Happy Birthday WRIGHT FLYER

“ Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return ”                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                        - Leonardo da Vinci

The scene : Windswept sand dunes of Kill Devil hills, 4 miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

The time : About 10:35 AM on Thursday, December 17, 1903. 

The characters : Orville and Wilbur Wright and five local witnesses.

The action : Poised, ready to make history, is a flimsy, and odd-looking machine.

The first heavier-than-air flight in history: the Wright Flyer I  

Happy Birthday WRIGHT FLYER

The Wright brothers inaugurated the aerial age with the world's first successful flights of a powered heavier-than-air flying machine. The Wright Flyer was the product of a sophisticated four-year program of research and development conducted by Wilbur and Orville Wright beginning in 1899. 

After building and testing three full-sized gliders, the Wrights' first powered airplane flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, making a 12-second flight, traveling 36 m (120 ft), with Orville piloting. The best flight of the day, with Wilbur at the controls, covered 255.6 m (852 ft) in 59 seconds.

The Wrights pioneered many of the basic tenets and techniques of modern aeronautical engineering, such as the use of a wind tunnel and flight testing as design tools. Their seminal accomplishment encompassed not only the breakthrough first flight of an airplane, but also the equally important achievement of establishing the foundation of aeronautical engineering.

Dimensions :

Length: 6.4 m (21 ft 1 in)

Height: 2.8 m (9 ft 4 in)

Weight: Empty, 274 kg (605 lb)

Gross, 341 kg (750 lb)

Wingspan:12.3 m (40 ft 4 in)

Materials :

Fabric Covering : Muslin

Engine Crankcase : Aluminum

Airframe : Wood

  Physical Description :

  Canard biplane with one 12-horsepower Wright horizontal four-cylinder engine driving   two pusher propellers via sprocket-and-chain transmission system. No wheels;  skids for  landing gear. Natural fabric finish; no sealant or paint of any kind.

  Type :

  CRAFT-Aircraft

  Country of Origin :

  United States of America

   Credit Line :

   The Estate of Orville Wright.

Wright flyer in 2017

At the end of the flight, you land in the sand on the skids on the Flyer's underside. Most landings breaks something on the airframe. No matter , the simple ash-and-spruce frame can be repaired much more easily than today's aluminum. After a day in the shop, the Flyer will be ready for another few minutes of flight.

FUN FACT :  Neil Armstrong carried a piece of the Wright Flyer with him to the moon                             

Resource :   Introduction to Flight by John D Anderson
                            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Flyer
                            https://www.airspacemag.com

                  

Regards,

 As always,  thanks for reading   ;)

 # STAY CURIOUS .