Pilots, Planes and Pioneers

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hile the Wright brothers may have been the first to make a sustained, controlled flight, they were just two among hundreds of brave men and women who helped to give the world its wings during the earliest days of aviation. Their Flyer was but one of many historically important aircraft. Below are brief descriptions and photos of some of the most important people and planes, and where available resources and links where you can find more information. In some cases, contributors have supplied expanded histories and biographies. Those are listed at the right and linked below.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

 

 
 
Icarus was the son of Daedalus, a Greek architect and engineer from Athens who designed the legendary impossibly complex Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. In this Labyrinth, according to Greek myth, Minos kept the Minotaur, a half-bull, half-man monster. Every nine years, Minos demanded the sacrifice of seven Athenian young men and women to the Minotaur in retribution for his son's accidental death in Athens. Theseus, the son of the king of Athens, determined to end this cruelty. To find his way through the Labyrinth, he unrolled a ball of twine as he entered, and then used the twine to find his way out after he had slain the monster. Enraged, Minos was convinced that Daedelus had helped his fellow Athenian Theseus by suggesting the twine. He locked Daedalus and his son Icarus in a tower. To escape, Daedelus fashioned wings of feathers and wax for both himself and his son. As they flew off, Daedalus cautioned his son not to fly too high lest the heat of the sun melt the wax. Icarus ignored his fathers advice, the wings melted, and Icarus fell into the sea. His bereaved father named the land near where Icarus drowned for his son. This is the island Ikaria in the eastern Aegean Sea.
 

The Minonian ruins of the Knossos Palace in Crete may have been the historical inspiration for the legend of the Labyrinth.

An artist's conception of the last minutes of the mythological flight of Icarus.

An ancient mosaic showing Theseus slaying the Minotaur.

In 1988 the Daedelus, piloted (and pedaled) by champion bicyclist Kanellos Kanellopoulos, flew 71.5 miles (115 kilometers) from Crete to Santorini, setting the record for human-powered flight.
 

 

 


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"Aviation is proof that – given the will – we can do the impossible."
 Eddie Rickenbacker

 

 

A History of the Airplane/Pilots, Planes and Pioneers I

Biographies of Aviation Pioneers

 

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