[omegajim]

There were significant gains made by Europeans from just before world war 1 to the late 20's.

My favorite is that the South Carolina license plates say "first in flight" and the Ohio plates say something like "home of aviation"

The most amusing thing I read about the Wright brothers is that their propellers were 80 % efficient and by and large about twice as efficient as anybody else in the world at that time.

Now, props are way more efficient; 86 % by last measure.