Most people believe the Wright brothers were the first to fly from that windswept dune in North Carolina, but some East Texans prefer to think that the skies were conquered by one of their own. Legend in Pittsburg has it that a local minister got his airship off the ground and above a pasture a full year before the Wright brothers' historic flight. Schoolchildren in this town located about 130 miles east of Dallas learn about the flight made by the Rev. Burrell Cannon's design when they visit the Northeast Texas Rural Heritage Museum as part of their lessons. "It's a part of us. The airship's lasting impression is part of our heritage," said Michelle Stegman, director of the museum where a replica of Mr. Cannon's aircraft is housed.

The Ezekiel Aircraft, a contraption made of white canvas attached to a frame and driven by a gasoline-powered engine, was the invention of Mr. Cannon, who, like many of the era, was inspired by the idea of flight.

The Baptist minister and sawmill operator saw the project as a mission from God, and he turned to the Bible for his design inspiration. Specifically, he looked to the biblical descriptions of chariots in the sky as related by the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel.

"And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them," the Bible says in Ezekiel 1:19. "And when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose."


View: Full Article | Source: Dallas News