In an article in Flying by Robert Goyer, Jane's All the World's Aircraft has named an August 1901 flight by Connecticut aviation pioneer Gustave Whitehead as the first successful powered flight in history, beating the Wright Brothers by more than two years. Jane's, which calls itself "the world's foremost authority on aviation history", with great authority, has traditionally backed the Wrights as first in flight. Now they say the evidence for Whitehead's flight is strong enough for the publication to reverse course and recognize it as the first successful powered flight.
Jane's Editor Paul Jackson credits the long work of aviation researcher John Brown for much of the recently uncovered evidence that Whitehead's flight was the first. Brown's website is www.gustave-whitehead.com and the full article written by Robert Goyer can be found here.
