This is a video of Orville and Wilbur Wright doing one of their trials at Kitty Hawk, NC.
Having nearly perfected glided flight, the next step was to move to powered flight. Because no automobile manufacturer could supply an engine both light enough and powerful enough for their needs, they designed and built their own--the Wright Engine.
On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. That morning Orville said . . . “When we got up the wind was between 20 and 25 miles and blowing from the North.” What a perfect day for flying or at least they thought so until they ran into some flaws. That first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Three more flights were made that day with Wilbur piloting the record flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet. Though on the first flight their rudder broke and needed to be repaired, after that it was smooth sailing for the Wright Brothers. The brothers had alerted several newspapers prior to their historic flight, but only one came to the event. All of their hard work, experimentation and strategy came together that December day as they took to the sky and forever changed the course of history.
On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. That morning Orville said . . . “When we got up the wind was between 20 and 25 miles and blowing from the North.” What a perfect day for flying or at least they thought so until they ran into some flaws. That first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Three more flights were made that day with Wilbur piloting the record flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet. Though on the first flight their rudder broke and needed to be repaired, after that it was smooth sailing for the Wright Brothers. The brothers had alerted several newspapers prior to their historic flight, but only one came to the event. All of their hard work, experimentation and strategy came together that December day as they took to the sky and forever changed the course of history.
“What is chiefly needed is skill rather than machinery." - Wilbur Wright