Fact Sheet
Wright Flyer
When you see a jet streak across the sky, or marvel at the Space Shuttle's ability to make round
trips to and from space, it's hard to believe that it all started with the Wright flyer, back in 1903.
If Wilbur and Orville were here to tell you of their adventures, one of their strongest messages
would be that practice makes perfect—and that mistakes are an opportunity for learning. In fact,
the Wright contribution to the early chapters of aviation history is largely about learning how to
take a mistake and turn it into a success.
Two years before launching their motorized airplane, the Wright brothers built and flew the
largest glider ever flown. The Wright Glider weighed nearly (90 pounds) and had a wingspan of
(22 feet). The glider had problems, though. The wings didn't have enough lifting power, the
forward elevator was not effective in controlling pitch, and the plane sometimes spun out of
control.
Every effort made to improve these faults failed, and before long, Wilbur and Orville decided
that testing before flight was the only practical way to solve the situation. The Wright brothers
invented the first wind tunnel to conduct preflight testing.
Wind tunnels recreate flight conditions without ever leaving the ground. The Wright brothers
used the tunnel they invented to test the wing cross sections—a process still used today.
That first plane in 1903 didn't operate like the planes you see today. This became the first
successful, powered, piloted flight in history.
The Wright flyer wasn't the first motorized aircraft, but it was the first successful one. What
made Wilbur and Orville's plane a more workable invention than previous attempts? They
developed several notable inventions that have influenced the course of aviation history:
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Controls for up and down movement or pitch.
Wing warping: this provides lateral control and allows pilots to turn the aircraft to the left
or right. Today, ailerons on the trailing edge of the wings provide lateral control.
Wind tunnel tests: wind tunnels are now used in all aeronautical designing and testing.
The movable rear rudder:
The Propeller: The Wrights were able to develop propellers
It took five more years for the first passenger to be flown in an airplane. In 1908 Wilbur Wright
took Charles Furnas for a (2.5-mile) flight, lasting 3 minutes. In the 21st century, about 1.4
billion airline passengers fly to thousands of destinations around the world.
Review Questions
1. WHAT YEAR DID THE WRIGHT BROTHER’S FLYER GET STARTED ?
2. WHAT WERE THE NAMES OF THE TWO WRIGHT BROTHERS ?
3. WAS THE GLIDER THE WRIGHT BROTHERS FLEW MOTORIZED ?
4. WHAT WAS ONE OF THE EARLY PROBLEMS WITH THE FLYER ?
5. WHAT WAS INVENTED BY THE WRIGHT BROTHERS TO DO
PRE-FLIGHT TESTING ?
6. HOW MUCH DID THE WRIGHT FLYER WEIGH ?
7. HOW MANY YEARS PASSED BEFORE A PASSENGER WAS ABLE TO
FLY IN AN AIRPLANE AFTER THE FLYER WAS DEVEOPED ?
8. HOW FAR WAS THE FIRST FLIGHT THAT TOOK ON A PASSENGER ?
9. HOW MANY PASSENGERS HAVE FLOWN IN AIRPLANES SINCE
COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED ?
10. NAME AN INVENTION THAT WAS CREATED BY THE WRIGHT
BROTHERS THAN WAS A RESULT OF THEIR FLYER PROJECT.