Everyone generally knows of the "first powered flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903," which is noted in One flight in France frenzied the world. That exposition also explains why heavier-than-air flight took 5 years after that to become believed, read on. It is difficult to imagine today that airplanes are so recent a development. Many of us have known people born into a world without this marvel and convenience, and many more know some of us born into a world without cell phones, email, and more (but that is for another day).
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina will always hold a place in aviation history. Similarly, one may wonder what else is going on today in laboratories and other privacy. Elon Musk rolled out Optimus recently, and the potentiality of us each interacting with some form of robot seems infinitely closer than ever. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on the revelations and implications. Whether they look like us or have wheels (or both perhaps), the fact is technology is changing our world. See Changing Things (September 2022), regarding wheels on people.
Perhaps more arcane than the famous Kitty Hawk is the knowledge that commercial aviation as we know it, the "regularly scheduled," "heavier-than-air airline," was born in "St. Petersburg on New Year’s Day 1914." Just over a century ago, this float-plane service began, known "as the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line." Coincidentally, also in January 2014, the "third naval aviator" (the first to Pensacola) "arrived in Pensacola . . . to establish the Navy’s first flying school." Within days, he "made the maiden flight from what would become NAS Pensacola." And, in July of that year, the world plunged into the first of its World Wars. 1914 was indeed an important year, in aviation and beyond. By that time, 23 states had adopted workers' compensation laws.
Aviation discussions all trace roots to 1903, Kitty Hawk, and the Wright brothers. However, the history of aviation should focus more on the "one flight in France," which was five years later, in 1908. The Wrights were reportedly secretive, and the selection of Kitty Hawk was said to be part of that. They were isolated there and though they documented their successes that isolation reportedly led the world to doubt their achievements. They did not do early publicity as was recently seen of Optimus. The Wright's big reveal would be in 1908 in Le Mans, France. Only after that flight would the now-iconic photo of the initial Kitty Hawk flight be published. Only then would the world believe they had actually done it.
In its first public flight there, the Wright Model A reportedly flew before hundreds at Le Mans. For two minutes, Wilbur Wright flew in complete control, a feat not achieved elsewhere at that time. His demonstration was distinguished by the manner in which the aircraft was turned, banked, flown, and landed. The observers were reportedly stunned by that control. Others had soared, but the Wrights "flew." In days that followed, crowds of observers reportedly grew to the thousands. There was, reportedly, instantaneous interest and curiosity.
Much has come from heavier-than-air flight. That flight in 1908 France changed the world. Many had aspired to change, but a few inspired it. The timeline thereafter is amazingly short. Six years later, an "electrical engineer from Jacksonville" would begin the first scheduled commercial air service in St. Petersburg. In 1919, the first "airline" is said to have begun service between London and Paris. And, nearly coincident with the 1908 introduction of such flight was the first American workers' compensation act in 1911.
The Wright brothers were innovators. From their invention of flight controls, in just over 100 years, the U.S. system has evolved to 45,000 U.S. flights daily served by Air Traffic Control. That involves about 2.9 million passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. From humble beginnings just over a century ago, two ideas have persisted in parallel. Aviation has been influenced by technology, war, and more. In air flight, largely due to government investment, there have been innumerable innovations. The world in which we live is infinitely different than the one at the dawn of the twentieth century. How different might it be from the vantage point of the next?
Has workers' compensation evolved and developed? In the last 100 years, certainly, practices have changed. It is a far different marketplace today than it was even 30-some years ago when I became involved. But, has it evolved? Is there better appreciation for the intricacies of these systems today than there was when it took the field in 1911? Is workers' compensation 2022 as refined and different from its roots as the F-35 is from the Kitty Hawk Flyer?
There is promise in such conversation. There is merit in asking where we are and where we are headed. There are many greyheads in this community, and the time is past for "because that's the way we always have." The time has come for a real focus on recruiting the next generation, though the effort seems more devoted to hand-wringing. Without the imperative or finances that impacted the evolution of flight, this community nonetheless is ripe for an introspective and thorough reexamination of who we are, where we are, and where we can go.
The next generation is critical for that. Some are alive today who will see the next millennium. They may struggle to relate and describe what the world was like before robots and more. They may interact with people who are amazed not at the abilities of our sophisticated iPhones, but with their primitive capabilities and shortcomings. Their vantage point in the future may be far different from ours, and while they will enjoy the benefits of 20/20 hindsight, we are here to see the innovation. Will it be merely in technology, or can we make it likewise in this crucial service and remediation that is workers' compensation?
