The earliest recorded use of power in getting an object in the air was during the Greek civilization. It took place in 500 B.C. when Heron used steam made by a boiler. In 1857 a French naval officer, Felix du Temple, designed a powered aeroplane with a retractable landing gear. Step by step these new designs helped with the progress of flight.

A Frenchman, Clement Ader was the first person to lift off the ground in an aircraft with power. But his invention could not be controlled or remain in the air. Most of these experiments, with their focus on power alone, focused the statement Wilbur Wright made in the next century: "Given the proper power and inclined at the right angle, a barn door could be made to fly".

Orville and Wilbur Wright became interested in flight as boys in Ohio. Their father gave them a rubber hand powered toy glider. Although they did not go to college, they were smart. When bicycling became popular in the 1890's, the Wright Brothers ran a bicycle repair shop. They made so much money that they went on to design and make their own bikes.

The Wrights became seriously interested in aviation when they began reading of Lilienthal's gliding flights in Germany. On May 30, 1899, Wilbur Wright wrote to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He asked if he could obtain papers published by the institution and a list of books in English on the subject of human flight. He received four free pamphlets and a list of five books on the subject. In those days little was written about flight. One book, written by Octave Chanute, inspired the brothers to correspond with the author. Chanute wrote the Wrights long letters to help them understand the principles of flight.

The Wrights designed a glider much like a kite. They needed strong winds to keep their engine-less gliders in the air. Wilbur wrote the Weather Bureau in Washington asking about winds. With the information they received they decided that the winds on the Outer Banks of North Carolina were right for their experiments. Additionally the water and large sand dunes there would ensure safe landings in case a gliding flight did not go well. They thought about how to steer the aircraft to avoid the problems that had plagued Lilienthal.

They saw a soaring bird right itself from a gust of wind by raising the wing tip of its lowered wing to regain balance. They knew that this technique would give their craft the control needed. They puzzled over how to design this new idea into their vehicle.

One evening at the bicycle shop, Wilbur sold a customer a bicycle tire inner tube. While Wilbur was speaking to the customer, he absentmindedly started to twist the ends of the long narrow box that had held the inner tube, warping them back and forward in opposite directions. Wilbur realized that he now knew how to imitate the birdUs wing! They tested their idea on kites and unmanned gliders before including the "wing warping" into their biplane.

The Wright Brothers began flying gliders near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and over 4 years made 1000 successful gliding flights on those dunes. They agreed with Chanute that control was needed for successful flight. After about a dozen flights in 1900 with a glider of their own design, they changed the shape of the wings and made them larger the next year. They tested their gliders over and over and learned how to launch them and deal with the winds.

In 1901 the Wright Brothers met with a lot of failure. The wing design did not create enough lift. They studied wind tunnels of other inventors and decided to construct a new one of their own. Wind tunnels are chambers where gas (usually air) is blown over an object to calculate its aerodynamic forces, like lift and drag. The new wind tunnel helped them to improve the redesign of the wing.

A German man, Karl Jatho almost beat them in flying with an engine. But he gave up. In 1902 they made 1000 flights with Glider No. 3. They saw a soaring buzzard right itself from a gust of wind by raising his wing tip of his lowered wing and then regain balance. They tested their idea on kites and unmanned gliders before including the "wing warping" into their biplane which had a forward elevator and a double fixed rudder. They made these improvements on their glider from the bird's movements. This made their glider the very best.

In 1902 the Wrights continued with their glider experiments. They were now ready to add the final ingredient: power. During the summer of 1903 they built an airplane named the Flyer, that contained a 12 horsepower engine hand-crafted in their bicycle shop.

On December 14, 1903 they tossed a coin to see who would fly the plane first. Wilbur won. The plane sputtered, dipped on one wing and crashed into the sand. Repairs were made, and on December 17 it was Orville's turn to fly. The flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was the first in the history of the world in which a machine carried a man into the air in full flight. The Flyer was in excellent shape and later that day Wilbur flew for 59 seconds.

The Age of Flight had begun! It would be 5 years before the Wright Brothers would get attention for their success. In 1908 the War Department signed a contract for a Wright Flyer if it could pass certain tests. It was with these tests by the Wrights in 1908 that the world really knew what they had done 5 years earlier. And the world loved it!

Explore Space ... Not Drugs!
Hear what astronauts have to say about staying drug-free.
Last modified: Thu Jun 5 17:10:43 PDT 1997

Copyright © 1997 by Cislunar Aerospace, Inc. All Rights Reserved.