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At the time of the first airplane flight, the goal in achieving flight was simply to give humans the ability to fly. But even before the first airplane flew, undoubtedly many foresaw some of the ways in which airplanes would be utilized if the dream of flight were actually achieved. For some, there was no doubt that the airplane could be of great military importance. And certainly, it would have been fairly obvious that the airplane might one day be able to transport people or freight with far greater speed than any other method of transport. But - visionaries though they were - it’s doubtful that the aviation pioneers could have foreseen some of the unique uses to which aircraft were eventually put. Would either of the Wright brothers, for example, have dreamed that their invention would eventually be used to plant rice? Or that pilots would soon be intentionally flipping their creation upside down, and flying along with only the safety harness preventing pilot and airplane from parting company? Could they have dared to imagine that the acceptance and refinement of their invention would one day permit anyone, from virtually anywhere in the country, to make a phone call and have a flying machine come to whisk them away to just about any place on earth? Most likely the Wrights would be quite surprised at some of the offshoots that developed from the seed they planted and nurtured – particularly Wilbur, who died only nine years after their first flight. Let’s take a look at just a few of the offshoots from mainstream aviation that probably would have startled, fascinated and delighted the Wrights if they could have had a vision of the future when they were wrestling with the design of their first airplane. |
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