Wow, that's a great video. You really get a first hand look at just how incredibly unstable and pitch sensitive these first airplanes were. I would imagine in the first years it was a real physical workout just to stay ahead of a stall, and not lending itself to more than a second of inattentionjust forpilotsto keep their airplanes aloft and in control. I think it was a while before you saw trimmed hands off flight in otherwords.

I think a major factor in the Wright'ssuccess was their pioneering wing designthrough the use of their homemade wind tunnel. In unbelievable short time they created thebasic airfoil that is still used today. With an effecient amount of lift, theyhad their most difficult problem ofthe flying equation solved. Everyone else was years behind them still trying to fly their machineson radical looking bannana shaped wings. And while we know it is certainly possible today to almost make a brick fly, at the time of the Wrights, there was nobdy, including the Wrights that could develop enough power for adequate airspeed and controllability to dothis.</p>