How did the Wright Brothers Impact the World? a Journey from Kitty Hawk to Global Skies

The Wright Brothers successfully made a basic airplane and flew it successfully in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. After that, they formed the Wright Exhibition Company in March 1910. They even contracted to the U.S. Military Army to earn 25,000 dollars by making special attack aircraft on September 3, 1908. However, what was life like for the Wright Brothers before and after the successful flight of 1903?

Before the Wright Brothers’ Invention

After the birth of Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright, they had an incredible talent to think in their brains independently.

It is astonishing to know that since they had no electricity, they somehow made one of the most remembered machines in history.

Later in their life, Wilbur Wright had an accident in hockey, causing his plans to go to college and marry someone to disappear from the ideas he kept in his brain. Orville Wright had suddenly abandoned his ideas to marry someone and to get to college, too, since he was more interested in machinery. While Wilbur’s three-year recovery was happening, he read his father’s books extensively. Meanwhile, Orville Wright was observing the printing trade, learning how it worked, functioned, and what materials it needed. After the three-year recovery from Wilbur Wright’s hockey accident, Orville asked him to establish a print shop. Then, they made good-quality presses that they had sold, built, and designed for other presses.

From Bicycles to Flight

Next, in 1892, the Wright brothers opened a bicycle shop to sell and repair, then started to build some bicycles in 1896. Later, they made their self-oiling bicycle wheel hub and some light machine tools in their shop. Their leftover money from the printing shop and bicycle operations was to finally use their materials in flying experiments from 1899 to 1905. In addition, their lightweight tool-making has paid off now; they can make all their materials lighter.When the Wrights used to live in Iowa, the father brought a helicopter toy from his travels.

In August 1896, that is when they took their flight interest seriously. They experimented with a kite, trying to observe its movements made from control. Next, they had just realized that the airplane would need wings. Then, they fixed all bugs and errors except for the control. Later, they studied different pilot’s gliders and machines in books. Next, they thought of a technique of how to control flight. They thought that to control the machine, they would have to add and loosen the pressure on the wings to glide.

Next, they decided to induce a twist across the wings in either way of direction. When they fixed all bugs and errors, the first Wright flyer featured an area of 165 square feet for wings. However, the flyer had made less lift, which was unexpected. They fixed all bugs and errors by changing designs, adding new engines, and changing gap sizes on their wings. Then, the Wright Brothers tested it out. They finally fixed all errors in controlling and flying their machine.

Triumphs and Trials in Kitty Hawk

Later, in 1902, The Wright Brothers picked an abandoned village named Kitty Hawk, which can be found in North Carolina. They chose it because it had perfect terrain for flight testing. It had dunes for flight from a high place and much sand for soft landings for the flyer.After several hard days of work, Orville Wright had landed successfully, but it was not high enough. Then, later in the year, Orville Wright set a new record for going about 100 feet into the air on the machine. The Wright Brothers then went to Kill Devil Hills in 1903, where their camp was located. They spent seven weeks updating their machine for better flight than before. Orville tried to do another successful land on December 14 but broke the functional machine instead. Three days have been used for repairs on the machine.

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright made a successful flight, but it was not shown to the public because they thought scientists who observed how the machine worked would rip off their machine, so they waited until patents protected it. The news spread fast about them being able to fly, but many doubted that story during 1906 and 1907. Even though it was not public, they signed a contract with the U.S. Army for 25,000 dollars. They had to make a plane that had two passengers, flying lasted 1 hour, and the speed was 40 miles per hour.

The Wright Brothers’ Legacy and Commercial Success

On May 14, Wilbur carried the first passenger on the first military airplane. After that, Orville Wright presented their airplane to the U.S. Army. The airplane flew around the field for 1 hour and 12 minutes.After that contract, The Wright Brothers tried their best and accomplished the deal. What is great about that was that they got a bonus of 5,000 dollars for the 40 miles per hour speed exceeding on their military airplanes, therefore earning 30,000 dollars for the contract. Then, with enough patrons, they made the flight public. In France, Le Mans, on August 8, 1908, he made the flight with his first passenger, Charles Furnas. Next, he went to College Park, Maryland, to teach the first three officers from the U.S. Army to fly.

In November 1909, The Wright Brothers created the Wright Company.The Wright Brothers were one of the most successful people in history. They had made the first successful airplane in 1902 and had made many companies. They helped the U.S. Army and gained 30,000 dollars from them. Ever since the flight of 1903, the Wright Brothers had become successful in their businesses. They had found the secret to flight by using their heads together, finally making flying machines of the Wrights. We will always use their success as an example of inspiration.

References

1. Crouch, T. D. (2003). The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright. W. W. Norton & Company.
2. Howard, F. (1987). Wilbur and Orville: A Biography of the Wright Brothers. Dover Publications.
3. Jakab, P. L. (1990). Visions of a Flying Machine: The Wright Brothers and the Process of Invention. Smithsonian Institution Press.
4. Langewiesche, W. (2008). Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying. McGraw-Hill Education.
5. McCullough, D. G. (2015). The Wright Brothers. Simon & Schuster.
6. Wright, O., & Wright, W. (1953). The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Including the Chanute-Wright Letters and Other Papers of Octave Chanute. McGraw-Hill.

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