"Flying Machines Which Do Not Fly" la mot bai xa luan đang tren nhat bao New York Times vao ngay 9 thang 10 nam 1903. Bai bao đa du đoan sai lam rang nhan loai se phai mat tu ​​mot đen muoi trieu nam moi phat trien đuoc mot co may bay co the bay đuoc. No đuoc viet nham đap lai thi nghiem may bay that bai cua Samuel Pierpont Langley hai ngay truoc đo. 69 ngay sau khi bai bao đuoc xuat ban, hai anh em nguoi My Orville va Wilbur Wright thuc hien thanh cong chuyen bay cua mot khi cu bay nang hon khong khi đau tien vao ngay 17 thang 12 nam 1903, tai Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.


Boi canh Vao đau the ky 20, du luan cho rang con nguoi khong the di chuyen bang đuong hang khong. Cac ky su va nha khoa hoc đuong thoi cung bi quan ve chuyen bay. Cac nha phe binh đang chu y bao gom Simon Newcomb, Lord Kelvin va ky su truong cua Hai quan Hoa Ky, George W. Melville. Trong đo, George W. Melville đa mo ta may bay la "hoan toan khong co co so, neu khong muon noi la vo ly". Sau 5 nam chuan bi, nha tien phong hang khong Samuel Langley đa san sang thu nghiem chiec Aerodrome cua minh vao ngay 7 thang 10 nam 1903. Chiec may bay, do Charles Manly lai, đa khong bay đuoc va roi xuong song Potomac ngay sau khi cat canh.


Bai xa luan That bai cua Aerodrome khien cong chung che nhao Langley. Hai ngay sau khi thi nghiem that bai, mot bai xa luan đang tren to New York Times đua ra quan điem:

[It] might be assumed that the flying machine which will really fly might be evolved by the combined and continuous efforts of mathematicians and mechanicians in from one million to ten million years... No doubt the problem has attractions for those it interests, but to the ordinary man it would seem as if effort might be employed more profitably.
Tam dich:
Co the gia đinh rang chiec may bay thuc su co the bay co the đuoc phat trien nho no luc chung va lien tuc cua cac nha toan hoc va tho co khi trong vong mot trieu đen muoi trieu nam... Khong con nghi ngo gi nua, bai toan nay co suc hap dan đoi voi nhung nguoi quan tam, nhung voi nguoi binh thuong, duong nhu nhung no luc nay co the đuoc su dung mot cach co loi hon.

Cung ngay voi bai bao đuoc xuat ban, Orville Wright viet trong nhat ky cua minh: "We started assembly today" ("Hom nay chung toi bat đau lap rap"), am chi chiec may bay đau tien ma anh va anh trai minh, Wilbur, se thu nghiem bay ngay sau đo. Ngay 8 thang 12 nam 1903, Langley no luc lan cuoi cung đe lai chiec Aerodrome. Mot lan nua, thu nghiem that bai va su ung ho chinh thuc danh cho du an cua Langley bi rut lai. Mot bai xa luan khac cua New York Times binh luan:

We hope that Professor Langley will not put his substantial greatness as a scientist in further peril by continuing to waste his time and money for further airship experiments. Life is short, and he is capable of services to humanity incomparably greater than can expected to result from trying to fly ...

Tam dich:

Chung toi hy vong Giao su Langley se khong đat su vi đai đang ke cua minh voi tu cach la mot nha khoa hoc vao tinh the nguy hiem hon nua thong qua viec tiep tuc lang phi thoi gian va tien bac cua minh cho cac thi nghiem tiep theo ve may bay. Cuoc song rat ngan ngui, va anh ta co the phuc vu nhan loai nhieu hon so voi nhung gi co the mong đoi tu viec co gang bay ...

Ngay 17 thang 12 nam 1903, anh em nha Wright đa bac bo quan điem cua to New York Times cung nhieu nghi ngo khac voi chiec Wright Flyer bay thanh cong cua ho.


Di san Phi hanh gia Dave Williams coi bai bao nay "co le la du đoan toi te khet tieng nhat moi thoi đai". Nha khoa hoc chinh tri P.W. Singer coi bai bao nay la vi du yeu thich cua ong ve mot du đoan "hoan toan sai lam".
Tong thong My George W. Bush đa trich dan bai bao cua New York Times trong le ky niem 100 nam chuyen bay lich su cua anh em nha Wright vao thang 12 nam 2003.


Xem them Anh em nha Wright
Hang khong


Tham khao Lien ket ngoai FLYING MACHINES WHICH DO NOT FLY Luu tru tai New York Times
New York Times ngay 9 thang 10 nam 1903 (Tap 53 So 16774) tren Internet Archive