Wright Brothers |
Wright Brothers |
U.S. Department of the Interior |
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What they achieved changed the world forever. |
Wind, sand, and the dream of flight brought Wilbur and Orville Wright to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where they achieved the first successful airplane flights on December 17, 1903. With courage and perseverance these self taught engineers relied on teamwork and the application of scientific process. |
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Wright Brothers of Dayton They had seemingly settled into respectability as proprietors of a small business. But the Wright brothers of Dayton, Ohio nurtured a barely respectable dream; the possibility of flight. Wilbur, four years older, quiet and intense, a dreamer who could lose himself in books. Orville was outgoing, talkative, and an immaculate dresser. Both combined intuitive mechanical ability with analytical intelligence. In 1892 they opened a bicycle shop and prospered, but they were restless, especially Wilbur. Their energies were focused by two events of 1896; the death in a flying accident of Otto Lilienthal, the celebrated experimenter with gliders, and the successful launching of powered models by Samuel Langley. The Wright's serious work in aeronautics began in 1899 when Wilbur wrote the Smithsonian for literature. Dismayed that so many great minds had made so little progress, the brothers were also exhilarated by the realization that they had as much chance as anyone of succeeding. Wilbur took the lead in the early stages of their work, but Orville was soon drawn in as an equal collaborator. They quickly developed their own theories, and for the next four years devoted themselves to the goal of human flight. Orville Wright was born August 19, 1871 in Dayton, Ohio. Wilbur was born April 16, 1867 in Millville, Indiana. Showing the World "They have done it!" Damned if they ain't flew!" said a witness to the first human flight. But so often had this claim proven hollow that the public was skeptical of yet another, especially after the spectacular failure of Langley's flying machine 9 days earlier. Undismayed, the Wrights built an improved flyer and refined their flying skills over a field in Ohio, making 105 flights in 1904. In the 1905 flyer, 38 minutes became routine. But when the Wrights offered the flyer to the U.S. Army, that institution, dubious of their achievement, refused to meet with them. Unwilling to show their control system without a contract in hand, the Wrights did not fly for another 3 years. Despite the break in their progress, the gap between the Wrights and European aviators remained substantial. After 1903, the French built flyers based on the Wright gliders. But by 1906, none had remained aloft for more than a few seconds of ragged flight. Not until 1907 did a European plane stay in the air as long as the Wrights had in 1903. But the Wrights' refusal to fly caused even early believers to doubt their success. By 1908, a French pilot had flown for over 20 minutes. The Wrights finally signed a contact with the U.S. Army that year and showed the world what they could do - Wilbur in France, Orville in America. After Wilbur flew a circle under good lateral control and landed gently, no one questioned that the Wrights had truly mastered flight. The French attempts were still shaky, on the edge of control. What Wilbur had done was effortless, graceful, decisive. In other flights he flew over 2 hours and reached an altitude of 360 feet, demonstrating the flyer's reliability and endurance. "We are as children compared with the Wrights," said one French pilot. By 1910 the rest of the world had caught up. The French rapidly introduced refinements to the Wright design; monoplane wings, closed body, front propeller, rear elevator, single stick control, wheels, and ailerons. But the principle being the Wright's control system was unchanged.
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