5 Bad Past Predictions about Aviation

1. “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.”—Lord Kelvin, mathematician and physicist, 1895

2. “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 10 million years.” —New York Times editorial, 1903

3. “I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for 50 years.” —Wilbur Wright, 1908

4. “Even if a [flying] machine could get across [the Atlantic] with one or two passengers, the expense would be prohibitive to any but the capitalist who could own his own yacht.” —William H. Pickering, astronomer, 1910

5. “In 50 years, vertical takeoff and landing will have become a standard operating system, passenger flight at Mach 4 will be routine, and interplanetary travel will be established.” —A.D. Baxter, Royal Aeronautical Society president, 1966