The notion

The notion that man could fly or someday would be able to achieve flight has long since been an idea of man for literally centuries. As early as 400 BC, a Greek scholar by the name of Archytas built a wooden pigeon that moved through the air. Approximately 100 years later the Chinese developed kites, which are a form of gliders, which much later in history, allowed humans to fly in them (1). Mans first attempts at flight later progressed with designs by Leonardo daVinci. DaVinci's design was based on a flapping type wing, Givanni Borelli stated that a human's muscles were far to weak to flap the large surfaces needed to obtain flight and that the physical make up of humans would not be that which could be used in flight with such inventions. Glider flights later came to be through the inventions of a British inventor by the name of George Cayley. Cayley founded the study of Aerodynamics and was the first to suggest a fixed wing aircraft with a propeller. Cayley's invention led Otto Lilienthal to gliders that could be piloted by men up to heights of 100 feet or more, consequently Lilienthal was killed by his own invention during a flight. He broke his spine, and he died a day later in a Berlin hospital. There is some feeling that had Lilienthal lived, he might have beaten the Wright brothers to the punch. Although many believe that the Wright brothers were the firs! t to achieve flight there were those before them that actually made attempts at powered flight. William Henderson patented plans for the first plane with a engine, fixed wings and a propeller, coincidentally after one try he gave up. Inventors following Henderson came up with they're own variations of his design of which by all accounts failed, although they were airborne for a short duration they never achieved sustained flight. Since the early inventions of flight the technological advances along with the better understanding of aerodynamics has allowed airplanes t...