Though it wasn't until the 20th century that man figured out how to fly, the physics, as it turns out, are pretty simple. For a given vessel's weight it must produce enough lift. To achieve lift, the thing requires a combination of speed, shape, and area; as in, area over the wings intended to provide the platform to create and capture the upward force. The more speed, the less wing is needed.
And so, the challenge for the Wright Brothers as well as all who tried before them was purely mechanical. They needed only to engineer the necessary components, and to successfully, artfully combine them in order to satisfy what are natural laws.
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