Airplanes

The Wright Brothers are credited with the [|first flight] at Kittyhawk, NC, in 1903. The entire process, however, began much earlier. In 1878, Bishop Milton Wright brought a new toy home to his two sons in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His two sons, Wilbur and Orville, enjoyed the Penaud-type, rubber band-powered toy helicopter that they were given. The two boys, interested in technology, built several copies of the toy flying machine. It is reported that Orville told his school teacher that they planned to build a large enough model to carry both of them. When they attempt to build the flying machine as young boys, it doesn't fly.

The First time that the two men are recognized as the Wright Brothers, is when they opened their own printing press at the ages of 22 and 18. Their vast engineering was apparent even then, as their printing press was composed of discarded buggy parts, and a damaged tomb stone. They printed for odd jobs as well as their own newspaper.

In 1892, they opened their own bicycle shop. Eventually, they began producing your own brand of bicycles. While still owning the bicycle shop, Orville became sick with Typhoid Fever, a very deadly illness at the time. While nursing Orville back to health, Wilbur learned of the death of a famous German Glider, renewing is interest in flying.

Within a few months, Wilbur had written to the Smithsonian and learned all he could about flying, but he alone realized the need to control their flying machine on three axis. These would be Pitch, Roll, and Yaw. He would achieve this by a system he called "wing warping", he tested this theory on a small kite... it worked.

In August 1900, the brothers completed their first glider. Needing a good place to test their new design, Wilbur contacted the U.S. Weather Bureau to find a very windy place. They found that Kittyhawk, NC was one of the windiest places in the country with average winds over 13 mph. Their first two glider designs were a disappointment, so the brothers returned to Dayton, Ohio, to begin work on designs for a propeller powered flying machine. The Brothers returned to Kittyhawk on December 17, 1903. Wilbur attempted to fly the machine first, but it stalled on takeoff. The brothers flipped a coin to see who would pilot the machine next, Orville won. At 10:35 am, Orville was the first man to ever fly in a heavier than air device that is propelled by its own power. Although the flight lasted only 12 seconds and covered only 120 feet, it made history and drastically changed the course of the rest of the modern world.



The Wright Brothers made three more flights with the flier at Kittyhawk, each consecutive flight was longer than the one before it. The next flights wes 175 feet, 200 feet, and 852 feet respectively. Over the next decade, many others contributed to the Wrights' designs, eventually culminating in aircraft used for war. Although they weren't used much in the beginning of World War 1, by the end of the War, the dogfight was created. This displayed amazing airial acrobatics that ended in death. The Fokker was arguably the first airplane used in war.

References: [|DiscoveryChannel.com] [|Wright Brothers Biography Site @ Warpdrive.com]