Eilmer of Malmesbury Had A Tail

Eilmer of Malmesbury tried to fly by jumping off the top of the Abbey and later remarked that he forgot to add a tail after he broke both his legs during his test and the Bishop told him no more testing.

So what if he did remember to have a tail during his first 'flight' think he would have still crashed and broken both his legs?
 
No, with the added control surface, he would've been able to pull out of his dive and begin a graceful glide up to a comfortable cruising altitude of 20 000 feet. At that time, he would unfasten his seat belt and lower his tray table while busying himself with the inflight magazine.
 
I imagine he'd have crashed anyway. Even with a tail, the odds of him getting it right enough to avoid a crash aren't very good.

Hard to tell with scanty information, though.
 
I imagine he'd have crashed anyway. Even with a tail, the odds of him getting it right enough to avoid a crash aren't very good.

Hard to tell with scanty information, though.
Yeah, this. It could have helped him avoid the crash, so I would say a TL where he added a tail and didn't crash would not be ASB, as long as the writer acknowledged that he was lucky, and in any subsequent flights, his luck gave him time to grow skilled.

Would make for an interesting divergence. If more people use hang-gliders of that sort after this, I wonder how long it would be, before someone uses them to scout enemy formations and fortifications.
 
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