Examining the 'Who Flew First' Debate: Wrights vs. Whitehead

摘要

When is the 100th anniversary of powered, manned flight? If you're like most aviation historians you might answer, "December 17, 2003." On the other hand, there is a small cadre of aviation enthusiasts who feel that the true 100th anniversary of powered, manned flight occurred somewhat earlier on August 14, 2001. This second claim is held by followers of a German immigrant who conducted his aeroplane flight experiments in Bridgeport, Connecticut. While school-age children around the world have all read the historical accounts of Orville and Wilbur Wright's successful flights from Kill Devil Hill at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the "flights" of Gustave Whitehead are not only difficult to locate, they are also almost impossible to verify. And so begins the saga of Gustave White-head. Gustave Whitehead or Gustav Weisskopf (as his German brethren refer to him) was born in Leutershausen, Germany in 1874. Following a brief seafaring career, young Whitehead immigrated to the United States in 1894. He arrived in Bridgeport via a Pittsburgh mining job in 1900. It was during his life in Bridgeport that the beginning of Whitehead's controversial flight experiments took wing.