A Brief Review of the Wright Brothers’ History in

Aeronautics
By Maha Intakhab Alam

Introduction
Wilber (1867) and Orville (1871) Wright, grew up in Dayton, Ohio. Their family had an
intellectual atmosphere which later on proved to be greatly beneficial to them, since Wilbur
didn’t even receive a high school diploma, and Orville dropped out in junior year to start a
printing press. Nevertheless they proved to be one of the very best, self-educated engineers in
the history of mankind.
It is important, in my opinion, to discuss the early lives of the two most astounding engineers,
not because they achieved great thing, but because like all of us, they too went through a
struggle, before they reached their glory.
Starting off with the printing press, the switched to the bicycle company, and began
manufacturing their own brand. Seeing other engineers like Lilienthal, Langley and Chanute,
they began their endeavors for aeronautical experimentation
Ideas of control
They were more into the concept of ‘airman’ philosophy, and thus their main focus was to
experience the flight and bring control to the pilot. For which they designed their aircrafts to be
inherently unstable, yet having greater control.
Studying bird flight, they introduced the concept of wing warping, which enabled the design to
bilaterally balanced.

Biplane box kite.

In July 1899, they tested wing warping by building and flying a kite. It had a five foot wingspan.
The warping was controlled by four cords, which led to two sticks held by the controller.

The first glider.

They built their first biplane glider in 1900 and flew It., again at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It had
a 17 ft. wingspan. Though the control system seemed to work, the glider did not produce
enough lift to carry a man aloft. It had a front horizontal elevator, for safety from a nosedive.

The second glider.

Nevertheless successful, they started it built their second glider in 1901, with a wingspan of 22
ft. It contained a horizontal elevator, which was to save them from a fatal nosedive crash,
though whether it could or not, that is another story. They moved their operating location to the
kill devil hills. These were mostly manned flights.

During these, they were visited by Octave Chanute who invited Wilbur to give a lecture in
Chicago. This speech (Sep. 18, 1901) was the first public account of the brother's works. In this,
he talked about their glider experiments and the concept of wing warping. In words of Chanute,
as “a devilish good paper, which will be extensively quoted”
Wrights research.
During these experiments the wrights began to suspect the existing scientific data. So then they
began their own research.
They built a wind tunnel and testes about 200 airfoil shapes. They also designed a force
balance, to accurately measure lift and drag.

The classic third glider.

The aeronautical research carried out in this period led to their third glider which they flew in
1902. It was amazingly successful. First flown at kill devil hills on Sep. 20th. It has a 32 ft. 1 in
wingspan. One of the most important modification in this model was the addition of a rudder,
which worked in unison with the wing warping and enabled for a smooth banked turn.

Professional skilled pilots.

Having the most practical glider in history, the wrights made over 1000 perfect flights. Setting a
distance record of 622.5 ft. in 26 sec.

Evolution of three axis control.

Thus the three-axis control system was developed: wing-warping for roll (lateral motion),
forward elevator for pitch (up and down) and rear rudder for yaw (side to side). On March 23,
1903, the Wrights applied for their famous patent for a "Flying Machine"

The wright flyer 1.

The brothers then built their very first flyer, and that from scratch! They designed and built their
own engine with a 12 hp power that weighed 200lb.

The wright brothers along with all their works also corrected many of the data, in Lilienthal and
other's observations/notes.