The first airplane flight was on December 17, 1903. Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful flight in the history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft on December 17, 1903.
Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight.
The Introduction
The Wright brothers inaugurated the aerial age with the world’s first successful flights of a powered heavier-than-air flying machine. The Wright Flyer was the product of a sophisticated four-year program of research and development conducted by Wilbur and Orville Wright beginning in 1899.
After building and testing three full-sized gliders, the Wrights’ first powered airplane flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, making a 12-second flight, traveling 36 m (120 ft), with Orville piloting. The best flight of the day, with Wilbur at the controls, covered 255.6 m (852 ft) in 59 seconds.
The Wrights pioneered many of the basic tenets and techniques of modern aeronautical engineering, such as the use of a wind tunnel and flight testing as design tools.
Their seminal accomplishment encompassed not only the breakthrough first flight of an airplane but also the equally important achievement of establishing the foundation of aeronautical engineering
About the Wright Brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world’s first successful airplane.
They made the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, four miles (6 km) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at what is now known as Kill Devil Hills.
In 1904 the Wright brothers developed the Wright Flyer II, which made longer-duration flights including the first circle, followed in 1905 by the first truly practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III.
The brothers’ breakthrough invention was their creation of a three-axis control system, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and maintain its equilibrium. Their system of aircraft controls made fixed-wing powered flight possible and remains standard on airplanes of all kinds.
Their first U.S. patent did not claim the invention of a flying machine, but rather a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine’s surfaces. From the beginning of their aeronautical work, Wilbur and Orville focused on developing a reliable method of pilot control as the key to solving “the flying problem”.
This approach differed significantly from other experimenters of the time who put more emphasis on developing powerful engines. Using a small home-built wind tunnel, the Wrights also collected more accurate data than any before, enabling them to design more efficient wings and propellers.
The invention
The brothers gained the mechanical skills essential to their success by working for years in their Dayton, Ohio-based shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles, in particular, influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle such as a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice.
This was a trend, as many other aviation pioneers were also dedicated cyclists and involved in the bicycle business in various ways. From 1900 until their first powered flights in late 1903, the brothers conducted extensive glider tests that also developed their skills as pilots.
Their shop mechanic Charles Taylor became an important part of the team, building their first airplane engine in close collaboration with the brothers.
The Wright brothers’ status as inventors of the airplane has been subject to numerous counter-claims. Much controversy persists over the many competing claims of early aviators.
Edward Roach, historian for the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, argues that the Wrights were excellent self-taught engineers who could run a small company but did not have the business skills or temperament to dominate the growing aviation industry.
Research of the Wright Brothers Towards Flight
On July 27, 1899, the brothers put wing warping to the test by building and flying a biplane kite with a 5-foot (1.5 m) wingspan, and a curved wing with a 1-foot (0.30 m) chord. When the wings were warped, or twisted, the trailing edge that was warped down produced more lift than the opposite wing, causing a rolling motion.
The warping was controlled by four lines between the kite and crossed sticks held by the kite flyer. In return, the kite was under lateral control.
In 1900 the brothers went to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to begin their manned gliding experiments. According to his reply to Wilbur’s first letter, Octave Chanute had suggested the mid-Atlantic coast for its regular breezes and soft sandy landing surface.
Wilbur also requested and examined U.S. Weather Bureau data, and decided on Kitty Hawk after receiving information from the government meteorologist stationed there.
Summary
Kitty Hawk, although remote, was closer to Dayton than other places Chanute had suggested, including California and Florida.The spot also gave them privacy from reporters, who had turned the 1896 Chanute experiments at Lake Michigan into something of a circus.
Chanute visited them in camp each season from 1901 to 1903 and saw gliding experiments, but not the powered flights.
