The Way Wright Brothers Have Started The Aircraft Engineering Age

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries underwent remarkable economic transformations, especially in transportation, when several modes of transportation such as automobiles and trains were invented and served as practical solutions for travelling great distances. Achieving flight had long been an aspiration by mankind, as the only way proven at the time to achieve flight was to glide. It was only until after the death of the glider pilot Otto Lilienthal in 1896 that Orville and Wilbur Wright were inspired to construct the world’s first aircraft. The late nineteenth century took an unprecedented turn, as a result, after the Wright Brothers’ first successfully recorded flight. This event shed more light upon aerodynamics, which was an indistinct field of science at the time as well as allowing society to travel greater distances by efficient means. Furthermore, It broke the barrier of human flight, left a lasting impression on American history, and expanded humanity’s vision of the possible.

Research and Experiments

Orville and Wilbur Wright were both born at the turn of the nineteenth century and were deprived of much education due to familial duties. Orville suffered a facial injury. Despite these challenges, the brothers were drawn to the endeavors of an extraordinary glider pilot, Otto Lilienthal. and became keen on gliding experiments. They chose to educate themselves in the theory and the art of flying. Orville and Wilbur Wright had been long afflicted with the belief that flight was possible to man. Prior to starting their work on aircrafts, the brothers’ first venture was to open a cycle shop, ‘The Wright Cycle Shop,’ in Dayton, Ohio in 1892. This was an ideal occupation for the Wright brothers since it included one of the most exciting mechanical appliances of the time: the bicycle. At the point when they took up the issues of flight, they had a solid grounding in practical mechanics which would come of use when designing aircrafts. By 1899 the brothers had exhausted the resources of their local library and had written to the Smithsonian Institution for suggestions as to further their privilege in aeronautics. The following year they wrote to introduce themselves to Octave Chanute, a leading civil engineer and an authority in aviation. Chanute later became the brothers’ primary confidant during the critical years from 1900 to 1905.

Wilbur and Orville Wright eventually rejected the calculations and theories of Otto Lilienthal and dived into their own research and aerodynamic testing based on personal experiments, which reached actualization in their No. 3 glider in September/October of 1902. Referring back to Cayley’s hypothesis on the necessity of electricity to achieve sustained flight, the Wright brothers complied to his notion and deemed powered flight as their ultimate goal. The Wrights’ machines were made deliberately unstable as to give voluntary control to the pilot. This ended up being the keystone to their success. The US Weather Bureau provided the brothers land in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina in 1900. The weather conditions here would allow for consistent measurements and good winds for gliding. After the brothers had made over one thousand gliding flights, they were able to confirm accuracy in their previous data and to demonstrate their ability to control the motions of the glider. Having learned to control an adequate air frame, they then endeavored to add power to their machine. The Wright brothers soon discovered that no manufacturer would build an engine that would meet their stipulations, which led them to construct their own. They constructed an engine that had four cylinders and an internal combustion engine that could produce 12 horsepower. When this engine was installed into the air frame, the entire machine weighed 750 pounds and proved to be capable of traveling 31 miles per hour.

The Wright brothers took their airplane to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. On the following day, the Wright brothers flew their aircraft in front of five witnesses. The aircraft was flown four times that day, the longest flight being 59 seconds and covering more than half a mile. Their success prompted immense fame and guaranteed a significant position in American history. The Wright brothers had accomplished the unthinkable; achieving control of their aircraft and maneuvering it. This was regarded as scientifically impossible to man in every way. All myths were debunked and according to Chronicling America this demonstrated “...the first piloted, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air machine.” The Virginia Pilot hailed it as being a “Successful Trial by Ohio Men.” This event obtained the headlines of several other sensational newspapers nationwide. The Wright brothers’ breakthrough in aeronautics would leave a footprint upon aviation and humanity for ages to come.

The Arrival of the Aerial Age

The brothers returned to Dayton convinced of their success and were determined to build a better model. The Wright Flyer II was flown for the first time on May 23 of 1904 and covered 2 ¾ miles in a flight lasting over five minutes. It was generally similar to the Flyer I but was created with an additional 16 horsepower. The United States Government saw the Wright Brothers’ aircrafts as an advantage in war. The year 1907 saw gradual interest in the Wright brothers’ aircraft develop in Washington, D.C. and the brothers started to look to the federal government for encouragement in their venture. The government bid on an airplane that would meet certain specifications. In February 1908 the Army had at long last granted the Wrights an agreement for an army airplane. In September of the same year, the army aircraft was exhibited before Signal Corps authorities at Fort Myer, Virginia, making ten flights, four of which surpassed an hour in span, and demonstrating, as one observer put it, that the Wrights truly were flyers, not liars. The U.S. Armed force acquired the aircraft as the Signal Corps No. I. In 1909, Wilbur founded the company known as the American Wright Company. The Wright brothers’ main public activity was service on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (the government organization that preceded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]), where Orville served as a member alongside President Woodrow Wilson until 1915.

The brothers’ success continued with their experiments at Kitty Hawk. Wilbur flew at eight additional occasions at Hunaudieres, flying agile circles and figure eights. His best was on Aug. 12, remaining noticeable all around just about seven minutes during six circuits of the course. They even found foreign backers in France for their machine. The French prevailed upon the Wrights’ astounding invention. After witnessing the Wrights’ flying machine, Delagrange, a French aviator and sculptor, admitted, 'Well, we are beaten.' Another French aviator and inventor, Bleriot, also commented on Orville Wright’s successes: 'Monsieur Wright has all in his hands,' meaning that the Wright brothers would now have a path of fame and fortune laid out ahead of them.

Societal Benefit

It still remains striking how the Wright brothers accomplished remarkably their objective of fueled flight. Society’s perspective altered instantly and ideas about manned flights changed from being impossible to conceivable. The brothers’ first Wright Flyers were the predecessors of the modern day airplanes. Planes have spared society and mankind, years worth of time spent in voyages across oceans. Now airplanes can reach incredibly high speeds and can reach far-off destinations in a short span of time. Airplanes have the ability to unite the world under 20 hours, regardless of the thousands of miles of seawater that pry the nations apart. Aviation plays a crucial role, not only in civil transportation but also in national defense, providing emergency aid to unreachable remote areas and fighting the war against climate change. The raging fires in California and Australia could not and cannot be controlled without aircrafts being engaged in aerial firefighting. The Aerial Age represents the difference between the past and future, slowly shrinking the world as aeronautical advancements progress onwards in transporting humans vast distances in an ever more efficient way.

The Wright Legacy

Wilbur Wright died on May 30, 1912 in Dayton. Orville retired and lived a quiet life, leading trials on mechanical issues important to him, none of which ended up being of much significance. Orville died in Dayton on January 30, 1948. The Wright brothers’ original designs had been improved over time to create larger, lightweight, and longer self-sustaining airplanes that could seat multiple passengers at once.

Aircrafts have continued to evolve long after the demise of the Wright brothers. The modern-day aircrafts are sophisticated and have further broken barriers such as the sound barrier. These could not have been possible without the discoveries made by the Wright brothers. Their contributions to the science of aeronautics and travel have greatly stimulated mankind to imagine the impossible; to learn that they could traverse between worlds and that they can overcome the constraints posed by the human nature.

Conclusion

Orville and Wilbur Wrights’ works in the science of aerodynamics had forever changed mankind’s vision of the possible, as well as the impossible. The Wright Brothers helped found modern day aviation through their curiosity, their imagination, and their reluctance to give up their vision. Their determination and passion for lifting human beings off the ground has literally and figuratively uplifted the human species. As World War I aviator and Medal of Honor recipient once commented on the Wright brothers: “Aviation is proof, given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.”