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Invention

Kite

Aerospace Engineering

A kite is a tethered, heavier-than-air craft whose wing surfaces react against moving air to generate lift and drag. China is credited as the birthplace of the kite, with tradition attributing its invention to the 5th-century BC philosophers Mozi and Lu Ban, said to have flown wooden kites; after the invention of paper in China, paper kites known as zhiyuan became popular, and by the Tang dynasty decorative kites fitted with bamboo flutes or whistles had developed into the form still called fengzheng today. The kite later spread to India, where it evolved into the fighter kite known as the patang, and reached Europe through the accounts of Marco Polo and later sailors returning from Japan and Malaysia.

Facts
Disputed
Year
450 BCE 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountAttribution to Mozi and Lu Ban rests on later legendary Chinese accounts rather than a contemporary record; the approximate 5th-century BC dating is treated as circa.
SignificanceSourced to the subject's own account
One of the earliest human-made flying objects, used historically for military signaling and distance measurement, and later for scientific research including Benjamin Franklin's 1752 demonstration that lightning is electrical. 1
FAQs

How did kites help the Wright brothers invent the airplane?

They tested wing warping on a small kite in 1899 and flew gliders as unmanned kites until 1903.

The Wright brothers used kites to test their ideas about controlling an aircraft. According to NASA Glenn, in 1899, while developing their theories of wing warping, they built a small maneuverable kite to verify those ideas. Between 1900 and 1903 they often flew their gliders as unmanned kites at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and NASA says these experiments led directly to their successful 1903 aircraft.
Connections

In Field

Source Kite (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Kite (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • History section, opening sentence, Wikipedia article Kite
    In China, the kite has been claimed as the invention of the 5th-century BC Chinese philosophers Mozi and Lu Ban, who flew wooden kites called muyuan (木鸢).
  • opening definition sentence, Wikipedia article Kite
    A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces.
  • In Group: Unpowered Fixed-Wing Flight Craft, lead: tethered heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that create lift and drag
  • In Field: Aerospace Engineering, Categories
    Aircraft configurations
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