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Today we're going to learn about the famous inventors and aviators, Orville and Wilbur
Wright.
Orville and Wilbur Wright, often called the Wright Brothers, are best known as the first
inventors to successfully create and fly an aircraft that was heavier than air, forever
changing travel, trade, and warfare worldwide.
Wilbur Wright, the older brother, was born on April 16, 1867, near Millville, Indiana.
Orville Wright, the younger brother, was born on August 19, 1871, in Dayton, Ohio.
They were two of seven children born to Milton Wright, a clergyman.
The brothers grew up in Indiana and Ohio, moving several times during their childhood.
Their father traveled often, and in 1878 he returned home from a trip with a toy helicopter
for his sons.
It was powered by a rubber band that twirled its rotor, and the boys played with it until
it broke.
Then, they built their own helicopter.
Years later, the Wright brothers would say that this toy sparked their interest in flight.
Although both brothers attended high school, neither one graduated.
In 1889, Orville built his own printing press and launched a newspaper with his brother
Wilbur's help.
The newspaper was not entirely successful, and in 1892 the brothers opened a shop selling
and repairing bicycles.
A few years later, in 1896, they even began building their own bicycles.
Meanwhile, people all over the world were experimenting with flying machines.
German aviator Otto Lilienthal made many successful flights using gliders, the first person ever
to do so.
He died when his glider crashed in 1896.
That same year, American Samuel Langley succeeded in making short flights with an unmanned aircraft
powered by a small steam engine.
These two events inspired the Wright brothers, and they began seriously researching flying
machines in 1899.
They thought Otto Lilienthal had had the right idea with his gliders, but his crash proved
to them that a better way of steering them was needed.
They carefully watched birds in flight, and noticed the way they tilted their wings to
change direction in the air.
Wilbur built a huge kite to test out the brothers' idea that warping, or twisting, its wings
would allow them to steer, and it was successful.
In 1900 Orville and Wilbur went to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to begin experimenting with
gliders.
They chose Kitty Hawk because it had strong, steady winds, as well sandy beaches for softer
landings.
Many early tests of the glider were made while it was tethered by ropes like a kite, and
with no one aboard.
The glider did not perform as well as they had hoped it would, and the brothers returned
home to Dayton, Ohio, to try again.
In 1901 they returned to Kitty Hawk with a modified glider design and made dozens of
flights with it.
Although it traveled 400 feet or 122 meters on its longest flight, the glider was still
not performing the way the Wright brothers had calculated it would.
When they returned to Ohio they built a wind tunnel and tested dozens of different wings
to see which ones would lift the best.
This hard work paid off: the glider they tested in 1902 performed much better than earlier
models.
They also added a moveable rudder, which dramatically improved their ability to steer and control
their glider.
After hundreds of successful glides, they were sure they were ready to build a powered
aircraft.
In 1903 they built an aircraft they called the Wright Flyer, complete with propellers
and a gasoline engine.
On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the Wright Flyer for the first, historic flight.
They had done it!
Although the flight lasted only twelve seconds, traveling 120 feet or 37 meters, and lifted
the plane only 10 feet or 3 meters off the ground, it was the first time in history that
anyone had successfully piloted a heavier than air vehicle under its own power.
The Wright brothers continued to improve their airplane, but despite their success they had
difficulty persuading people they had invented anything worthwhile.
Most people just didn't believe it.
In 1908 they began to make public demonstrations of their airplanes both in Washington D.C.
and in France, and the Wright brothers immediately became world-famous.
They began to build and sell airplanes, creating a business called The Wright Company.
They sold airplanes to the U.S. Army, created a flying school, and even made the first air
cargo delivery in history.
In 1912, Wilbur Wright became sick and died at the age of 45.
He had never married, and had no children, once saying that he did not have time for
both a wife and an airplane.
With Wilbur gone Orville took over management of their company, but he was not the businessman
his brother had been and in 1915, Orville sold The Wright Company.
He retired from piloting and spent the next few decades serving on boards and committees
such as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and the Aeronautical Chamber of
Commerce.
In 1944, more than 40 years after that first famous flight, Orville Wright had his last
trip in an airplane - a Lockheed Constellation, a far cry from the original Wright Flyer.
Orville died on January 30, 1948, of a heart attack.
He was 76 years old.
Like Wilbur, he had never married and he and was buried in Dayton, Ohio, in the same plot
as his brother.
Today Orville and Wilbur Wright are remembered as pioneers of aviation and the inventors
who made air travel possible.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the Wright Brothers today!
Goodbye till next time!