From the 16th Century, Cuthbert Grimbald–Kairos–reaches forward in time, altering a key moment in aviation history. But fortunately for us all, Nikki notices the anomaly in the continuum.
“The Wright Brothers invent powered flight in 1903 and win a U.S. Army contract in 1908, which leads to an increased use of the airplane during WWI, marking the beginning of a rapid advancement in aviation technology. Air power becomes a defining component of our military success during WWII. But in the altered continuum, the Wright’s mechanic, Charlie Taylor, dies on a test flight and the Wrights are not able to complete the trials. A failure that condemns aviation to the back burner for two more decades. As you know, we barely make it out of World War I and World War II becomes an unmitigated disaster.”
The disaster Nikki refers to is a World War II with a very different ending. The continuum has been shifted and now the war ends only after the United States has detonates atomic bombs mounted on trucks in France, Italy and Germany. Millions die in a desperate attempt to stop the Nazis.
In our time continuum, a twenty year old West Point graduate, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge becomes the first aviation passenger fatality when a propellor on the Flyer, piloted by Orville Wright, delaminates and gets entangled in the aircraft’s rigging.
And what happened to Charlie Taylor, the mechanic who built the first successful aviation engine? He lived many years after the failed test flight, dying in January 30, 1956, at the age of 88. Charles E. Taylor was buried in the Portal of Folded Wings Mausoleum dedicated to aviation pioneers, located in Valhalla Memorial Park, Los Angeles.
Thomas Selfridge, who was a pioneering aeronaut, manned a kite in 1907 and later in 1908, an aircraft, the White Wing, designed by the Aerial Experiment Association formed Alexander Graham Bell. Lieutenant Selfridge was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Learn more about the first powered flight fatality
Learn more about First Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge
