The Wright Brothers
the invention of the airplane
Biography
Orville Wright was born in 1867 in Indiana and Wilbur Wright was born in 1871 in Ohio. The two boys helped their father edit a newspaper as boys. Later on Wilbur made his own newspaper called West Side News. Orville and Wilbur both had different personalities but when they were paired together their strong suites complemented each other's weak side. When each brother was in their mid to late twenties they started their own bicycle repair shop. Business was great, but when a German glider crashed Orville and Wilbur focused back on flying. Both brothers didn't know much about flying at first. They both studied for years and three years after the German glider crash Wilbur and Orville moved to South Carolina to begin on the construction of a plane which lead to success three years later. In 1903 their famous first flight was conducted lasting 12 seconds and covering just under 100 feet. This event however, went purposely unnoticed so the brothers could file a patent. Their patent was filed in 1906, and the two approached the US government with their idea two years later. The US Army Signal Corps accepted a deal to have a $25,000 plane built for them. After this in 1909 the American Wright Company was created. The Wright brothers won many awards after shedding light on this new technology. With their patent however many companies tried to use their designs. The Wright brothers only opposed companies who tried to use their ideas to profit. In 1912 Wilbur died of typhoid fever. This was a blow that Orville was never able to heal from. In 1915 Orville sold his rights to their company, became a Major in the Army, and wan't interested in flying by age 47. Orville later died in 1948. Although the Wright brothers are dead, their love of flying showed the world the potential is flight.
Impact
The thought of flying at this point in time was not as normal as it is today. When the Wright brothers made their first flights people thought it was fake until they saw photos of it. The Wright brothers impacted the world by providing a brand new way of transportation that changed how the world works today. Flight made the world much smaller by allowing people to travel the world. Planes also made transporting goods much faster which is very important today.
Wilbur Wright
Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 and died in 1912. Wilbur was more mature and focused on completing projects compared to Orville.
Orville Wright
Orville Wright was born 1871 and died in 1948. Orville was more of an ideas man who was more enthusiastic and spontaneous compared to Wilbur.
The Wright Brother's First Flight
The Wright Brother's first flight was using their plane called Flyer. The famous flight occurred on December 17, 1903. The first run lasted 12 seconds and flew 120 feet. By the end of the day the plane sustained a 59 second flight covering 852 feet. There were only 5 people there to witness the famous first flight. These five people were the Wright Brothers themselves and a few news reporters.
Wright Brothers First Flight (1903)
What did the Wright brothers used to help get their first planes to get going?
Sources
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&u=lees33148&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=GALE%7C00000000MS2B&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1604000243
http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers