Read and choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once.

Pioneers of Flight

Since time immemorial people have wished they could fly. With hindsight, some may wish

they hadn't tried.

A. The Belgian de Groof worked for years on an apparatus intended to emulate the flight

of birds. For this purpose, a he constructed a device with bat-like wings. The framework was made of wood and rattan; the huge wings were covered with strong, waterproof silk, as was the long tail. The machine was controlled by levers. De Groof's first trial, which consisted of jumping from great height to the Grand Place in Brussels, ended in failure, and he was lucky to escape unhurt. His second attempt was successful, but his third, on July 1894, was not. Having planned to descend into the River Thames, de Groof was taken up by balloon and then released from a height of 1,000 feet. For some unknown reason the wing frame collapsed and he fell to his death. There was almost a second accident when the balloonist, having lost control of the balloon, landed in front of an approaching train, which just managed to stop in time.

B. On 8 October 1883 Gaston Tissandier and his brother, Albert, became the first to fit an electric motor to an airship, thus creating the first electric-powered flight and enabling airships to be steered. In order to form some idea of the results which could be obtained, the brothers first performed tests on a small-scale model in their own laboratory near Paris. The airship they finally constructed was huge - ninety - two feet long with a diameter of thirty feet. The bamboo pannier, which was attached by twenty ropes to the envelope, contained the Siemens electric motor. The test was a relative success. The flight lasted just over an hour and the brothers landed safely. They had been able to steer the airship at will but said that they would have had problems had the weather not been fair.

C. Otto Lilienthal studied the science of aviation and published two books on the subject. He constructed a machine in which he threw himself from a height, remained in the air for a time and then gradually descended to earth. His machine consisted of a framewrk of thin wooden rods covered with linen securely to his shoulders. It took the shape of two slightly concave wings, with a raised tailpiece at the rear. A pair of rudders was fitted to help him steer. Mr. Lilienthal first launched himself in his machine from a tower on a hilltop near Berlin. On 9 August 1898, Otto Lilienthal crashed to earth from a height of fifty feet while testing a new type of steering device. He died the following day. His last words were reported to be: 'Sacrifices must be made.

D. On 31 July 1894, for the first time in history, a flying machine actually left the ground, fully equipped with engines, boiler, fuel, water and a crew of three. Its inventor was Hiram Maxim, who had invested £20,000 in its construction. The machine was a large steam-driven structure formed of steel tubes and wires with five wings. Maxim began tests in 1894. On the third try the plane, which was powered up to forty miles per hour, left its track and continued on its way cutting a path through the grass for some 200 yards. At times it reached an altitude of two to three feet above the ground before it finally crashed.

After this Maxim lost interest in flying and went on to other inventions, making his fortune with the invention of the Maxim machine gun.

Which person

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spent a long time on his invention?

A. B. C. D.