The accepted history of flight is that in 1783 the first hot air balloon was lifted, and that it wasn't until 1903 when powered flight became a reality. What if I told you that reality of flight has lived for many years? In 1898 a wooden object dated back to about 200 BCE, found in a tomb at Saqquara, Egypt, was labeled as a model of a bird, and was stored away in the basement of the Cairo museum. Keep in mind that airplanes had not yet been invented by 1898. In 1997 researchers decided to built scaled up models of these artifacts. Adding a small engine and propeller, the exact specifications were scaled up and made of materials used for flight of small radio controlled craft. The new version of this ancient aircraft flew remarkably well, and performed loops, rolls and turns, as well as take off and landing. Did ancient civilizations really achieve flight in the past or did we have visitors from another planet drop off clues?
