b.cognosco

The Wright Brothers are famous for their flight at Kitty Hawk, but very few people saw that 1903 flight and the Wrights spent the next several years working in secrecy, filing patents and trying to sign manufacturing contracts. By contrast, Glenn Curtiss, of Hammondsport, NY made the first public flight on July 4, 1908, before a cheering crowd of thousands. Curtiss' contribution to modern aviation, and the potential damage inflicted by an overt focus on patents, is discussed in the August 25 edition of NPR's All Things Considered. The story is an intriguing summary of the Wright-Curtiss rivalry, and holds several lessons for modern technology inventors.

Despite the Wright's fame for inventing the airplane it was Curtiss who sold the first commercial craft, became the first licensed pilot, and was the first to fly from one city to another. While the Wrights hid away their discoveries and attempted to lock them up with patents, Curtiss went about openly building and flying planes, engaging others to share ideas, and improving his machine.

Soon he was making better planes that the Wrights and Orville filed a suit for patent infringement. A protracted legal battle ensued, and the Wrights and Curtiss became bitter rivals. This lengthy dispute is the cause some now cite for the early lead of European flight development over that in the US. When WW1 erupted the US government intervened, ordering both companies out of the courts and back to work and, more importantly, preventing anyone from claiming sole use of aircraft technology for the next 50 years. It was in this environment of forced sharing that the US aviation industry flourished, becoming the clear leader in aviation technology well into the latter half of the 20th century.

The NPR story is a timely observation in this era of patent lunacy, when even bathroom queueing systems are being claimed as proprietary inventions. It is an interesting look back at one of the most fertile periods of technological growth, and makes the point that perhaps we should reconsider whether patents truly promote progress when we look at what their absence wrought.

Back thanks to Scott Walker for the pointer for the NPR story.

NFL -- Carolina Collapse

3:23:12 PM

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Watching the Atlanta Falcons make mincemeat of the Carolina Panthers. Michael Vick just took the ball on a 44-yard run to put Atlanta ahead 24-0. It was the second-longest touchdown run by any Atlanta quarterback. On the next possession 3rd-string Carolina quarterback Randy Fasani was intercepted by Ray Buchannon on the Carolina 40-yard-line. This game is all but over with 13 minutes to go.

It hasn't been a pretty game -- Carolina is basically falling apart. Critical injuries on both offensive and defensive units have created some big openings and Atlanta has capitalized on their opportunities. Now if we can just take this momentum into the game against the unbelievably fearsome NO Saints next week...

Affordable Business Jets

2:03:51 PM

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Is it the future of aviation? Microsoft alum and former CEO of Symantec Vern Raburn thinks so. Raburn's latest company, Eclipse Aviation is well on the way to releasing the most affordable passenger jet in history.

The Eclipse 500, a six-seat, twin-engine business jet, has a cruising speed of 450 mph at an altitude of 41,000 feet. Eclipse has about a year of FAA approvals to get through, but expects to bring the plane to market at $850,000 -- less than the cost for most used turbo-prop planes. More importantly, the plane's operating costs are expected to be up to 60 percent less than today's most economical business jet.

How can they do that? Three technologies are key to the cost savings. Instead of relying on an outer aluminum tube held together with thousands of rivets, Eclipse is using a new technique called friction slur-welding to build the aircraft hull. This technique reduces the air frame assembly time from weeks to a matter of days. For engines Eclipse eschews traditional commercial jet engines in favor of smaller, 85-lb motors similar to those found in cruise missiles.

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And the craft's sophisticated electronics systems are made from readily available, commercial components.

The Eclipse 500 is designed to be flown from almost any airport in the country, and the low purchase and operating costs radically improve the economics of fractional ownership and lease/share programs, making them appealing to companies with just a few million in annual revenues.

Whenever a maturing industry is roiling in chaos, struggling to find growth and profits and seemingly stymied at every turn, it's time to look for a major upheaval. Things may not get better for the major air carriers, but it looks like affordable, personalized air travel is about to become a reality. [ Source: AudioTech Business Briefings]