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KF5JRV > TODAY 17.12.18 13:55l 64 Lines 3532 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 27142_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Dec 17
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<SR1BSZ<F1OYP<ON0AR<OZ5BBS<CX2SA<N9PMO<NS2B<KF5JRV
Sent: 181217/1225Z 27142@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.17
Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the
first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air
aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven
biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its
inaugural flight.
Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed an
interest in aviation after learning of the glider flights of the German
engineer Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s. Unlike their older brothers,
Orville and Wilbur did not attend college, but they possessed
extraordinary technical ability and a sophisticated approach to solving
problems in mechanical design. They built printing presses and in 1892
opened a bicycle sales and repair shop. Soon, they were building their
own bicycles, and this experience, combined with profits from their
various businesses, allowed them to pursue actively their dream of
building the world’s first airplane.
After exhaustively researching other engineers’ efforts to build a
heavier-than-air, controlled aircraft, the Wright brothers wrote the
U.S. Weather Bureau inquiring about a suitable place to conduct glider
tests. They settled on Kitty Hawk, an isolated village on North
Carolina’s Outer Banks, which offered steady winds and sand dunes from
which to glide and land softly. Their first glider, tested in 1900,
performed poorly, but a new design, tested in 1901, was more successful.
Later that year, they built a wind tunnel where they tested nearly 200
wings and airframes of different shapes and designs. The brothers’
systematic experimentations paid off–they flew hundreds of successful
flights in their 1902 glider at Kill Devils Hills near Kitty Hawk. Their
biplane glider featured a steering system, based on a movable rudder,
that solved the problem of controlled flight. They were now ready for
powered flight.
In Dayton, they designed a 12-horsepower internal combustion engine with
the assistance of machinist Charles Taylor and built a new aircraft to
house it. They transported their aircraft in pieces to Kitty Hawk in the
autumn of 1903, assembled it, made a few further tests, and on December
14 Orville made the first attempt at powered flight. The engine stalled
during take-off and the plane was damaged, and they spent three days
repairing it. Then at 10:35 a.m. on December 17, in front of five
witnesses, the aircraft ran down a monorail track and into the air,
staying aloft for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet. The modern aviation
age was born. Three more tests were made that day, with Wilbur and
Orville alternately flying the airplane. Wilbur flew the last flight,
covering 852 feet in 59 seconds.
During the next few years, the Wright brothers further developed their
airplanes but kept a low profile about their successes in order to
secure patents and contracts for their flying machines. By 1905, their
aircraft could perform complex maneuvers and remain aloft for up to 39
minutes at a time. In 1908, they traveled to France and made their first
public flights, arousing widespread public excitement. In 1909, the U.S.
Army’s Signal Corps purchased a specially constructed plane, and the
brothers founded the Wright Company to build and market their aircraft.
Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912; Orville lived until 1948.
The historic Wright brothers’ aircraft of 1903 is on permanent display
at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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