FIRST AIRPLANE
FLIES
December 17, 1903
Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the
first successful flight in history of a self-propelled,
heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered,
propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and
covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight.
Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed an
interest in aviation after learning of the glider flights of the
German engineer Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s. Unlike their older
brothers, Orville and Wilbur did not attend college, but they
possessed extraordinary technical ability and a sophisticated
approach to solving problems in mechanical design. They built
printing presses and in 1892 opened a bicycle sales and repair
shop. Soon, they were building their own bicycles, and this
experience, combined with profits from their various businesses,
allowed them to pursue actively their dream of building the world's
first airplane.
From left, Wilbur Wright and Orville
Wright
After exhaustively researching other engineers' efforts to build a
heavier-than-air, controlled aircraft, the Wright brothers wrote
the U.S. Weather Bureau inquiring about a suitable place to conduct
glider tests. They settled on Kitty Hawk, an isolated village on
North Carolina's Outer Banks, which offered steady winds and sand
dunes from which to glide and land softly. Their first glider,
tested in 1900, performed poorly, but a new design, tested in 1901,
was more successful. Later that year, they built a wind tunnel
where they tested nearly 200 wings and airframes of different
shapes and designs. The brothers' systematic experimentations paid
off--they flew hundreds of successful flights in their 1902 glider
at Kill Devils Hills near Kitty Hawk. Their biplane glider featured
a steering system, based on a movable rudder, that solved the
problem of controlled flight. They were now ready for powered
flight.
In Dayton, they designed a 12-horsepower internal combustion engine
with the assistance of machinist Charles Taylor and built a new
aircraft to house it. They transported their aircraft in pieces to
Kitty Hawk in the autumn of 1903, assembled it, made a few further
tests, and on December 14 Orville made the first attempt at powered
flight. The engine stalled during take-off and the plane was
damaged, and they spent three days repairing it. Then at 10:35 a.m.
on December 17, in front of five witnesses, the aircraft ran down a
monorail track and into the air, staying aloft for 12 seconds and
flying 120 feet. The modern aviation age was born. Three more tests
were made that day, with Wilbur and Orville alternately flying the
airplane. Wilbur flew the last flight, covering 852 feet in 59
seconds.
During the next few years, the Wright brothers further developed
their airplanes but kept a low profile about their successes in
order to secure patents and contracts for their flying machines. By
1905, their aircraft could perform complex maneuvers and remain
aloft for up to 39 minutes at a time. In 1908, they traveled to
France and made their first public flights, arousing widespread
public excitement. In 1909, the U.S. Army's Signal Corps purchased
an especially constructed plane, and the brothers founded the
Wright Company to build and market their aircraft. Wilbur Wright
died of typhoid fever in 1912; Orville lived until 1948.
The historic Wright brothers' aircraft of 1903 is on permanent
display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington,
D.C.
