What An Incredible Time To Be Alive [Pete Bog]

On December 17th, 1903, one hundred and twenty-two years ago on a windy sand dune in North Carolina the world was changed. Two brothers, bicycle mechanics from Ohio ran a contraption made of wood, cloth, and wire down a rail until it gained enough speed to become airborne. The first manned powered flight. In the scale of recorded human history, about 5,000 years, 122 years is a trivial span. I would suspect that no similar span anywhere in that history has been as technologically prolific as these last 122 years. The 122 years preceding flight likely are the second most prolific. The power of steam had been harnessed to propel trains, boats, early automobiles, and mechanized farm equipment. Metallurgy flourished. Electricity had been turned from a novelty to useful applications that were just beginning to be implemented. Fossil fuels and the internal combustion engine had burst onto the scene.

The Wright Brothers pioneering pursuit of flight was only made possible by the application of power derived from what was at the time a groundbreaking innovation. A lightweight gasoline engine designed by an employee of their bicycle shop that weighed 180 pounds and produced 12 horsepower. He had hand built the engine in six weeks using simple tools such as a lathe and drill press. And it worked!

It is difficult to overstate the importance of what the Wrights accomplished. In the few years following the first flight aviation exploded into the public consciousness and the pace of change in design, reliability, airworthiness, and range was significant. The First World War supercharged the development of the technology and culminated in the development of fast, maneuverable machines that could be armed with guns and bombs. Military tactics changed to accommodate the new technology. The interval between the wars supercharged the development of airplanes and modern aviation both from a civil and military standpoint. During this same period similar advances were occurring in just about every field of science and technology. Just as the telegraph had eclipsed the Pony Express to spread news, radios and air mail surpassed the telegraph. A dominant theme delivered in that stream of news was the pace and breadth change.

One hundred twenty-two years. Both of my grandfathers were born before the first manned flight. Their great grandchildren may be able to go to space. I may be able to go to space. What an incredible time to be alive.

posted by Open Blogger at 12:00 PM

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