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N0KFQ > TODAY 17.12.14 17:02l 74 Lines 3589 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 42400_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Dec 17
Path: IZ3LSV<IW8PGT<I3XTY<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 141217/1600Z 42400@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.62
Dec 17, 1903:
First airplane flies
Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make
the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled,
heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered,
propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and
covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight.
Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed
an interest in aviation after learning of the glider flights of
the German engineer Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s. Unlike their
older brothers, Orville and Wilbur did not attend college, but
they possessed extraordinary technical ability and a
sophisticated approach to solving problems in mechanical design.
They built printing presses and in 1892 opened a bicycle sales
and repair shop. Soon, they were building their own bicycles, and
this experience, combined with profits from their various
businesses, allowed them to pursue actively their dream of
building the world's first airplane.
After exhaustively researching other engineers' efforts to build
a heavier-than-air, controlled aircraft, the Wright brothers
wrote the U.S. Weather Bureau inquiring about a suitable place to
conduct glider tests. They settled on Kitty Hawk, an isolated
village on North Carolina's Outer Banks, which offered steady
winds and sand dunes from which to glide and land softly. Their
first glider, tested in 1900, performed poorly, but a new design,
tested in 1901, was more successful. Later that year, they built
a wind tunnel where they tested nearly 200 wings and airframes of
different shapes and designs. The brothers' systematic
experimentations paid off--they flew hundreds of successful
flights in their 1902 glider at Kill Devils Hills near Kitty
Hawk. Their biplane glider featured a steering system, based on a
movable rudder, that solved the problem of controlled flight.
They were now ready for powered flight.
In Dayton, they designed a 12-horsepower internal combustion
engine with the assistance of machinist Charles Taylor and built
a new aircraft to house it. They transported their aircraft in
pieces to Kitty Hawk in the autumn of 1903, assembled it, made a
few further tests, and on December 14 Orville made the first
attempt at powered flight. The engine stalled during take-off and
the plane was damaged, and they spent three days repairing it.
Then at 10:35 a.m. on December 17, in front of five witnesses,
the aircraft ran down a monorail track and into the air, staying
aloft for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet. The modern aviation age
was born. Three more tests were made that day, with Wilbur and
Orville alternately flying the airplane. Wilbur flew the last
flight, covering 852 feet in 59 seconds.
During the next few years, the Wright brothers further developed
their airplanes but kept a low profile about their successes in
order to secure patents and contracts for their flying machines.
By 1905, their aircraft could perform complex maneuvers and
remain aloft for up to 39 minutes at a time. In 1908, they
traveled to France and made their first public flights, arousing
widespread public excitement. In 1909, the U.S. Army's Signal
Corps purchased a specially constructed plane, and the brothers
founded the Wright Company to build and market their aircraft.
Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912; Orville lived until
1948.
The historic Wright brothers' aircraft of 1903 is on permanent
display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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