The History of The Wright Brothers’ First Flight And Their Plane Crashes

In 1899, Orville and Wilbur Wright set out to make history as the first people to fly an aircraft.  Wilbur contacted the Smithsonian Institution via a letter requesting information regarding flight experiments.  The brothers were able to create their first aircraft.  It was created as a biplane glider (a small one). 

When operating the glider, the brothers used it as it were a kite.  The Wright Brothers were trying to use their first flight to test their aircraft.  They used a method called wing warping.  What they did was have the wingtips arched a little.  This was done in order to keep control of aircraft.

With the Wright Brothers first flight, the brothers decided to look at how birds fly.  They looked at how the birds flew in the wind.  They wanted to see how the birds created lift, which was one of the characteristics of flying.  They realized that the birds’ wings develop different shapes when they turn over.  The Wright Brothers looked to incorporate this in their first flight and future flights. 

The brothers decided to create gliders that would act as kites and some would have pilots.  They based their creations on the works of people such as Sir George Langley and Otto Lilienthal.  They also got together with other engineers to get ideas on how they could accomplish this.  The most important part of this project was for the Wright Brothers to maintain control of whatever they were flying. 

One of the largest gliders created was built in 1901 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.  They flew it with the weight being very close to 100 pounds.  They also incorporated skids so they could land smoothly and safely.  Even with that, the glider had problems with the wings, forward elevator and the wing-warping. 

The Wright Brothers continued to fly and during that time, their aircraft was involved in several minor crashes.  On December 17, 1903, the brothers were able to successfully pilot their aircraft for the first time in American history.  The flight lasted for about 12 seconds.  After that, the next successful one was on November 9, 1904.  This flight lasted more than five minutes and Wilbur piloted this aircraft. 

Unfortunately, the Wright Brothers did experience some plane crashes that ended in tragedy.  On September 17, 1908, Orville was flying the aircraft in the first crash.  He made it through the crash, but his passenger did not survive.  The Wright Brothers had decided since they had been successful with their other flights, they would allow other people to accompany them on flights.

The Federal Government took interest in the Wright Brothers’ aircraft that they purchased one from them for about $30,000.  They liked the aircraft because it was able to fly more than 40 miles per hour.

Another aircraft that belonged to the Wright Brothers was called Vin Fiz.  It was the first aircraft that made it across the United States.  The trip lasted almost three months and stopped about 70 times within that span.  The Wright Brothers’ aircraft made so many crash landings.  The impact of the plane’s crash landings caused most of the initial building materials to be gone.  

In 1912, one of their aircraft flew in an airport in Maryland.  The brothers were using that airport to offer flying lessons to the officers of the U.S. Army.  The Army appreciated the Wright Brothers so much they decided to keep some of their airplanes at that location.  However, that didn’t sit well with a competitor and a lawsuit ensued.  The Wright Brothers prevailed because it was proven that they had control of the aircraft as well as maintained patents for them.