your breath — Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company and Museum of Pioneer Aviation - is the place (I told you to hold your breath). This site, part of a non-profit organization of aviators, historians and educators, is simply there to tell the story of the Wright Brothers.
This in-depth and detailed site has the Wright story as is not available any where on the web, in the process telling the tale of two men who believed as early as 1899 that “human flight is practical and possible”. A History of the Airplane link tells of practical aviation efforts before the Wright Brothers, Aviation Attic and Just the Facts that tell of the Wright’s success stories, as seen by others are all very entertaining. But believe me when I tell you that this description doesn’t even begin to describe the things that are on this site. There are links and then there are links to links. This site is truly the online temple of the Wright Brothers.
But if it is in celebration of the occasion that you are in search of then the official web site of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics http://www.flight100.org/index.cfm is the place. A well defined and researched site, this address celebrates the evolution of flight. The most interesting link here is that of History of Flight. With a timeline that starts all the way from 3500BC, it amply records the evolution of flight. The site is part of the centenary celebrations of the Wright Brothers’ history shattering feat, a century back. If it is not reading that you are interested in then, the Click and Learn link has a variety of activities for your liking. Among the fun and games here, there is also a 1903 Wright Flyer simulation where you can fly the first plane in history, albeit only in the virtual world. Among the well documented links are the Image Gallery and the Interesting Links section where the history of man’s endeavour to go into he wild blue yonder is well documented. Another site well documenting the history of flight is the Time.com Celebrates 100 Years of Flight http://www.time.com/time/2003/flight/. Right from Time’s archives we have planes, people moments and even fashion, air hostess fashion that is. Very good and credible reference, this site also does away with the unnecessary headache generating clutter of links after links after links, if you what I mean. There is also an online vote here for you to decide who was the greatest aviator in history.
One very elementary link is http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/aviation_firsts.htm. This Canadian contribution, The First in Aviation, has a number of links that, as the name suggests, chronicle the few first feats of flight in history. Other than the Wright’s feat at Kitty Hawk, there’s the first solo trans-Atlantic flight and the first non-stop flight around the world. However, of the few links that are here, a couple don’t work and all those that do take the user to other sites. Like I said, elementary.
With Flight-History, http://www.flight-history.com/, we find a site that is dedicated to developing an extensive online archive of aviation history. The effort is international and so is the content on this site. The archives are not exclusive to any one country or type of aircraft. Links detailing the Aviation Art, Planes and a photo as well as a story archive are worth going through. However, missing names like Tuplov, the Russian plane manufacturer, in the Planes link, do leave a bad taste in the mouth.
Staying with history, but straying from the Wright quest for glory, helicopter too has been one of the last century’s revolutionary vehicle. Here at http://www.helis.com/ we celebrate the “assembly of forty thousand loose pieces, flying more or less in formation”. From information related to the history of the chopper, stories, fact sheets of numerous helicopters in use are all here for the helicopter enthusiast. Also entreating search options and input from its viewers, this site could very well be the most through copter site on the web.
And since we were at the topic of history, I was surprised to find a site called, History of PIA http://www.historyofpia.com/. At first sight, this link seems to be the part of the official PIA online attempt to improve its image. However, this is not the case. Created by Abbas Ali the site is definitive in its information. With links ranging from Basic Facts to Historic Firsts (did you know that PIA was the first airline to operate scheduled helicopter services?) the site is a real source of pride, not only for its maker, but also for a viewer like me. Bravo Abbas, keep up the good work.
IT is now nearly a century since one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century got off the ground, literally. On December 17th, 1903, two brothers, hobbyists at best at what they were attempting, powered the first heavier than air machine into skies over Kitty Hawk, and made names like Wright, The Flyer and the airplane, part of history, till eternity.
