The Story of Wright Brothers

The Wright Brothers The Wrights is the first inventors that created aeronautical engineering. In a time when people thought of the mechanics of flight as ground locomotion in the air, the Wright brothers saw it as something wholly new. Their development of the three axis control system was necessary to fly controllably. They were also the first to really look at propeller design and aerodynamics. Their work profoundly changed the world. One hundred and fourty three years ago, In Millvile, Indiana, was born a baby boy named Wilbur Wright exactly in April 16th 1867. He is the third son after his older brother, Reuchlin and Lorin. His father’s name is Milton Wright, and his mother Susan Catherine Koerner. Three years later, in August 19th 1871, when the whole family had moved to Dayton, Ohio, was born another son named Orville Wright. And then Katharine, the youngest daughter of the family was born in 1874. Since they were little boys, Wilbur and Orville like to recycle the unused things to become a useful things that has a lot of benefit. One day, their father, who travelled as a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, brought home a toy "helicopter" for his two younger sons. The toys is made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band to twirl its rotor, it was about a foot long. “Oh thank you, Daddy. That’s really kind of you to give us this gift”, said Wilbur “Nevermind. I’m glad that both of you like it.”, Mr. Wright answered “But, Dad, how can we use it?”, asked Orville “Okay, come here, let me show you!”, said their father Then He twist the bamboo, and that toy fly in the air “Whoa! Look Daddy, it can fly!”, Screamed Orville “Yeah! That’s cool!”, Wilbur excited “Brother, I was wondering how exciting fly would be. I want to fly someday.”, said Orville “So do i. How exciting will it be!” Wilbur and Orville played with it until it broke, and then built their own. In later years, they pointed to their experience with the toy as the initial spark of their interest in flying. Day by day passed by, and the brothers grew into teenagers. In the winter of 1885 Wilbur was accidentally struck in the face by a hockey stick while playing an ice-skating game with friends, resulting in the loss of his front teeth. So that he had to stay at home to have some medical treatment for his health. As long as he stayed at his home, he read a lot of books about technology and science. One day, in August 1896, Wilbur and Orville read about Lilienthal, that was killed in the plunge of his glider. These events lodged in the consciousness of the brothers. Though agreeing with Lilienthal's idea of practice, the Wrights saw that his method of balance and control—shifting his body weight—was fatally inadequate. They were determined to find something better. “Look Orville! Little bird could fly with their wings that move all the time, while Eagle could fly by steady wings and air pressure!”, Wilbur got an idea “Yeah. So, if we use air pressure to airplane, by strengthen the wings, we can make the plane fly steadily.”, answered Orville Then the brothers designed many kind of airplane, but they didn’t find the perfect one. For the simulation, they made a kite-plane where the wings were warped, or twisted, one end would receive more lift and rise, starting a turn in the direction of the lower end. Warping was controlled by four lines attached to the kite. The lines led to two sticks held by the kite flyer. But, the kite was only the beginning of their plane concept. In 1900, Wright brothers created an airplane without machine, named “Flyer I”. They did their first flight experiment in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They chose the location on the basis of a reply to his first letter to Octave Chanute. “Remember, when you ready, give me the sign and I’ll pull the rope”, said Wilbur “Yes, Go! The wind is coming! A little higher please!” But Wilbur pulled it too far, so that Orville fell. Fortunately, he fell on the sand, that’s why he didn’t get hurt. Altough their first experiments failed, the brothers kept trying until they had created their second airplane named “Flyer II” by completing the Otto Lilienthal formula. Unfortunately, Flyer II didn’t work as they expected. After failing on the first and second plane for two thousand times, finally in 1903, Wright brothers created a four-tube motoric machine for their airplane.

“Brother, the plane that we made only depend on the wind. This is no good”, said Orville to his brother “Yes, I’ve been thinking about that too. How about putting a motoric machine to our plane?”, answered Wilbur “That’s a great idea. Let’s try it!” The third plane named “Flyer III”. Flyer III flight was a delightful success. The flight spend 59 second and 852 feet high. The brothers told their family and local newspaper editor about their success via telegraph. But, the editor didn’t believe them. The people not believe either. But their father and sister, Katharine believe them and kept motivate them. Both of them didn’t give up and want to prove their success to all the people in the world. So that in 1905, they could prove to all the people in the world that people could fly by an airplane. They success their flight in front of peoples and spend 38 minute and three second. Their success spread out all over the Europe and America. In December 1908, Wilbur got D’Avours prize in France, because his flight spend 2 hours 20 minute and 23 second. But, in the same year, on September 17, before Wilbur got D’avours prize, Orville was having an accident in Washington, when the US military invited him to demonstrate his plane in. A few minutes into the flight at an altitude of about 100 feet (30 m), a propeller split and shattered, sending the aircraft out of control. Army lieutenant Thomas Selfridge rode along as his passenger, suffered a fractured skull in the crash and died that evening in the nearby Army hospital, becoming the first fatality of an airplane crash. Orville was badly injured, suffering a broken left leg and four broken ribs. Tough the airplane crash was terrible, the brothers keep working to find the best way to fly safely in the airplane. So that In 1909, they opened the plane factory named “The Wright Company”. Tough their success was amazingly known, in 1910 the brothers reported Glenn Curtiss to the high court because of the patent right case. The Wrights warned him not to infringe their patent by profiting from flying or selling aircraft that used ailerons. Curtiss refused to pay license fees to the Wrights and sold an airplane equipped with ailerons to the Aeronautic Society of New York in 1909. Because of the long and difficult process of the patent war, took the leading role in the patent struggle, travelled incessantly to consult with lawyers and particularly against Curtiss, who was creating a large company to manufacture aircraft, Wilbur got typhoid fever and died on may 29th 1912. In 1932, the US government built a flight monument in Kitty Hawk specially for the Wright Brothers, for their spirit of flight. As the end of the story, on February 2 nd 1947, Orville died in Dayton, Ohio.

(Taken from Wikipedia and the book “World Inventors : The Wright Brothers”)

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