17 December 2003, 05:14 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Forum Ace
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Martindale, TX USA
Posts: 758
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Presently enjoying "The Wright Challenge" (4 teams try to reproduce the "Wright Flyer") on the History Channel. Showed the first part to my students last week, and they all agreed that the Utah State University team "cheated" by using a modified design and composite materials. USU's justification was that the Wright's would have used such materials, had they been available. Interesting question: what if the world had been ruled by religious dogma (the Age of Reason being much longer in developing), such that " If God(s) had meant Man to fly. . ." was a deeply held PROHIBITION against such attempts?? Would the Flyer (first flown in 2003) have been made of composites, or are the composites themselves a logical progression of the "lighter yet stronger materials" trend STARTED by aviation pioneers???
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