The Struggles and Success of The Wright Brothers in Aviation

hen we look into aviation and how the industry peaked, the two men that many tend to think of are the Wright Brothers. The two brothers that overpowered the aviation industry made others go unnoticed. This makes us question of who is the real hero the first successful airplane. What information did they get from other inventers/engineers versus their own design? To many individuals, there is no question if the Wright Brothers are heroes, due to their success of the “first powered and controlled flight, in 1903.” From just building bikes they reached astounding feats that has forever changed the aerospace industry.

Their most successful flight was in Kitty Hawk, Ohio in 1900. The chose this location since it was a coastal town that had consistent winds to help assist with the launching process. After building over nineteen different glider and airplane types they would spend years legitimizing their first flight at Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk to have their name be put on the national map and become a household name all over the world. After years of debate and competing for the title of “first flight”, the government took an interest in the planes in use for spying, and transportation of troops and military supplies.

Many discredit the Wright Brothers since they did not properly credit the pioneers before themselves, but as we did deeper in history we realize that the Wright Brothers never claimed to be the first in flight. In the Western Society of Engineers in 1901, Wilbur did allude to the inventor Hiram Maxim. Maxim had an unintentional flight occurrence with a steam powered biplane with a crew of three men. Wilbur and Orville Wright wish to be remembered for making the first controlled and sustained powered flight. The greatest contribution in the aviation was their development of their three-axis aerodynamic controls: roll, pitch, and yaw, and how to effectively use the pilot skills and how to use them effectively.

Not everything for the two brothers was as easy as you may think. Their first device was supposed to fly like a kite but it didn’t due to not having the correct force to apply enough lift, to get the glider/plane off the ground. Their first powered flight only lasted twelve seconds which was a giant let down because of all of the adjustments that were made. Despite having mastered factors that were valid in the creation of an airplane, the plane the flew was actually quite unstable. The powered Wright Flyer I was constructed in 1903, with a 4-cylinder water cooled vertical engine surrounded by a lightweight wooden glider. After a series of wind tunnel tests and delays due to broken propeller shafts, on December 14th, 1903, the Wright Brothers flipped a coin to see who would take the Wright Flyer out for its first official test drive in Kill Devil Hills. Wilbur won, and made a successful three second fight before touching down. After several days of breezy weather, the experiment was repeated on December 17th, this time with Orville at the wheel, and the flyer made two successful flights from level ground into a cold headwind that blew at 27 mph. The first flight lasted for twelve seconds and covered only 120 feet of distance, but it was long enough and far enough to change the world.

“There were just five witnesses for the world's first successful flight: John T. Daniels, who took the iconic "first flight" photo using Orville's camera, Adam Etheridge, and Will Dough, who were all members of the U.S. government coastal lifesaving crew. Also in attendance was area businessman W.C. Brinkley, who was a curious bystander, and Johnny Moore, a local teenager who wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”

In one of my documents “On heroes, hero-worship, and the heroic in history”, by Carlyle. In this document he states his views that he doesn’t believe that the growing industry but he proves that the Wright Brothers are heroes by using their inspiration and creativeness to influence society.

Today, aviation lovers had to the Outer Banks from across the country to pay tribute to the birthplace of aviation the Wright Brothers are innovators with a passion of flight. From their struggles to their achievements they have become heroes in the aviation and science industry. Without their knowledge the travel industry would not be as good as it is today.