National Aviation Day: Some perspective

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 08/19/2015 at 17:47 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

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Wilbur and Orville Wright made their famous First Flight on December 17, 1903. Orville Wright, whose birthday we observe today as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , was 32 years old. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! flew the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! past Mach 1 on October 14, 1947. Orville Wright would die three months after the sound barrier was broken (Wilbur died in 1912 at age 45 from typhoid fever). So, the world went from a 12-second flight at 6.8 mph to 700 mph in the span of just 44 years. Incredible.

These photographs illustrate those two monumental events in human history, both of which occurred within the lifespan of one man. That’s Orville at the controls of the Wright Flyer on that momentous day.

US Library of Congress

US Air Force

bhardoin > ttyymmnn 08/19/2015 at 17:51

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Or, in 66 years we went from being grounded as a species to walking on the moon. And then in the following 50 years we somehow haven’t made it to Mars, though we have the ISS as a cool orbital science vacation spot.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > ttyymmnn 08/19/2015 at 17:56

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And on July 20th, 1963 the Lockheed A-12 reached Mach 3.2

So in a 16 year span, we went from 700MPH to 2100MPH.

RallyWrench > ttyymmnn 08/19/2015 at 17:56

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And by the 50’s-60’s, we’d become so adept at designing aircraft that we’re still flying those designs in heavy service today. Just amazing.

ttyymmnn > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 08/19/2015 at 17:58

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And by 1969 we were on the Moon. Here’s hoping it’s not too long before we go farther.

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 08/19/2015 at 17:58

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I grew nearly two meters in 17 years!

Haven’t grown any since then :(