|
Europe was unbelievably slow off the mark too I should like to point out! The Wrights flew in Dec. 1903, yet 4 years later when Wilbur came over to Europe to demonstrate their machine we Europeans were barely able to get off the ground. Certainly not to fly beautifully controlled circles etc like they could. Our best plane was the Farman which could only fly in a dead calm and turn corners if you were lucky. The Wrights' patent thing was not an issue here because no European country ever recognised it at all!
However by 1914 there certainly were good military machines available to European armies. (Think of the Avro 504 or the early Albatroses.) I would guess the US army didn't provide the same impetus in America because it didn't think it could be fighting anyone other than the Mexicans for the foreseeable future. I don't know if the legal battles were also relevant.
|