Existing comment:
1903 Wright Flyer:
The 1903 Wright Flyer made four flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, the best covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. It was the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft to make a sustained, controlled flight with a pilot aboard.
The Wrights used their proven canard biplane configuration, which was rooted in their initial 1899 kite design. Key to the Flyer's success was its three-axis control system, which featured wing-warping for lateral balance, a moveable rudder, and an elevator for pitch control.
The right wing was four inches longer than the left to compensate for the engine being heavier than and mounted to the right of the pilot. The wings were rigged with a slight droop to reduce the effects of crosswinds.
Aviation 1902-1908:
After perfecting their aircraft in 1905, the Wright brothers did not fly at all in 1906 and 1907, as they turned their attention to securing their patent and finding customers for their invention. Even before their success at Kitty Hawk in 1903, information about the Wrights' developments began to circulate among the aeronautical community and filter to Europe.
In 1906 and 1907, several Europeans made short, straight-line flights of comparable length to the Wrights' first powered flights. In North America, some notable successes were achieved by the Aerial Experiment Association. Formed by famed inventor Alexander Graham Bell in 1907, the AEA built several powered aircraft, including the first airplane to fly in Canada, in 1909. The group included Glenn H Curtiss, who went on to become the leading producer of aircraft in the United States before World War I. |