You have probably flown in an aircraft at some point in your life. And you might have heard of the Wright Brothers. Now you can read how they got off the ground and created history!
The names of Wilbur and Orville Wright spring to mind immediately when pioneers of aviation are mentioned. These two brothers became the first people to fly a powered and controlled airplane, on December 17, 1903 in Dayton, Ohio, thereby making history. The innovative qualities of these two men helped shape today’s aviation industry and open up new horizons for human beings.
Orville was born four years after Wilbur; their father was a bishop in the United Brethren in Christ Church and they were raised in a family of seven children. Their entire upbringing centered on intellectual curiosity as well as hard work, characteristics which proved to be helpful later on!
They became immersed in flying and the possibilities of human flight from their early childhood; when they experimented with kites and other toys that could fly. Their fascination with flight was further fueled by reading about Otto Lilienthal, who happened to be a successful aircraft enthusiast, having made successful attempts at glider flight. Consequently, the brothers began constructing their own gliders which they tested at Kitty Hawk - an area along the North Carolina coast, notable for its strong winds and soft sand.
It took them many years before the Wrights eventually made it: one day when attempting another new idea, the aircraft performed what we now call controlled flight. This plane called ‘Wright Flyer’, flew 120 feet in 12 seconds; this feat was considered unattainable back then. They kept on refining the design of their craft and by 1905 they had managed to sustain flight for 39 minutes, while covering a distance of 24 miles. The rest is history!
Download this free book from Obooko, and immerse yourself in this fascinating story, told in their own words. You will also find some wonderful historical photographs inside!
Excerpt:
At twenty minutes after eleven Wilbur started on the second flight. The course of this flight was much like that of the first, very much up and down. The speed over the ground was somewhat faster than that of the first flight, due to the lesser wind. The duration of the flight was less than a second longer than the first, but the distance covered was about seventy-five feet greater.
Twenty minutes later the third flight started. This one was steadier than the first one an hour before. I was proceeding along pretty well when a sudden gust from the right lifted the machine up twelve to fifteen feet and turned it up sidewise in an alarming manner. It began sliding off to the left. I warped the wings to try to recover the lateral balance and at the same time pointed the machine down to reach the ground as quickly as possible. The lateral control was more effective than I had imagined and before I reached the ground the right wing was lower than the left and struck first. The time of this flight was fifteen seconds and the distance over the ground a little over 200 feet.
Wilbur started the fourth and last flight at just 12 o’clock. The first few hundred feet were up and down as before, but by the time three hundred feet had been covered, the machine was under much better control. The course for the next four or five hundred feet had but little undulation. However, when out about eight hundred feet the machine began pitching again, and, in one of its starts downward, struck the ground. The distance over the ground was measured and found to be 852 feet; the time of the flight 59 seconds. The frame supporting the front rudder was badly broken, but the main part of the machine was not injured at all. We estimated that the machine could be put in condition for flight again in a day or two.
While we were standing about discussing this last flight, a sudden strong gust of wind struck the machine and began to turn it over. Everybody made a rush for it. Wilbur, who was at one end, seized it in front, Mr. Daniels and I, who were behind, tried to stop it by holding to the rear uprights. All our efforts were vain. The machine rolled over and over. Daniels, who had retained his grip, was carried along with it, and was thrown about head over heels inside of the machine. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured, though badly bruised in falling about against the motor, chain guides, etc. The ribs in the surfaces of the machine were broken, the motor injured and the chain guides badly bent, so that all possibility of further flights with it for that year were at an end.
