The Wright Brothers
Wilbur 1867–1912; Orville 1871–1948 · American brothers who built and flew the first successful powered airplane.
Wilbur and Orville Wright were sons of a bishop in Dayton, Ohio. Their father once brought home a toy helicopter powered by a rubber band, which fascinated them. Neither finished high school, but both read widely. They ran a printing business and then a bicycle shop, where they built their own bicycles. Inspired by the glider flights of Otto Lilienthal, they began working on flight in 1899. They saw that the hardest problem was control, and invented wing warping, twisting the wings to roll the aircraft. They tested gliders on the windy dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and when published data proved wrong, built their own wind tunnel to test wing shapes. They also designed their own propellers and, with their mechanic Charlie Taylor, a light engine. On 17 December 1903 Orville flew their Flyer for twelve seconds and 120 feet, the first controlled, sustained powered flight. By 1905 they could fly for over half an hour. Wilbur died of typhoid in 1912. Orville lived until 1948.
Faith: Faith not well documented; their father was a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Source: Wikipedia
Key dates
- 1899 Begin experiments on flight
- 1901 Build a wind tunnel
- 1903 First powered flight at Kitty Hawk, 17 December
- 1908 Public flights in France and the U.S.
- 1912 Wilbur dies
- 1948 Orville dies
Fun facts
- In 1878 their father brought home a toy helicopter made of paper, bamboo and cork, powered by a rubber band; the brothers later said it sparked their interest in flying. (Source: Wright brothers (Wikipedia))
Record-breaker
Firsts and records, worded as the sources give them ("first known", "at the time").
- On their longest flight over Huffman Prairie, Wilbur flew 24.5 miles (39.4 km) in 38 minutes and 3 seconds, landing safely when the fuel ran out. (Source: Wright brothers (Wikipedia))
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Read about them
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Grades 3–5
- Who Were the Wright Brothers? by James Buckley, Jr. (Grosset & Dunlap, 2014; ISBN 9780448479514)
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Grades 6–8
- The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman (Holiday House, 1991; ISBN 9780823408757)
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Grades 9–12
- The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (Simon and Schuster, 2015; Hardcover edition; ISBN 9781476728742)
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