The Wright Brothers Invention of the Airplane

Invention Project: The Airplane

Oliver and Wilbur Wright had invented the airplane in 1909. Their parents were Bishop Milton Wright and Susan Catherine. They had 3 other siblings. Their father worked as a minster in churches, causing them to move a lot. Also, their father pushed them to read extensively and deliberate issues. This encouraged the Wright Brothers to invoke in a wide variety of interests. When in France, their father bought them a small helicopter which helped spark a curiosity towards flight, and they soon began to build their own models.

At the turn of the century, the possibility of flight had begun to exceed the idea of gliders, but turn to the idea of a heavier than air aircraft. The Wright Brothers focused on a plan of an engine that was powerful yet light, and then worked on a design for controlling the plane once in the air. According to Tejvan Pettinger, on December 17, 1903, the Wright Brother began their first historic airplane, The Flyer. The first flight only lasted for 12 seconds and a distance of 120 feet at a rate of 6.8 miles per hour. Only five people had seen the first flight, which one was John Daniels who captures the first flight in a winning photograph. Over the next few years, they kept on redesigning and building their airplane. Soon after, they were becoming more unwilling to tell too much about their flights and asked reporters to stop taking pictures of their new plans. Though, Wilbur Wright began giving public demonstrations in France, around 1908. Wilbur had finally made an unrestricted flight by the Hudson River in New York, spinning around the Statue of Liberty, in 1909. It was a total of 33 minutes and observed by 1 million people in New York. The patent in 1903 was rejected. In result they hired an attorney, and received their first patent. Nonetheless, soon other pilots tried to avoid the Wright brothers’ patents, which caused them too many legal battles in the future.

At first, humans longed to soar like the birds in the sky, but materials were too heavy because of the density of the atmosphere. It prevented enough lift from the airplane to ever be developed. Gravity had won until the early 20th century. Oliver and Wilbur used a combustion engine according to Tom Crouch, a National Air and Space Museum keeper of early flight, and a propeller, which was only able to support height for a short flight of the Kitty Hawk, a flight test.