Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: rbowman Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: The joy of FORTRAN Date: 12 Mar 2025 17:55:15 GMT Lines: 28 Message-ID: References: <20250227080310.0000604d@gmail.com> <875xkgdgts.fsf@comcast.net.invalid> <--OcnbqJkLeg00z6nZ2dnZfqn_oAAAAA@giganews.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net 4OAevqNKMwmyMW/PEgNwDAkxDxztS7nsIldLOxN/3C7gfiU+zR Cancel-Lock: sha1:7X3biA4QHymBUq/I2OlRzsVvAr8= sha256:lBOWA153tfWt4oma/AawIY6HumoclrhAiwvtDfZR0CM= User-Agent: Pan/0.160 (Toresk; ) Xref: csiph.com alt.folklore.computers:230555 comp.os.linux.misc:66323 On Wed, 12 Mar 2025 12:29:48 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote: > What made powered flight possible was the gasoline engine, and the > aluminium block If the Wright bros hadn't done it someone else would. > There is argument to this day as to whether Santos Dumont beat them to > it... Someone had mentioned Verne so I got one of his lesser known works, 'Robur the Conqueror', written in 1886. I'll have to read '20000 Leagues' or one of the earlier ones. I don't remember him having as acid a tongue as he describes a meeting of wealthy balloon enthusiasts that are fighting over whether the propeller should pull or push. Robur arrives in the middle of the fight and informs them aerostats are a lost cause, that their new electric engine won't allow control except on very still days, and the future is with aerodynes, one of which he happens to have built. He is saved from bodily harm by the balloon fans by pulling two revolvers, firing shots into the ceiling, and making a get-away. Santos-Dumont read Verne and lived the story. Santos-Dumont 5 demonstrated the navigational problems of an aerostat. Santos-Dumont 6 had its moments too before he won the Deutsch prize. As far as WWI plane ceilings, the aerostats won the prize. https://sped2work.tripod.com/zeppelins.html