The First Flight in History
by The first flight covered 120 feet (39 meters) in 12 seconds. In the fourth flight of the day, Wilbur flew 852 feet (279 meters) in 59 seconds, about 10 feet above the ground. After this, the wind turned the Flyer over, smashing it. Just five passerbies had seen them, and the next day a single local newspaper briefly reported their achievement.
Seagulls in flight
Orville and Wilbur Wright, hometown bicycle repair engineers from Dayton, Ohio, became interested in powered flight in the 1890s. Their great breakthrough was to devise a flexible wing that allowed the pilot to control the airplane by warping it. The idea came to them from observing seagulls in flight.
After experiments with gliders and a homemade wind tunnel, they added a purpose-build engine in December 1903, before taking their wood, paper, and wire machine, which cost them less than a thousand dollars to construct, to the remote sand dunes at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On December 14, Wilbur made the first attempt to pilot it, but the Flyer (later known as the Kitty Hawk) stalled in takeoff and needed repairs.
First flight
Three days later, at 10:35 A.M. in a gusting wind, the first flight, now with Orville aboard, covered 120 feet (39 meters) in 12 seconds. In the fourth flight of the day, Wilbur flew 852 feet (279 meters) in 59 seconds, about 10 feet above the ground. After this, the wind turned the Flyer over, smashing it. Just five passerbies had seen them, and the next day a single local newspaper briefly reported their achievement.
Experiments
Continuing experiments the following year met with mixed success, but the brothers learned to control the craft in flight and experimented with catapults to resolve the vexed problem of takeoff. Their own secretive style, based on fear of being copied, and a lack of interest locally meant it was not until 1908 – at an air show in Le Mans, France – that their work received the attention it deserved.
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