"Scout" wrote in message ...
Read that somewhere recently.
I knew downwind sailing was "it" for a very long time, but did the concept of sailing to wind really come about with the evolution of the wing and mechanical flight?
Scout


Right you are Scout. The first heavy lift gliders came about before 1800. You can see that the technology existed in planes before it got around to sailboats.

http://www.first-to-fly.com/History/...e/firstair.htm

Most of the people here are not knowledgeable in the ways of science. It was once said that science was too important to be left for the scientists. But laymen have neither the training or the inclination for scientific thought. I will no longer sit back and allow non science opinion, non science indoctrination and the international non science conspiracy to sap and irrationalize our precious scientific thought. Have you ever seen a non scientist drink water? Distilled, pure, ion free water? That's right, your typical non scientist does not drink pure distilled water. Their precious bodily fluids are impure and their capacity for scientific thought is impaired. This all became apparent to me during the act of calculating. I assure you my scientific essence remains pure, though I deny non scientists the benefits of my calculations.