Building, Testing, and Flying the Glider
The Wright brothers were the very first people to pioneer a piloted glider. First, after Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian Institution, the brothers designed their first glider. Many of Wilbur and Orville's ideas came from observing birds and how they flew. When birds gained lift after their wings were hit by the wind, the Wright brothers decided to implement this sort of technique into their glider, thus creating "wing warping." This particular glider was flown in the same style as a kite, while it tested their idea of "wing warping," a method of controlling balance by adjusting wing position. After many glider tests, the Wright brothers built a full-scale model of their glider in 1900 that was to be flown in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. After numerous other glider attempts, the Wright brothers built a wind tunnel in which they tested different models of wings and gliders to determine efficiency.
“If birds can glide for long periods of time, then… why can’t I?”
-Orville Wright
Glider:
The Flyer
After refining the controls, landing gear, and wings, the Wright brothers went to work on an entirely new glider. After building a wind tunnel to test the durability and efficiency of their new components and rapidly developing technology, Wilbur and Orville put together an aircraft that was an entirely new class of machine. Equipped with a movable tail, propeller, and a motor, it weighed in at over 700 pounds. The Wright brothers did not make another glider- it was a Flyer.
- “The airplane stays up because it doesn’t have the time to fall.”
- -Orville Wright
Flyer:
“What is chiefly needed is skill rather than machinery.”
-Wilbur Wright