This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedanta.
Otto Lilienthal was a 19th century design engineer who was fascinated by the idea of flying machines.
He meticulously studied the shape of the wings of birds and invented a flying apparatus that allowed him to glide short distances.
On Sunday, August 9, 1896, Otto went to a hilly region about 50 miles from where he lived in Berlin.
He strapped into his glider like a human stork and took three successful flights.
But on his fourth attempt, a strong gust of wind launched otto up about 50ft and then careened him toward the earth.
He tried to wrestle the glider out of a crash but failed to do so.
The plunge broke Otto's neck.
He died shortly afterwards.
A few years later, two bicycle mechanics in Ohio realized what was wrong with Otto's glider.
It required the pilot to move his body to change the center of gravity of the machine.
This system gave the pilot limited balance and control.
It would be like trying to maneuver a bicycle only by leaning to one side or another.
Orville and Wilbur Wright knew a great deal about balance and control from their work on bicycles.
While idly twisting a cardboard box one day, the brothers realized they could warp the shape of a fixed wing through a set of wires.
In effect, they could provide a pilot with a handlebar.
Tests confirmed that this system provided significantly more control than Oro's glider.
The rest, of course, is history.
Otto Lilienthal had built a machine that mimicked the mechanics of birds.