Man has always wanted to fly since the wake of human civilization. It would be great injustice to the efforts of the ancient men if we suppose that aircrafts were not made until the 18th century. The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible. BUT Only a few years ago, the Chinese discovered some sanskrit documents in Lhasa, Tibet and sent them to the University of Chandrigarh to be translated. Dr. Ruth Reyna of the University said recently that the documents contain directions for building interstellar spaceships! An interesting claim about the Indian science of aeronautics and the ancient research by the rishi-scientist, Acharya Bharadwaj is that an Indian successfully tested them actual practice 112 years ago. In 1895, fully eight years before the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Mr. Shivkar Bapuji Talpade of Bombay and his wife (reportedly) gave a thrilling demonstration flight on Chowpatty beach, Bombay. Talpade’s aircraft used an ion engine in 1895 working on mercurial pressure. His unmanned aircraft named as ‘Marutsakthi’ take off, fly to a height of 1500 feet and then fall down to earth. "Kesari" news paper(edited by Bal Gangadhar Tilak) of Pune covered the event. Talpade of Bombay, was an erudite scholar of Sanskrit literature, especially of the Vedas, an inventor and a teacher in the School of Arts. His deep study of the Vedas led him to construct an aircraft conforming to their descriptions. The aircraft was displayed in an exhibition arranged by the Bombay Art Society in the Town Hall. Swamy Dayananda Sarswathi, a towering scholar of the last century, while referring to flying machines in his commentary on Rig-Veda Bhashya Bhumika, narrates certain aspects of propulsive thrust of vimanas (aircrafts) in directional control. This was in 1875. We come to the Veda in the last part of this discussion. Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying machine, the precursor to the airplane. One of da Vinci’s most famous inventions, the flying machine (also known as the "ornithopter") ideally displays his powers of observation and imagination, as well as his enthusiasm for the potential of flight. The design for this invention is clearly inspired by the flight of winged animals, which da Vinci hoped to replicate. In fact, in his notes, he mentions bats, kites and birds as sources of inspiration. Emperor Ashoka The Indian Emperor Ashoka started a "Secret Society of the Nine Unknown Men": great Indian scientists who were supposed to catalogue the many sciences. Ashoka kept their work secret because he was afraid that the advanced science catalogued by these men, culled from ancient Indian sources, would be used for the evil purpose of war, which Ashoka was strongly against, having been converted to Buddhism after defeating a rival army in a bloody battle. The "Nine Unknown Men" wrote a total of nine books, presumably one each. Book number was "The Secrets of Gravitation!" This book, known to historians, but not actually seen by them dealt chiefly with "gravity control." Ancient China: China has remained the wonderland of East to give forth a wealth of inventions and remarkable new ideas to the world; no doubt, it did have its share of ancient airplanes too! If you go by the 770-475 BC Chinese book records, you will come across the master creator Lu Ban who fathered the first Chinese airplane.The Mozi Luwen accounts describe a light flying model made of wood and bamboo that could fly for three days at a stretch. Other texts like Hongshu attribute to Lu Ban the credit of making a passenger plane. Egypt This object (shown in sketch) was found in 1898 in a tomb at Saqqara, Egypt and was later dated as having been created near 200 BCE. As airplanes were unknown in the days when it was found, it was thrown into a box marked "wooden bird model" and then stored in the basement of the Cairo museum. It was rediscovered by Dr. Khalil Messiha, who studied models made by ancients. The "discovery" was considered so important by the Egyptian government that a special committee of leading scientists was established to study the object. Central America and coastal areas of South America Gold trinkets were found in an area covering Central America and coastal areas of South America, estimated to belong to a period between 500 and 800 CE, but since they are made from gold, accurate dating is impossible and based essentially on stratigraphy which may be deceptive. However, we can safely say that these gold objects are more than 1000 years old. Whatever this object is supposed to be or represent, its remarkable resemblance to a modern aircraft or spacecraft is uncanny. Back to INDIA The Ramayana gives evidence about flying machine in which Ravana kidnapped Sita Devi. According to Dr. Vyacheslav Zaitsev: “the holy Indian Sages, the Ramayana for one, tell of “Two storied celestial chariots with many windows” “They roar like off into the sky until they appear like comets.” The ancient Mahabharata, one of the sources on Vimanas, goes on to tell the awesome destructiveness of the war: "...(the weapon was) a single projectile charged with all the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke and flame As bright as the thousand suns rose in all its splendor... An iron thunderbolt, A gigantic messenger of death, Which reduced to ashes The entire race of the Vrishnis And the Andhakas. ... the corpses were so burned As to be unrecognizable. The hair and nails fell out; Pottery broke without apparent cause, And the birds turned white. ... After a few hours All foodstuffs were infected... ... to escape from this fire The soldiers threw themselves in streams To wash themselves and their equipment..." It would seem that the Mahabharata is describing an atomic war! References like this one are not isolated; but battles, using a fantastic array of weapons and aerial vehicles are common in all the epic Indian books. One even describes a Vimana-Vailix battle on the Moon! The above section very accurately describes what an atomic explosion would look like and the effects of the radioactivity on the population. Jumping into water is the only respite. Now to the oldest of oldest: Veda “The ancient Hindus could navigate the air, and not only navigate it but fight battles in it like so many war-eagles, combating for the domination of the clouds. To be so perfect in aeronautics they must have known all the arts and sciences relating to the science, including the strata and currents of the atmosphere, the relative temperature, humidity, density and specific gravity of the various gases....." - Col. Olcott in a lecture in Allahabad in 1881. The Rig Veda, the oldest document of the human race includes references to the following modes of transportation: Jalayan - a vehicle designed to operate in air and water (Rig Veda 6.58.3); Kaara- a vehicle that operates on ground and in water. (Rig Veda 9.14.1); Tritala- a vehicle consisting of three stories. (Rig Veda 3.14.1); Trichakra Ratha - a three-wheeled vehicle designed to operate in the air. (Rig Veda 4.36.1); Vaayu Ratha- a gas or wind-powered chariot. (Rig Veda 5.41.6); Vidyut Ratha- a vehicle that operates on power. (Rig Veda 3.14.1). The Vaimanika Sastra (or Vymaanika-Shaastra) has 100 sections, eight chapters, 500 principles and 3000 slokas with diagrams, describing three types of aircraft, including apparatuses that could neither catch on fire nor break. It also mentions 31 essential parts of these vehicles and 16 materials from which they are constructed, which absorb light and heat; for which reason they were considered suitable for the construction of Vimanas. This document has been translated into English and is available by writing the publisher: VYMAANIDASHAASTRA AERONAUTICS by Maharishi Bharadwaaja, translated into English and edited, printed and published by Mr. G. R. Josyer, Mysore, India, 1979 (sorry, no street address). Mr. Josyer is the director of the International Academy of Sanskrit Investigation located in Mysore. There seems to be no doubt that Vimanas were powered by some sort of "anti-gravity." Vimanas took off vertically, and were capable of hovering in the sky, like a modern helicopter or dirigible. Bharadvajy the Wise refers to no less than 70 authorities and 10 experts of air travel in antiquity. So the conclusion is that not only modern people know to fly but also the ancient peoples. And all it starts with the Veda. There are many knowledge regarding the aviation which are still to be reveled..
