Fantastic Flying Machines

Fantastic Flying Machines, written by John Mayer and Elizabeth Austin.

《奇妙的飞行器》，作者：约翰·迈耶、伊丽莎白·奥斯汀

Introduction. Close your eyes and imagine if you could fly like a bird. Where would you go? What would you see? If you had never seen or heard of an airplane, could you imagine what it would be like to fly? Let's look at some of the fantastic machines that make flying possible.

前言 闭上你的眼睛，想象一下你能像小鸟一样飞翔 你会想去哪里呢？ 你会看到些什么呢？ 如果你从来没见过也没听说过飞机，你能想象飞行是什么样子吗？ 一起来看看那些让飞行成真的奇妙飞行器吧

People have always wanted to fly. They watched birds fly. They dreamed about how wonderful it would be. A few people had good ideas about what made objects move through the air. One man made a small toy propeller that could spin through the air. In the 1400s, Leonardo da Vinci, an artist, drew amazing plans for a helicopter. It might have worked, but he never built it. People experimented. Some strapped wings onto their arms and flapped. A few tied themselves to big kites. Almost everyone crashed over and over, but they wanted to fly.

人类一直以来都梦想着飞翔 他们看着鸟儿在空中飞翔 也梦想着自己能飞，那该多美好 有少数人想到了让物体在空中穿行的好点子 有个人做出了能在空中旋转的小型螺旋桨玩具 15世纪，艺术家达·芬奇画出了精妙的直升机设计图 这个设计说不定能成功，但他从来没有把它造出来 人们不断尝试实验 有些人把翅膀绑在手臂上扑腾 还有些人把自己绑在大风筝上 几乎所有人都一次次坠落，但他们依然想要飞翔

History of flight. In 1783, two French brothers invented the hot air balloon. Their first passengers were a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. George Cayley built the first glider that carried a person. Later, an engineer invented a better glider and published his ideas in 1889. A few years later, his ideas and notes inspired many of the designs of the Wright brothers.

飞行发展史 1783年，法国的一对兄弟发明了热气球 热气球的第一批乘客是一只绵羊、一只公鸡和一只鸭子 乔治·凯利造出了第一架能载人的滑翔机 后来，一位工程师改良了滑翔机，并在1889年发表了他的设计理念 几年后，他的理念和笔记给莱特兄弟的设计带来了很多灵感

Orville and Wilbur Wright thought about all of these early ideas. They thought about why most of them didn't work. After many tests, the Wright brothers built the first successful airplane that was powered by an engine. It could only carry one person, so they took turns testing it. On December 17, 1903, it was Orville's turn. That day, he flew for one full minute and went 260 meters, 850 feet. People could fly.

奥维尔·莱特和威尔伯·莱特研究了所有这些早期的想法 他们思考为什么大部分设计都没能成功 经过无数次测试，莱特兄弟造出了第一架成功的动力飞机 它只能搭载一个人，所以兄弟俩轮流试飞 1903年12月17日，轮到奥维尔试飞 那天，他总共飞行了整整一分钟，航程260米，也就是850英尺 人类终于可以飞翔了

Airplanes. Planes have improved a lot since the early days of flight. Large passenger airplanes are the first type of flying machine that most people see. Have you flown in an airplane on a vacation trip? These types of planes can carry about 450 passengers and their luggage. They can take you across the country or around the world.

飞机 从飞行时代早期到现在，飞机已经改进了很多 大型客机是大多数人最先认识的飞行器 你有没有坐过飞机去度假呢？ 这种飞机大约可以搭载450名乘客，还有他们的行李 它能带你穿越整个国家，甚至环游世界