Sam the Octopus

@minego more specifically, they didn't really get the first powered flight

pretty important part of the whole "flight" thing is taking off, which they couldn't do without a 20mph headwind which kinda invalidates the whole "powered flight" thing

who should really get credit for the first powered flight is a bloke called Alberto Santos-Dumont

1
Sam the Octopus

@noelle @minego they needed to either slide down a hill to pick up speed, use a catapult, or have a massive headwind to take off!

I could bloody fly if you send me down a ramp or fling me from a catapult!

I'd probably get further than they did as well!

1
Sam the Octopus

@noelle @minego and therefore fulfil the "self-powered" part of the brief

for something to be a powered flight it has to be able to take off by itself, not just get blown into the sky like a badly assembled tent

1+
Sam the Octopus

@noelle @minego bad analogy on my part, I went for the amusing visual rather than accuracy

but yeah, 20mph headwind needed to generate enough lift on the wings for the thing to get off the ground, in other words, couldn't take off on its own

1
Sam the Octopus
Follow

@noelle @minego my point is that if it can't take off under its own power then what you've got there isn't a plane, it's (at best) a glider

which people had been messing about with for a while

· · 1 · 0 · 0
Sam the Octopus

@noelle @minego a fighter jet can take off under its own power, the assistance isn't necessary to get it airborne it just gets it there faster

the wright flyer couldn't get airborne under its own power and so it shouldn't count

1+
Sam the Octopus

@noelle @minego I am indeed and I shall continue to do so because the rest of the world is wrong :blobnogood:

:blobgrin:

0
Lord Guysbert de Fieri :lithroace_flag:

@troubleMoney @noelle y'all do continue debating the qualifications of early flight achievements but you might want to stop tagging minego, I am pretty sure they didn't sign up for this in their mentions lmao

0
Das Interrobang‽

@noelle @troubleMoney @minego Consider the Maia-Mercury composite aircraft. A modified Short Empire flying boat “Maia” carrier & long-range heavily-laden mail floatplane “Mercury.”

Mercury when fully laden couldn’t take off by itself, it needed a boost to altitude from its own power & that of “Maia,” its carrier.

When separated, “Mercury” went on to fly several thousand miles to its destination.

Not much gliding there.

0
Sign in to participate in the conversation
Computer Fairies

Computer Fairies is a Mastodon instance that aims to be as queer, friendly and furry as possible. We welcome all kinds of computer fairies!

Resources

Developers

What is Mastodon?

computerfairi.es

More…