Sunday, February 13, 2011

Getting it Wright!!!!




Here is my little tribute to the Wright Brothers. Orville and Wilbur Wright. Both brothers were the first to create a mechanical bird. That could fly under it's own power, and be controlled.

The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were two Americans who are generally credited[1][2][3] with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.

The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of three-axis control, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium.[4] This method became standard and remains standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds. From the beginning of their aeronautical work, the Wright brothers focused on unlocking the secrets of control to conquer "the flying problem", rather than developing more powerful engines as some other experimenters did. Their careful wind tunnel tests produced better aeronautical data than any before, enabling them to design and build wings and propellers more effective than any before.[7][8] Their U.S. patent 821,393 claims the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulates a flying machine's surfaces.

I have included a picture I took at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, located here in Washington. Where the Wright Brothers famous and history making airplane is being preserved.

2 comments:

  1. AWESOME BABY!!

    Yeah, if you can't make it to Kitty Hawk, go see the Flyer instead huh DW?

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  2. Little known fact: The Smithsonian pretended that the Aerodome plane was the first, so Wilbur donated his plane to the London Science Museum in 1928. The Smithsonian didn't get the Wright Brothers' plane until 1948.

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