Events
1867 Wilbur & 1871 Orville are Born in Indiana
and Ohio. Neither had gotten a high school
diplomas, but they were curious and had good
and mechanical skills, they also where running a
print shop and a bicycle sales and repair shop in
Dayton, Ohio.1896: They get inspired by the death of fellow gliding pioneer Otto Lilienthal,
they begin their interest in the creation of flight.
They famously wrote to the Smithsonian
Institution asking all available publications on
aeronautics, where they said, "We are enthusiasts, but not cranks."1899: Wilbur makes a method of wing warping for lateral control of plan by twisting a cardboard box.
It was his simple and smart idea controlling the roll by altering the shape of the wing put him in front of the competitions.
They build and test a biplane kite to prove their idea.1900 -1902: They choose to work in Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, for its slowish winds and soft sand
dunes. Over three years, they test through
a series of gliders.1900: They create their first full size glider that tests
their control system but also shows flaws in the existing
aerodynamic data.
1901: A larger glider doesn't do to well though, leading to frustration
and Wilbur famously saying, "Not within a thousand years would man ever
fly!"1903: They create and build a lightweight gasoline engine and propellers.
December 17, 1903: At Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, they make the first sustained, controlled,
powered flights a aircraft machine. Orville makes the first flight, covering 120 feet in
12 seconds. Wilbur makes the final flight of the day, covering 852 feet in 59 seconds.1901 -1902: They end op going to to Dayton and build
a wind tunnel,testing device conducting many tests on over 200 wing shapes.
This was their kinda big
breakthrough. They created their own correct
data, discovering that the accepted lift tables
(like Lilienthal's) were wrong.1902: The brothers third glider, based on their new
data and info, is a success. They also add a
movable rudder connected to the wing warping
system device, creating their first fully controllable three
axis aircraft the (roll, pitch, and yaw).
This is one fo the most important invention leading to powered flight.1904 -1905: They refine and fix up their design at Huffman Prairie, near Dayton.
They face a lot of public doubt and no one believes that it can be done.
In 1905 they fly their Flyer III, the first ever practical airplane that can do figure
eights and flights of over 30 minutes.1908 -1909: Wilbur wright shows off the Flyer in
Europe, and impresses the audiences and showing
up critics who said it couldn't be done. Orville
performs demo flights for the U.S. Army.
They get a contract and form the Wright Company.1912: Wilbur dies of typhoid fever at the age of 45. :(1915: Orville sells the Wright Company and
retires with a lot of money from the business of
aviation.1948: Orville dies of a heart attack at the age of 76. :(
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