Editing Aeronautics (section)

===The 19th century: Otto Lilienthal and the first human flights===
[[File:Otto Lilienthal gliding experiment ppmsca.02546.jpg|thumb|Lilienthal in mid-flight, Berlin c. 1895]]

During the 19th century Cayley's ideas were refined, proved and expanded on, culminating in the works of [[Otto Lilienthal]].

Lilienthal was a German engineer and businessman who became known as the "flying man".<ref>{{citation |url=https://lilienthal-museum.museumnet.eu/archiv/objekt/15851 |title=Killed In Trying To Fly |work=New York Herald |date=August 12, 1896|access-date=11 June 2019}}</ref> He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with [[Glider (aircraft)|glider]]s,<ref>[http://www.dlr.de/dlr/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10280/385_read-16705/year-all/#/gallery/21944 ''DLR baut das erste Serien-Flugzeug der Welt nach''] 2017. Retrieved: 3 March 2017.</ref> therefore making the idea of "[[heavier than air]]" a reality. Newspapers and magazines published photographs of Lilienthal gliding, favourably influencing public and scientific opinion about the possibility of flying machines becoming practical.

His work led to the development of the modern wing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lilienthal-museum.de/olma/eotto.htm|title = Otto-Lilienthal-Museum Anklam}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dlr.de/content/en/dossiers/2019/lilienthal-glider-project.html|title=The Lilienthal glider project|access-date=2022-02-26|archive-date=2022-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307224806/https://www.dlr.de/content/en/dossiers/2019/lilienthal-glider-project.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> His flight attempts in [[Berlin]] in the year 1891 are seen as the beginning of human flight<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lilienthal-museum.de/olma/e34.htm|title = Otto-Lilienthal-Museum Anklam}}</ref> and the "[[Lilienthal Normalsegelapparat]]" is considered to be the first air plane in series production, making the ''Maschinenfabrik Otto Lilienthal'' in [[Berlin]] the first air plane production company in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aeroreport.de/en/good-to-know/like-a-bird|title = Like a bird}}</ref>

[[Otto Lilienthal]] is often referred to as either the "father of aviation"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/milestones/airandspacepioneers/ottolilienthal/index.html|title=DPMA &#124; Otto Lilienthal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cobaltrecruitment.co.uk/blog/2017/11/in-perspective-otto-lilienthal|title = In perspective: Otto Lilienthal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/prospero/2011/09/20/remembering-germanys-first-flying-man|title = Remembering Germany's first "flying man"|newspaper = The Economist|date = 20 September 2011}}</ref> or "father of flight".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scihi.org/otto-lilienthal-glider-king/|title=Otto Lilienthal, the Glider King|date=23 May 2020}}</ref>

Other important investigators included [[Horatio Phillips]].