How was the Airplane Invented?

Other Men's Ideas

Orville and Wilbur Wright's invention of the airplane was not an act of inspiration stemming from a single idea, but of deliberate, methodical planning based on the previous experiments of other inventors who failed in their bid to invent the first flying aircraft. Among the key inventors who paved the way for the Wright brothers to successfully fly the first airplane on Dec. 17, 1903, were Samuel Langley and Octave Chanute. Langley, a physicist, recognized that only a motor could launch and sustain an airborne craft. In 1891 he built a steam-powered "aerodrome" that flew nearly a mile before running out of steam. Chanute designed a biplane that caught the Wrights' attention, which they patterned for their own craft. The brothers studied Chanute's 1894 book, "Progress in Flying Machines," dissembling and improving on Chanute's theories. What set the Wright brothers apart from their predecessors was their analytical approach to each task. They researched all available material left by previous inventors and tested every theory using kites and balloons to study wind currents. They did not neglect to examine and root out the causes of other men's failures.

Experimentation

The most important system they employed was carefully plotting each step with a test, anticipating problems along the way, then critiquing their performance until they got it right. It wasn't until the test was a success that they moved on to the step. Paramount to success was photographing each experiment. Much of the experimentation occurred before any aircraft flight testing was performed. They designed a wind tunnel to test how various objects, including wings, responded to air flow. In 1900, they began a series of manned and unmanned glider experiments. While these gliders only flew a few seconds at a time, the brothers were pleased with the performance since the front elevator of the craft worked as they expected and they had no accidents. As each experiment was deemed a success, the size of the glider grew, from a 17-foot wingspan and weight of 52 pounds in 1900 to a 32-foot wingspan at 112 pounds two years later.

Success

Once they settled on a glider that best responded to wind currents at the North Carolina Outer Banks, they began to focus their attention on a motor. They turned to a 12-horsepower engine designed by Charlie Taylor, who took only 6 weeks to build an engine of aluminum, which used early from of fuel-injection with the gasoline gravity-fed in a tube from a wing strut to the engine below. The propeller was turned by bicycle-type chains. Their craft, dubbed the "Kitty Hawk," weighed 605 pounds and was the first craft to weigh more than air. Orville Wright took to the air first, traveling at 6.8 mph to cover 120 feet in 12 seconds. The brothers followed with similar, longer flights to gauge durability and reliability until they determined their invention was a success.

Resources

• History of the Wright Brothers