19 March 2013
Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft has announced its controversial conclusion to an argument which has been discussed for years – who was the first person to achieve powered flight?
Jane’s has stated that an August 1901 flight by Connecticut aviation pioneer Gustave Whitehead (pictured) was the first successful powered flight in history.
According to Jane’s, the website of aviation researcher John Brown (<a href=’http://www.gustave-whitehead.com’ target=’_blank’>www.gustave-whitehead.com</a>) is packed with evidence which shows that the Wright Brothers’ first flight, two years after Whitehead, was not the first powered flight by man. Editor Paul Jackson writes in his foreword, ‘The Wrights were right; but Whitehead was ahead’, adding that the Wrights’ design was more suited for the development of later aircraft.
