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Wilbur Wright Airplane POV camera film 1909 — Parallax Forums

Wilbur Wright Airplane POV camera film 1909

ercoerco Posts: 20,260
edited 2010-03-03 21:00 in General Discussion
Utterly un-Parallaxian, but marginally related to the many POV videos that came out of those micro DVR keychains I posted about last year. I found this vintage movie riveting,·so I'm sharing with fellow pilots, aviation nuts and kindred pioneer/builder spirits·in general:
Here is a film clip from the Austrian archives about the Wright Brothers demonstrating their plane in Italy in 1909.http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/PY/322/see-the-film-wilbur_wright_and_his_flying_machine'
Can you imagine the excitement of being the people·who created and flew THE very first airplane?·Even more excitement came from overcontrolling the·elevator, which·led to·those wild oscillations at very low altitude. Heart-pounding, life-risking innovation at its finest.
May we all approach our next new project with this same energy, awe, and eventual success.

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·"If you build it, they will come."

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-02-26 06:53
    In a way, the Wright brothers' era was more exciting for most people than the current one. The reason is that the advances being made then (electric power, telephone, phonograph, automobiles, airplanes) were things that not only transformed society, but that most people could see, touch, and understand at a gut level. That's not to say that personal computers and the internet haven't also had a transformative influence on our own lives, but the technology underpinning modern marvels is several orders of magnitude removed from most people's understanding, compared to that of a century ago. I daresay that Lindbergh's landing at Le Bourget gripped more people more profoundly than Neil Armstrong's touchdown at Tranquility Base. And the reason is simple: Lindbergh's flight pioneered an experience that ordinary people could expect to enjoy in the years that followed; Armstrong's did not.

    -Phil
  • MinimumWageMinimumWage Posts: 72
    edited 2010-02-27 03:48
    Awesome video! Thanks for posting the link. I think I've seen some of that footage before but it was a much lower quality clip. The Wrights are some of my personal heroes. Both the Fred Kelly or Tom Crouch biographies of the brothers are good reading, too. There's also a shorter but very interesting illustrated account written by Orville Wright himself that I keep on my bookshelf.

    Mike Mc.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2010-02-27 04:09
    Ah, the miracle of flight. When I get the chance, I always take a window seat and give myself at least a few minutes to look out the window and pretend that this is a totally new experience to the human race, that maybe I'm the first person to ever fly over clouds like those, and then I take a deep breath and remind myself that I really am soaring miles above the earth in this tiny little metal-skinned tube with wings full of highly flammable liquid.... and this is not just something to be taken for granted, and that it's really petty to be wasting a moment such as this to grumble about flight delays, screaming children, airline "food" and whatnot...

    And then I ease back, sip my soda, and keep my eye out for people trying to set their underwear on fire.
  • Tony B.Tony B. Posts: 356
    edited 2010-02-27 17:01
    Never seen that footage before. I really liked the shots for the airplane! Always wondered what it would have been like to fly.

    Erco - Keep posting you video finds. You sure have posted some great stuff.
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2010-02-27 17:04
    Agree'd! Great find!

    While I was watching it I was trying to imagine what it would be like to witness this for the first time.
    I imagine that it would feel like someone demonstrating Startrek teleportation for real.

    OBC

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  • MoskogMoskog Posts: 554
    edited 2010-03-03 20:41
    I was most impressed by the cameraman on the ground who shot the film with the plane heading towards him.

    Kids doing well, Erco?
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,260
    edited 2010-03-03 20:53
    Fabulous, thanks. These girls get cuter every day!



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    ·"If you build it, they will come."
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    653 x 490 - 52K
  • MoskogMoskog Posts: 554
    edited 2010-03-03 21:00
    Erco said...
    These girls get cuter every day....
    Sure you are right about that!
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