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Originally Posted by freebeard
Long story (as it goes) short; the world's first airplane and the first flying car?
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Interesting, I had only read the account of the steam-powered aircraft - a two seater!
The Case for Gustave Whitehead
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1899 — "...in the Oakland suburb of Pittsburgh in the Spring of 1899, [a]…steam-driven model had carried him and his assistant a distance of almost a mile. Firemen…lent their assistance that time to start the machine, while the assistant fed charcoal to the flame which heated water in the ordinary kitchen boiler which they were using. …[A]s they went onward and upward, steered by Gustave Whitehead at the controls in the front, they exceeded the distance originally planned and found themselves headed for a three-story brick house. Afraid to attempt to swerve, there was but one hope, namely that they might clear the top of the house. But they failed. Down fell the machine, all but demolished, while the agonized fireman in the back writhed with the pain of a scalded leg."
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A steam engine built by Whitehead. This was similar to the steam engines used by Locomobile, a Bridgeport automobile manufacturer where he had worked.
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I'd say in order to fly one must have some mastery of aerodynamics, the folded wings would be an issue for land transport surface area drag wise.
The two engines, one for land use - do you think this was just to get it up a hill (
in lieu of a winch) so they could race down like when launching a glider, or was it getting to the launch site under it's own power?
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The ground engine was used for traveling on the plane’s four wheels to test sites and during the takeoff roll.
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Traveling to test sites............traveling along roads.........or........traveling from road up a hill to test site?