The Wright Brothers Make Their Famous Flight
On December 17, 1903 two American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright were credited with inventing and building the world’s first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight. From 1905 to 1907, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.
The Wright brothers gained their mechanical skills essential for their success by working for years in their shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles in particular influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle like a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice.
From1900 until their first powered flights in late 1903, they conducted extensive glider tests that also developed their skills as pilots. Their bicycle shop employee Charlie Taylor became an important part of the team building their first aircraft engine in close collaboration with the brothers.
Capitalizing on the national craze for bicycles, the brothers opened a repair and sales shop in 1892 The Wright Cycles Exchange (later The Wright Cycle Company) began manufacturing their own brand in 1896. They used this endeavour to fund their own interest in flight.
The death of British aeronaut Percy Pilcher in a hang gliding crash reinforced their opinion that a reliable method of pilot control was the key to successful – and safe –flight. At the outset of their experiments they regarded control as the unsolved third part of the “flying problem”. They believed sufficient promising knowledge of the other two issues – wings and engines – already existed. However, the Wrights realized that trial-and-error with different wings on full-size gliders was proving too costly and time-consuming. As such they built a six-foot wind tunnel in their shop and conducted systematic tests on miniature wings.
After many experiments, the Wrights discovered the true purpose of the movable rudder. Its role was not to change the direction, but rather, to aim or align the aircraft correctly during banking and turns when leveling off from turns and wind disturbances. This was a major milestone in their discovery.
The brothers’ fundamental breakthrough was their invention of three-axis control which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. This method became standard and remains standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds. From beginning of their aeronautical work, the Wright brothers focused on developing a reliable method of pilot control as the key to solving “the flying problem”.
In 1903 the brothers built the powered Wright Flyer 1 using spruce – a strong and lightweight wood for construction and West muslin for surface coverings. They also designed and carved their own wooden propellers and had a purpose-built gasoline engine fabricated in their bicycle shop when several engine manufacturers could not meet their demand for a sufficiently lightweight powerplant.
The first flight suffered weeks of delays due to broken propeller shafts during engine tests. Wilbur won a coin toss and made a three-second flight attempt on December 14, 1903. Wilbur referred to the trial as having only a “partial success”. The Wrights finally took to the air on December 17, 1903, making two flights each from level ground into a freezing headwind gusting at 27 mph (43 kms). The first flight by Orville was 120 feet (37 m) above ground and lasted for 12 seconds at a speed of only 6,8 mph (10.9km/hr). The next two flights covered approximately 175 feet (53 mtrs) and 200 feet (61 mtrs) by Wilbur and Orville respectively.
The Wright brothers’ as inventors of the airplanes has been subject to counter-claims by various parties. Much controversy persists over the many competing claims by early aviators.
