Happy Wright Brothers Day, everyone!
You may be thinking, what is Wright Brothers Day, you may ask? Well, it's the day that we honor aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. Two of seven children (five survived), the Wright Brothers' skills with mechanics and engineering were encouraged by their mother Susan, who herself had skills in mechanics and carpentry.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, the Wright boys moved frequently due their father Milton's work as a clergyman. Capitalizing on the bike boom of the 1890s thanks to the invention of the "safety bicycle", the Wrights started their own bicycle repair shop in 1892. In 1896, they started manufacturing their own brand of bicycles. These business ventures allowed the Wrights to do research on a dream they had: a dream...of flying.
Their dream was inspired by a few events in 1896: French-American civil engineer Octave Chanute helped test various gliders along the shores of Lake Michigan. Samuel Langley had managed to successfully fly a fixed-wing aircraft that was powered by steam. However, that craft was unmanned. And also, German engineer Otto Lilienthal was killed when his glider crashed. Drawing upon the work and discoveries these precursors made, the Wrights began their own experimentation.
The brothers knew that a reliable method of control was needed to truly master flight. Lilienthal's method was to shift his body around. The Wrights realized that a better method was needed. They drew from how birds controlled their direction in flight, as well as how bicyclists changed direction.
In 1900, the Wrights made their way to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina to begin experimenting with manned gliders.
No comments:
Post a Comment