James Henry Gatling first attempted his flying machine in 1873, thirty years before the Wright brothers took off at Kitty Hawk. With a long narrow center, a kitchen chair, and various wires and pedals, the design was bulky.
Gatling launched the plane from a raised platform atop a cotton gin, about 12 feet off the ground. The plane remained in the air for about 100 feet before rapidly falling to ground. It was more of a glide than it was a flight. Though Gatling suffered minor injuries, the plane was severely damaged and returned to the barn.
President of the Murfreesboro Historical Association James Moore walks us through the story.
