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Wilbur and Orville Wright were sons of a Bishop, Milton Wright, and his wife Susan. They had 4 sons, Wilbur being the 3rd and Orville the 4th, and 1 daughter. The children were always encouraged to investigate whatever made them curious, and to follow their interests.
At the start of the 20th century, there was much curiosity and experimentation to develop powered aircraft. In 1900, Wilbur and Orville Wright decided to start by building a glider. They looked for a remote place with strong winds. Wilbur found Kitty Hawk, in North Carolina. The brothers studied the designs of successful gliders, and designed a biplane glider. They tested their glider at the beginning of October, and developed some new theories about aircraft.
In July 1901, the Wright brothers returned to North Carolina, but camped at Kill Devil Hills because these large hills were better for test flights. The new glider was a bigger version of the last, with bigger wings for more lifting surface. Unfortunately, it still did not have enough lift, and the brothers realised they needed to make new calculations.
Wilbur wrote:
"When we
left Kitty Hawk at the end of 1901, we doubted that we would ever
resume our experiments. Although we had broken the record for
distance in gliding, and although Mr. Chanute, who was present
at that time, assured us that our results were better than had
ever before been attained, yet when we looked at the time and
money which we had expended, and considered the progress made
and the distance yet to go, we considered our experiments a failure.
At this time I made the prediction that men would sometime fly,
but that it would not be within our lifetime."
However, the Wrights continued to make calculations and designs. They were the first to use a wind tunnel to make exact and accurate measurements of lift and drag. They identified common errors that others were making, and that a long, narrow wing shape was better than the short, stubby wing shape they had used. Their 1902 glider was the first aircraft that solved the problem of lift and the control of wobbling motion. It was in fact the first heavier-than-air aircraft, but it did not have power so it is classified as a glider, not as an airplane.
To add power, the Wrights made another discovery: how propellors work on aircraft. They turned to ship building books to learn the principles, and then reasoned that for an aircraft the propellor was really a moving wing that moved the craft forwards. They tested propellor shapes in their wind tunnel to find the most effective shape.
They then needed to develop a power source to drive the propellor. The Wrights wanted a lightweight petrol engine. They could not find anyone who would build one to their specifications, so they built their own four cylinder model.
In 1903, the brothers built a larger version of their 1902 glider, and added propellors and power. On 14 December they tossed a coin to determine that Wilbur would be the pilot. A crew lugged the plane up a big hill and laid about 30 metres of monorail. The plane went too fast down the track, and Orville, running alongside to hold it steady, could not keep up. A wing hit the ground and the plane broke. However, the Wrights now knew that it would work.
In two days the
plane had been repaired, and on 17th December 1903, the
wind was right. It was Orville's turn to be pilot. They had realised
it would be better to lay the track on flat ground, and Wilbur
was able to remain running alongside keeping the right wing steady.
The plane lifted off the monorail and flew for 12 seconds, travelling
120 feet (over 37 metres). It was the first controlled, sustained
flight in a heavier-than-air craft.
This
is a photograph of the first flight, 17th December 1903. The
plane is just lifting off the ground.
Wilbur
Wright is the figure on the ground.
Orville
Wright is the pilot. Photo
courtesy of
http://AviationHistory.info/
The brothers made 3 more flights that day, covering more distance each time. The final flight was by Wilbur, travelling 852 feet (about 177 1/2 metres) in 59 seconds.
The Wright brothers
made one of the most important advances of the twentieth century,
launching humankind into the age of flight.
Here are
some websites about the Wright Brothers that kidcyber thinks are
good: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/faqs/Wright_Brothers.html
http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/wright.html
If you use
any of this in your own work acknowledge it like this:
Sydenham &
Thomas, 2006, Wright Brothers
[Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au
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