Press and Launched A Newspaper With His

You're watching FreeSchool! He died when his glider crashed in 1896.
Today we're going to learn about the famous That same year, American Samuel Langley
inventors and aviators, Orville and Wilbur succeeded in making short flights with an
Wright. unmanned aircraft
Orville and Wilbur Wright, often called the powered by a small steam engine.
Wright Brothers, are best known as the first These two events inspired the Wright
inventors to successfully create and fly an brothers, and they began seriously
aircraft that was heavier than air, forever researching flying
changing travel, trade, and warfare machines in 1899.
worldwide. They thought Otto Lilienthal had had the
Wilbur Wright, the older brother, was born right idea with his gliders, but his crash
on April 16, 1867, near Millville, Indiana. proved
Orville Wright, the younger brother, was to them that a better way of steering them
born on August 19, 1871, in Dayton, Ohio. was needed.
They were two of seven children born to They carefully watched birds in flight, and
Milton Wright, a clergyman. noticed the way they tilted their wings to
The brothers grew up in Indiana and Ohio, change direction in the air.
moving several times during their childhood. Wilbur built a huge kite to test out the
Their father traveled often, and in 1878 he brothers' idea that warping, or twisting, its
returned home from a trip with a toy wings
helicopter would allow them to steer, and it was
for his sons. successful.
It was powered by a rubber band that twirled In 1900 Orville and Wilbur went to Kitty
its rotor, and the boys played with it until Hawk, North Carolina, to begin
it broke. experimenting with
Then, they built their own helicopter. gliders.
Years later, the Wright brothers would say They chose Kitty Hawk because it had
that this toy sparked their interest in flight. strong, steady winds, as well sandy beaches
Although both brothers attended high for softer
school, neither one graduated. landings.
In 1889, Orville built his own printing Many early tests of the glider were made
press and launched a newspaper with his while it was tethered by ropes like a kite,
brother and
Wilbur's help. with no one aboard.
The newspaper was not entirely successful, The glider did not perform as well as they
and in 1892 the brothers opened a shop had hoped it would, and the brothers
selling returned
and repairing bicycles. home to Dayton, Ohio, to try again.
A few years later, in 1896, they even began In 1901 they returned to Kitty Hawk with a
building their own bicycles. modified glider design and made dozens of
Meanwhile, people all over the world were flights with it.
experimenting with flying machines. Although it traveled 400 feet or 122 meters
German aviator Otto Lilienthal made many on its longest flight, the glider was still
successful flights using gliders, the first not performing the way the Wright brothers
person ever had calculated it would.
to do so.
When they returned to Ohio they built a They sold airplanes to the U.S. Army,
wind tunnel and tested dozens of different created a flying school, and even made the
wings first air
to see which ones would lift the best. cargo delivery in history.
This hard work paid off: the glider they In 1912, Wilbur Wright became sick and
tested in 1902 performed much better than died at the age of 45.
earlier He had never married, and had no children,
models. once saying that he did not have time for
They also added a moveable rudder, which both a wife and an airplane.
dramatically improved their ability to steer With Wilbur gone Orville took over
and control management of their company, but he was
their glider. not the businessman
After hundreds of successful glides, they his brother had been and in 1915, Orville
were sure they were ready to build a sold The Wright Company.
powered He retired from piloting and spent the next
aircraft. few decades serving on boards and
In 1903 they built an aircraft they called the committees
Wright Flyer, complete with propellers such as the National Advisory Committee
and a gasoline engine. for Aeronautics and the Aeronautical
On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright Chamber of
piloted the Wright Flyer for the first, historic Commerce.
flight. In 1944, more than 40 years after that first
They had done it! famous flight, Orville Wright had his last
Although the flight lasted only twelve trip in an airplane - a Lockheed
seconds, traveling 120 feet or 37 meters, and Constellation, a far cry from the original
lifted Wright Flyer.
the plane only 10 feet or 3 meters off the Orville died on January 30, 1948, of a heart
ground, it was the first time in history that attack.
anyone had successfully piloted a heavier He was 76 years old.
than air vehicle under its own power. Like Wilbur, he had never married and he
The Wright brothers continued to and was buried in Dayton, Ohio, in the same
improve their airplane, but despite their plot
success they had as his brother.
difficulty persuading people they had Today Orville and Wilbur Wright are
invented anything worthwhile. remembered as pioneers of aviation and the
Most people just didn't believe it. inventors
In 1908 they began to make public who made air travel possible.
demonstrations of their airplanes both in I hope you enjoyed learning about the
Washington D.C. Wright Brothers today!
and in France, and the Wright brothers Goodbye till next time!
immediately became world-famous. English
They began to build and sell airplanes, AllHistoryListenableFrom Free School
creating a business called The Wright
Company.

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