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The Dawn of the Air Age

 


 

Qrville and Wilbur Wright – were the young operators of a modest neighbourhood bi-cycle shop at 11/27 West Third Street in Dayton. After years of experience with aeroplane models in a wind tunnel, the Wright brothers had established firm principles of design and then built their first powered aeroplane capable of carrying one of them. Their little craft, the Kitty Hawk Flyer, had a wingspan of just over 40 feet and weighed only 605 pounds.

 

It was powered by a frail four-cylinder engine that developed 12 h.p.  at full throttle. After several unsuccessful tries from the lower slope of  Kill Devil Hill on December 14, the brothers moved to the largest of the nearby sand dunes at Kitty Hawk. In true pioneering spirit, the Wright brothers were ready to try again. The date: Thursday, December 17, 1903.

 

A cold and biting wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean did not provide ideal flying weather,  but the Wrights elected to risk another attempt anyway.

 

A small, wooden launch track was laid on the level sand about 100 feet west of the primitive building which served the Wrights as living quarters and hangar. They knew that the high wind gusting up to 30 m.p.h., would add to the difficulty of controlling the 15 flimsy aircraft but they also knew that it would provide added lift at take-off  and would also reduce the landing speed.

 

It was Orville’s turn to fly. The engine was started and warmed up. Orville settled himself in a prone position, with his hips resting in the saddle and his feet braced against a footrest. His left hand grasped the elevating lever. His right arm supported his weight. His right hand was ready to shut off an engine speed to a stop-watch, and a wind speed meter as soon as the flight ended. With the propellers rotating at full r.p.m., the restraining wire was released.

 

The craft moved forward slowly. Running alongside the right wingtip, Wilbur was able to keep up with it. It ran 40 feet along the launch track, gradually building up speed, and then, suddenly, the Kitty Hawk Flyer was air-borne, winging into history. Orville later recounted modestly what man’s first airplane flight was like: ‘The course of the flight up and down was exceedingly erratic, partly due to the irregularity of the air and partly of lack of experience in handling this machine. The control of the front rudder was difficult on account of its being balanced too near the center. This gave a tendency to turn itself when started so that it turned too far on one side and then too far on the other. It, the machine would rise suddenly to about ten feet, and then as for the ground. A sudden dart when a little over 100 feet from the track, a little over 120 feet from the point at which it rose.

 

Three more flights were made on the same day. The longest, by Wilbur, covered 852 feet in 59 seconds. Unfortunately, while the Wrights and the five witnesses present were discussing their success, a sudden and violent gust of wind upended the machine and damaged it severely.

 

The Wright brothers continued to develop their unique invention but it was some time before people were willing to believe that a flying machine actually existed.

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