Dawn of Flight Failures Montage

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

You've Seen It a Million Times -- this black-and-white montage of assorted early-20th century Magnificent Flying Machines failing rather spectacularly at actual flight is such a common piece of Stock Footage that it counts as a trope in its own right. While the exact contents of the montage may vary from use to use, it will almost always include at least some of the following:

  • A fragile-looking craft with seven wings stacked on top of each other, like a metastasized biplane, rolling for a short distance alongside a warehouse or hangar before the whole thing suddenly collapses and its wings fold in on top of it
  • A wheeled vehicle that appears to be an early attempt at a helicopter, with a spinning conical fan-like wing/propeller atop it, bouncing futilely in place
  • Another prototype helicopter with two counter-spinning propellers, which nearly decapitates its would-be pilot before he runs off and it falls over on its side
  • A device that looks like a converted threshing machine which promptly tears itself apart as soon as it starts up
  • A mustachioed gentleman leaping off a rock while wearing what appears to be a large rocket-propelled model airplane
  • At least one pedal-powered contraption with bicycle wheels and flapping wings
  • A substantial-looking "airplane" with flapping wings that simply falls apart, starting with its propeller
  • An "airplane" covered in rippling loose fabric with a wing that curves upward at the ends, which barely starts moving before it plows nose-first into the ground in front of it
  • A man wearing ice skates and a rocket pack on his back, who ends up being knocked on his butt instead of propelled across the ice
  • At least one man with wings attached to his arms, trying to fly simply by flapping them
  • A glider (?) falling down the side of a cliff and smashing into the rocks below
  • A biplane plowing into the side of a house (which actually appears to be a deliberate stunt at an air show, rather than a failed attempt at flight)

There are other clips beyond these which may appear in the montage, including different angles and alternate footage of some of the events above; these are simply the most recognizable.

One of the most common collections of these clips was originally a Pathe Newsreel.

While it can still seen played straight in documentaries on early aviation pioneers, it is more likely to be encountered in a humorous context. (And sometimes both at the same time.)

Examples of Dawn of Flight Failures Montage include:

Anime and Manga

  • Many of these flying machines appear (in animated form) in the first episode of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, taking part in a competition to see who can go the farthest before crashing. They have the same success rate that they had in Real Life.

Film

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