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Cascadian's avatar

I'm no expert but I see airfoil planes and rockets as separate development tracks. And for rockets we have:

"A record from 1264 states that a rocket-propelled firework went off near the Empress Dowager Gong Sheng and startled her during a feast held in her honor by her son Emperor Lizong of Song ...."

"Rocket propulsion was common in warfare, as evidenced by the Huolongjing compiled by Liu Bowen (1311–1375) and Jiao Yu (fl. c. 1350–1412). In 1240 the Arabs acquired knowledge of gunpowder and its uses from China. A Syrian named Hasan al-Rammah wrote of rockets, fireworks, and other incendiaries, using terms that suggested he derived his knowledge from Chinese sources ...."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireworks

Of course if one looks at this as passenger carriers vs. non-passenger carriers, then the Wright Brothers are the correct precedent. That's perfectly legitimate, but for some reason it doesn't strike me that way.

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Robert Hatch's avatar

Absolutely correct. Rocket technology is very old. We went to the moon with rocket technology, not flight technology. Flight technology advanced rapidly from 1903 until the 70s, but we still use many the same air-frames today, albeit with advances on details and electronics.

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