The Wright Brothers Overview & Objectives Know how the Wright Brothers succeeded in the 1st flight Know the anatomy of the Wright Flyer Know the principles of airplane flight Know the history of involvement w/ U.S. Army Chapter 2, Lesson 1

How Wright Brothers Succeeded in the First Flight Pilots faced 3 challenges: Get up in the air Stay up in the air Control the craft Chapter 2, Lesson 1

How Wright Brothers Succeeded in First Flight Wright Brothers – 3-step process: Started w/ kites Developed a glider Then added power Needed a favorable location Steady winds Open spaces High dunes Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina Chapter 2, Lesson 1

Step One: The Unmanned Box Kite 5-foot wingspan Biplane structure w/ Struts Discovered didn’t need to tilt an entire wing to turn craft Needed only twist ends of the wings Called this process “wing warping” By summer, 1899, Wilbur Wright successfully tested the kite in a field Chapter 2, Lesson 1

Step Two: Manned Gilders First Glider (1900) - still just a large kite Placed an elevator at front of glider Found it easier to control climb/descent w/ the elevator in front Focused on wing’s airfoil Shifted curve to forward edge Test flew at: Didn’t crash, so headed back to Dayton, OH to build next version Kill Devil Hills, NC

Second Glider (1901) First glider – not enough lift So, made much larger wings Added cradle for pilot Pilot shifted his body left & right to control warping of the wings One wing moved up, other wing went down Experienced control problems Big disappointment Only flew less than 300 ft Back to Dayton for improvements!

Stability Concerns Winter 1901 – Dayton, OH Built small wind tunnel in their bicycle shop Cut sheet steel into over 200 different model wings Able to test many different shapes Modern Wind Tunnel

Third Glider (1902) Sept, 1902 Added 2 fixed, vertical rudders behind wings Still had Erratic behavior while turning Replaced the 2 fixed rudders to a single, moveable rudder Improved pilot’s control Flew over North Carolina dunes more than 700 times in the Fall of 1902

Third Glider (1902) Chapter 2, Lesson 1

The 1903 Engine viewed from the side Step Three: The 1903 Engine viewed from the side Manned, Powered Aircraft The brothers set out to fit their plane w/ an engine Tried to buy one ready made No one met needs or price So had their bicycle mechanic, Charles E. Taylor, build a 4-cylinder, 12-horsepower engine 2 propellers, rotated opposite each other Connected by bicycle chains

Specifications of the Wright Flyer Wingspan: 40 feet, 4 inches Length: 21 feet Weight: 605 pounds Dual Real Rudders: 20 sq. ft. Front Elevator: 48 sq. ft. Wings: spars and ribs Landing gear: wooden skids Engine: 12 hp, 4 cylinder Propellers: 2 opposite rotating Pilot laid on stomach on padded cradle Model

How “The Flyer” Worked Pilot used a lever (to his left) to control up/down movement of the elevator By moving his hips, he pulled on cables connected to the wings & rudder - The new, flexible rudder allowed plane to turn The cables attached to the wings twisted (warped) one wing down while forcing other wing up turned the plane left or right

December 14, 1903 Brothers toss coin - Wilbur wins! Flyer mounted on 60-ft launching trolley track Rises in air, angle too great, plane - Minor damage - took 3 days to repair Wilbur wins! stalled

December 17, 1903 Orville now at controls Cold, steady wind (22-27 mph) 10:35 a.m., the Wright Flyer rose into the air Traveled 120 feet Flew for 12 seconds Flew 3 more times Last flight: 852 feet, 59 secs Rough landing broke skids

December 17, 1903 - First Flight Final Flight/Crash

The World Ignores Only one newspaper carries article NY Tribune Dec 19, 1903 Page 3 “Norfolk VA, Dec 18th, - A successful trial of a flying machine was made yesterday, near Kitty Hawk, NY by Wilber and Orville Wright. The machine flew for three miles in the face of a blowing wind… …Flew down an incline and started the engine which had 2 6 blade propellers…” Only one newspaper carries article Wrights continued flying in Dayton, Ohio French & British Negotiated w/ Wrights U.S. interest began in Dec 1907 after Langley’s failures

Principles of Airplane Flight To get the Wright Flyer off the ground, the brothers had to solve the principles of flight: The 4 Aerodynamic Forces: Lift Weight Drag Thrust Angle of Attack Control Orville and Wilbur assembling the 1903 Flyer (detail) Chapter 2, Lesson 1 Courtesy of “Wright State University

Wright Brothers’ Involvement With the U.S. Army Wright bros continued refining the Flyer Added 2nd pilot (sitting upright) Added wheels Video Jan 1905, U.S. govt. turned them down British & French govts. interested But brothers wanted U.S. to be first to own a Wright Flyer On 22 May 1906, they received a govt. patent for their invention Chapter 2, Lesson 1

Bids for a Government Plane 10 Feb 1908, Orville Wright signed a contract selling Wright Flyer to the U.S. govt. Orville spent much of 1908-1909 improving the Flyer More test flights - took up military passengers Video One flight crashed - seriously injured Orville & killed 1st Lt Thomas Selfridge – became first U.S. military aviation casualty

Army Airplanes It took a while for U.S. Army to decide how to use airplanes during war At first, Army thought that airplanes would be useful only for aerial reconnaissance WWI would bring major changes in strategy But before this could happen, airplanes needed improvements to make them faster, sturdier, & more reliable Chapter 2, Lesson 1