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The Wright Brothers' Flight to Fame

Orville and Wilbur Wright were two brothers who are credited with inventing the first airplane. You're probably thinking to yourself, but so many other people before them have flown in the air! The difference between the brothers and all those who came before them is they invented and built the world's first successfully "sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight"!

Funny enough, neither brothers married. Wilbur once said that he couldn't "support a wife and a flying machine" at the same time!

Flyings toys in childhood sparked their interest

Their father was a church bishop and gave them a flying toy made of cork and bamboo when they were kids. It had a paper body and was powered by rubber bands, but the boys accidentally broke this fragile toy. Wilbur read every book he could find on human flight as he grew older.

Publishing presses and bicycle shops

Only 1 of 5 bikes built by the Wrights exist today in the world.

Orville dropped out of high school and opened a publishing press with the help of his brother, Wilbur. The nation was crazy about bikes at that time, so they later decided to open a sales and repair bicycle shop. Wilbur was still obsessed with flight - later on they would share equally in their credit, but Wilbur began these goals of flight before Orville got deeply involved.

The Invention of their Airplane

Here's why the Wright brothers are considered the first successful masters of aviation:

• Since unpublished data was unreliable, they built their own wind tunnel to test-fly machines

• They were the first to discover that the ideal design for flying was a long, narrow wind shape

• They learned how to move a plane freely - not just forward, but also up and down using a cushion of air

• They built a forward elevator in order to control the pitch of the plane as it nosed up and down

• They devised a pulley system that warped the shape of the wings (known as wing-warping) to stop the plane from rolling in mid-air

• They designed the first effective airplane propellers made of laminated spruce wood

• Since a lightweight gas engine didn't exist, they design and built their own!

Phew! That's a lot of stuff that these guys did. Now you can see why they probably get credit for inventing the airplane!

"Before the Wright Brothers, no one in aviation did anything fundamentally right. Since the Wright Brothers, no one has done anything fundamentally different."

1900: The Wright Glider

The Wrights brothers' strategy was to practice gliding so that they could master the art of control before attempting any sort of airplane. Their glider is seen above, flying in the now-famous town, North Carolina.

1901 Glider

The following year, the men tried a different design. It had no tail (the picture shows the airplane facing up with its nose) and a larger wingspan. Instead of a nose-dive, it had a softer parachute landing. The big problem with this glider was that their wing-warping failed - turning opposite the direction intended.

1902 Glider

The following year's design was a major improvement. It flew at a flatter angle than the previous glider. They also achieve true control in flight turns, and discovered the real purpose of movable rudders: its function was to align the plane correctly during turns and wind disturbances.

1903: The Wright Flyer I
the first powered and successfully sustained aircraft

Watch the first lift-off of the first airplane in history!

The Wright Flyer I was the first powered airplane. It was made out of spruce, a strong but lightweight wood. They carved their own wooden propellers and built a gas engine which was made in their bicycle shop. It's interesting to note that there was not much public excitement about the boys' achievements - they said the flights were too short to be important

The above left photo shows the plane on that historical day. On the right is the original plane, still in tact and on display in the Smithsonian National Air & Space museum!

1904: Wright Flyer II

Orville and Wilbur Wright still had trouble creating legitimacy for their developments in aviation. They created a new model called the Wright Flyer II. On September 20th, 1904, Wilbur flew the first complete circle in history by a manned, heavier-than-air machine, powered machine. It covered 4,080 feet in about a minute and a half.

1905: Wright Flyer III

The Wright Flyer III was equipped with the same engine and hardware from Flyer II. In 1905, the flight in the photo above covered 20.75 miles in 33 minutes and 17 seconds. The guys were upfront about the lack of attention they received from the press and business. They were afraid of competitors stealing their ideas, so they dissembled the parts of this plane later that year.

What Did They Lack?

The Wright brothers' planes weren't perfect. They still had a few technical issues to sort out, which have now been solved in today's modern aircraft:

• the takeoff rail
• no wheels
• ground effect
• the need for a headwind
• the use of a catapult

These issues were obviously addressed later on. While their planes didn't have all the elements and conveniences of, say, a Boeing 747, the plane was:

the first heavier-than-air, manner, powered, winged machine, to fly successfully under full control, using aerodynamic principles developed by the brothers themselves (and these principles are applied in all practical airplanes today!)

Finally, I leave you with a very funny commercial ad from General Electric which talks about the Wright Brothers' first flight: