1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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!

7. 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

8. 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

9. Third Glider (1902)
Chapter 2, Lesson 1

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. December 17, 1903 - First Flight
Final Flight/Crash

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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 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

20. 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