First flying machine

There are conflicting views as to what was the first flying machine. There are many confident histories, with a large numbers of supporters, that have different views. This may be influenced by the fact that local heroes make more interesting histories, as well as national pride. Different definitions of first flying machine are emphasized, which leads to different claims.

Scope of the entire claim

The people attempting to create the first flying machine were faced with many separate challenges, which required diverse skills.

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• Develop theories on how flight works and invent a machine to fly. This requires the skills of a creative scientist.
• Construct the machine. This requires the skills of an engineer.
• Fly the machine. This requires a pilot, which -- before flight is achieved -- has to be someone intrepid, athletic and a quick learner -- the skills of an explorer.
• Trial and error. This requires someone with a lot of time and resources -- an investor.
• Recognition. This requires attracting notice, organizing a forum to demonstrate the invention and gaining publicity -- the skills of a marketer.

Many of the people that attempted to create the first flying machine succeeded only in some of these challenges. Since all the challenges were difficult, these are notable achievements, rightfully touted in their respective cultures. But emphasizing one set of challenges or another leads to different claims to the title of "first flying machine".

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The earliest attempts focused on the first challenges; they couldn't make much progress on the central challenges before the Industrial Revolution. Even then, most attempts borrowed from others' earlier work and still left work for others to finish. The next to last step, trial and error, can take years, and ideas can go back and forth between different groups, consciously or not.

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Since no one fully developed the first flying machine in complete isolation, it seems no one person or group had all the skills needed. The best that can be claimed is that certain inventions were pivotal steps to realizing the age of flight. Even then, who first achieved which step can still be debated.

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