Orville and Wilbur were members of a family
of seven. They were born to Milton and Susan C.K. Wright. The father, Milton,
was a bishop in the United Brethren in Christ church. Wilbur was born in Richmond,
Indiana, in 1867 and Orville, the younger, was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1871.
As children, they were taught to be
self-sufficient, and a great emphasis was placed on their education. When Wilbur was
eleven and Orville was seven, their father gave them a toy "helicopter' that was
equipped with two counter-rotating propellers. They toy had a tremendous impact on
the boys, and many historians agree that this was the beginning of their interest in
flight. They spent countless hours playing with the helicopter, flying kites and
studying all of the flight-related literature of the times. They were especially
impressed with the works of Otto Lilienthal and Octave Chanute.
After graduating from high school, Orville
went into the printing business with a friend. They printed handbills, tickets and
other small items. Shortly after the death of their mother, in 1889, Wilbur joined
the little company and became involved in the publication of a local newspaper called The
West Side News. During this time the brothers also created a bicycle business to take
advantage of a nationwide interest in cycling.
As time went on, their interest in flight
became even more intense and by the end of 1898, they were ready to start construction of
a glider. The brothers decided that the best design would be a biplane, because of
its "boxkite-like" strength. They also theorized that the optimum means of
maintaining equilibrium in flight was with moveable "control surfaces."
The came to this conclusion by observing how seagulls, and other birds, were able to turn
by twisting or "warping" their wings.
The brothers also knew that a steady flow of
wind was going to be necessary for testing and so they researched possible windy sites
with the National Weather Service. The most promising choice proved to be a desolate
beach near the town of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The site of most of their
experimentation took place on a wind-swept section of that beach known as Kill Devil
Hills.
At first, Orville and Wilbur designed a wing
based upon the calculations and experiments of Octave Chanute and Otto Lilienthal.
Their first glider was developed as a kit - later, it was equipped with control
surfaces. They found that by warping the wings, the craft would respond by banking.
In July, 1901, they tested a larger glider that had a smaller wing - an elevator -
in front. They built it so that a pilot could lie prone on the lower wing and
control the warping by moving his body from side to side. To control pitch, they
used a hand control for the front-mounted elevator.
Their initial experiments in control were
discouraging. A breakthrough came when they were visited by Octave Chanute.
After hours of discussion, they all concluded that the air pressure tables the Wrights had
been following were wrong.
The encouragement of Chanute, coupled with
their keen interest and tenacity, motivated them to continue to study and approach their
problem scientifically. During the winter of 1902 they built a wind tunnel to test
airfoils and to build new mathematical tables involving lift. The 1902 glider was
modified to obtain more lift, and a rudder was added to the rear of the craft. When
they returned to the Kitty Hawk test site, they were elated to find that the new glider
went 622 feet. They knew that they had solved the most daunting problem, and that
was control.
In March of 1903, the brothers applied for a
flight control system patent. They were confident that an engine was all that was
needed to achieve sustained flight. At that time, few small engines existed and
again, by sheer determination, the brothers decided to build their own. With the
help of machinist C.E. Taylor, they built a lightweight, four-cylinder engine that
produced all of 12 horsepower. They set about designing a suitable propeller and
again, they tested everything thoroughly.
Finally, on the 17th of December, 1903, with
J.T. Daniels, W.S. Dough, A.D. Ethridge, W.C. Brinkley and Johnny Moore as witnesses,
Orville climbed onto the lower wing and prepared for flight. The wind was averaging
24 miles per hour, and with full throttle, the craft left its launch "runway"
and took flight. It went 120 feet forward, rose 12 feet above the Earth, and stayed
in flight for 12 seconds. This was the first controlled, powered, and sustained
flight in history. Three more flights were made that day. The longest was 852
feet, and lasted 50 seconds. Wilbur was the pilot.
As role models, the Wright brothers are
outstanding. They had a dream; they studied hard; they worked even harder and with
careful, scientific testing, made their mark on the history of mankind.
