Thursday, April 28, 2005
It all started with the brothers who hardly had a high school education
The story of the Wright brothers and their invention which forever changed the world, deserves closer study by everybody.
These guys who had a pretty basic education – they didn’t finish high school. Can you imagine a high-school drop-out who can't handle math taking on financial jobs? Yet the Wright brothers took an extremely engineering approach to the feat of inventing flight. They started by getting their hands on everything they could find about their subject. They read, they wrote to people. (It would have all been so much easier if the internet were around then).
This enabled them to closely study all efforts that had been made so far and to discover where they went wrong (people often got killed trying to fly.)
They then started off by creating their on version of the most advanced glide of the time. They then made modifications as they went ahead.
Interestingly the brothers quickly discovered that most aeronautical data available at the time was unreliable at best and plain inaccurate at worst.
Guess what they did to correct this situation. They started documenting their on more accurate data which they used for their research. The Wright brothers built their own wind tunnel to test airfoils and measure how to lift a flying machine into the sky. As a result, they were the first to discover that a long, narrow wing shape was the most ideal for flight. (It is interesting that A380 engineers were forced to design longer wings to take the huge weight of this new aircraft.) It is these longer wings that will force modifications on most airports so as to accommodate this huge bird.)
They also figured out how to move a plane in mid air, to change direction, height etc. Their other major discovery was recognizing that a propeller is in effect, a rotating wing, they used the data from their wind-tunnel experiments to design the first effective airplane propellers. And when they discovered that a lightweight gas-powered engine did not exist, they decided to design and build their own. It produced 12 horsepower and weighed only 152 lbs, this in itself was quite a feat.
Have you ever wondered why despite the so many attempts to fly, the Wright brothers made sure that there was a photographer at Kitty Hawk, that day. It was because from their tests in the in wind tunnels and from their totally scientific approach, they knew what the Airbus engineers already knew when they prepared for their test flight of the A380 – that the damned thing would fly.
EXTRA================
Quick Tips on business, life, human nature...
Valentine's day flowers or valentine's day gift baskets can be a great business secret weapon. A sort of gimick campaign to show how much you love your customers.
Search Engine Optimization has changed and there's a lot more emphasis on one way links and the anchor text matters like crazy.
A lesson in human nature: Diamond engagement rings are special, offer one to a woman and she will carry the memory to her grave... even if she doesn't marry you.
These guys who had a pretty basic education – they didn’t finish high school. Can you imagine a high-school drop-out who can't handle math taking on financial jobs? Yet the Wright brothers took an extremely engineering approach to the feat of inventing flight. They started by getting their hands on everything they could find about their subject. They read, they wrote to people. (It would have all been so much easier if the internet were around then).
This enabled them to closely study all efforts that had been made so far and to discover where they went wrong (people often got killed trying to fly.)
They then started off by creating their on version of the most advanced glide of the time. They then made modifications as they went ahead.
Interestingly the brothers quickly discovered that most aeronautical data available at the time was unreliable at best and plain inaccurate at worst.
Guess what they did to correct this situation. They started documenting their on more accurate data which they used for their research. The Wright brothers built their own wind tunnel to test airfoils and measure how to lift a flying machine into the sky. As a result, they were the first to discover that a long, narrow wing shape was the most ideal for flight. (It is interesting that A380 engineers were forced to design longer wings to take the huge weight of this new aircraft.) It is these longer wings that will force modifications on most airports so as to accommodate this huge bird.)
They also figured out how to move a plane in mid air, to change direction, height etc. Their other major discovery was recognizing that a propeller is in effect, a rotating wing, they used the data from their wind-tunnel experiments to design the first effective airplane propellers. And when they discovered that a lightweight gas-powered engine did not exist, they decided to design and build their own. It produced 12 horsepower and weighed only 152 lbs, this in itself was quite a feat.
Have you ever wondered why despite the so many attempts to fly, the Wright brothers made sure that there was a photographer at Kitty Hawk, that day. It was because from their tests in the in wind tunnels and from their totally scientific approach, they knew what the Airbus engineers already knew when they prepared for their test flight of the A380 – that the damned thing would fly.
EXTRA================
Quick Tips on business, life, human nature...
Valentine's day flowers or valentine's day gift baskets can be a great business secret weapon. A sort of gimick campaign to show how much you love your customers.
Search Engine Optimization has changed and there's a lot more emphasis on one way links and the anchor text matters like crazy.
A lesson in human nature: Diamond engagement rings are special, offer one to a woman and she will carry the memory to her grave... even if she doesn't marry you.
