I’m Glenn Hammond Curtis and I’m one of
the many men who is responsible for the
invention or the perfection of aviation
to fly in an airplane feels like the
very beginning of a motorcycle crash the
moment of impact the front tire hits a
wall you leave the seat and you’re
airborne for just a few seconds but if
by some magic you could take those few
seconds and spread them out a bit then
you’d have flight we like to believe
that there’s a one man or a group of man
that said here’s the plane and delivered
it like a package but in reality there
were many men across the country each
contributing a little bit and trying to
make this one thing happen
birds invented flight the Wright
brothers made a contribution I myself
made a contribution men in France
working under jables made a contribution
and this was happening like a little
storm all at the same time separate
storms sometimes we came together
sometimes we didn’t
I didn’t need
to be the first man in the air I prefer
to be on the ground I prefer a
motorcycle
I prefer wheels on the earth and I had
my business Kurtis engines and this is
only speculation but I feel as though
perhaps the Wright brothers were
compelled to work inwards because this
is what they had they felt destined to
be the first in flight I was fascinated
I was compelled
but I didn’t feel that it was my purpose
on earth I would have preferred
collaboration but if I were to choose a
rival I would have preferred a more
straightforward fight during this
never-ending court battle I was not only
bleeding out but the entire aviation
industry warmer over the idea of
aviation was stopped there was no speed
there was no momentum there was no
moving forward until the Wright brothers
got their way and their way was staid it
was not flexible there was no movement
we were up against a wall until we could
somehow get the Wright brothers out of
hiding out of court and allow aviation
to start moving forward again the Wright
brothers were American geniuses in their
way
Bell was an American genius
Tom Selfridge was an American genius I
was a contributor
and in the end we fly
but perhaps we could have had something
greater something sooner and something a
bit more accessible if we have come
together I’d like to see the average man
be able to cross America
post a coast in an airplane maybe
something personal in the vein of a
Model T that can take to the sky
something fast I think an 8-cylinder
should do
the many men who is responsible for the
invention or the perfection of aviation
to fly in an airplane feels like the
very beginning of a motorcycle crash the
moment of impact the front tire hits a
wall you leave the seat and you’re
airborne for just a few seconds but if
by some magic you could take those few
seconds and spread them out a bit then
you’d have flight we like to believe
that there’s a one man or a group of man
that said here’s the plane and delivered
it like a package but in reality there
were many men across the country each
contributing a little bit and trying to
make this one thing happen
birds invented flight the Wright
brothers made a contribution I myself
made a contribution men in France
working under jables made a contribution
and this was happening like a little
storm all at the same time separate
storms sometimes we came together
sometimes we didn’t
I didn’t need
to be the first man in the air I prefer
to be on the ground I prefer a
motorcycle
I prefer wheels on the earth and I had
my business Kurtis engines and this is
only speculation but I feel as though
perhaps the Wright brothers were
compelled to work inwards because this
is what they had they felt destined to
be the first in flight I was fascinated
I was compelled
but I didn’t feel that it was my purpose
on earth I would have preferred
collaboration but if I were to choose a
rival I would have preferred a more
straightforward fight during this
never-ending court battle I was not only
bleeding out but the entire aviation
industry warmer over the idea of
aviation was stopped there was no speed
there was no momentum there was no
moving forward until the Wright brothers
got their way and their way was staid it
was not flexible there was no movement
we were up against a wall until we could
somehow get the Wright brothers out of
hiding out of court and allow aviation
to start moving forward again the Wright
brothers were American geniuses in their
way
Bell was an American genius
Tom Selfridge was an American genius I
was a contributor
and in the end we fly
but perhaps we could have had something
greater something sooner and something a
bit more accessible if we have come
together I’d like to see the average man
be able to cross America
post a coast in an airplane maybe
something personal in the vein of a
Model T that can take to the sky
something fast I think an 8-cylinder
should do
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