Dec. 6, 2021 – In the first years of the 20th century, Henry Ford from Dearborn, Michigan put the world on wheels with his automobiles. And two brothers from Dayton, Ohio – Wilbur and Orville Wright – put the world into the air with their airplanes. On Dec. 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville successfully flew the first ever heavier-than-air, powered airplane controlled by a human pilot.

At the time, horses were the primary mode of transportation for individuals although trains were available for traveling across the country. But in Dearborn, Michigan, Henry Ford made the first automobile that even his workers could afford. His Model T Ford, affectionately called the “tin Lizzie,” put the world on wheels. From 1908-1927, millions of Model T Ford cars were sold. In advertising early models, Ford said customers could have the car in any color as long as it was black. 

As Ford tinkered in his Michigan workshop and factory, the Wright Brothers turned their minds to the sky in Ohio. Orville loved riding his bike and dreamed of going airborne. The brothers studied birds for a long time to learn the mechanics of flying. They took meticulous notes about birds in flight. And they read anything they could find about aeronautics. They were deeply influenced by Otto Lilienthal, a German mining engineer.

After designing their airplane in Dayton, they traveled to North Carolina to test it. They found a spot on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean where they built a shed that served as their hangar. Winds and sand in Kitty Hawk provided perfect conditions for their test flights.

North Carolina and Ohio – key states in aviation history
The invention of the airplane can prompt spirited discussions, especially among residents of North Carolina and Ohio, as to which state should get credit for its invention. For an opinion on the matter, it’s best to read about the brothers and their flight path to success. In The Wright Brothers by David McCullough, readers learn so much about the brothers’ lives and their family, which was crucial to their success.

Their mechanical aptitude was evident even as young boys when they took apart toys to learn how the toys operated. They were encouraged by their mother who was mechanically inclined. She built the boys a sled and fixed whatever was broken in the household. Orville graduated from high school but Wilbur did not due to an injury.

The boys delved into any book they could find on aviation and became self-taught aviation experts.

As bicycles became a popular mode of transportation in the late 1800s, the brothers began repairing bicycles. Soon they were improving features on bicycles.

They made bicycles safer with a new brake design so it made sense the brothers would expand their repair business into manufacturing their own brand of bicycle. In 1895, the Wright Cycle Company began selling their Van Cleve bicycle that was named after their great-great-grandmother (The Wright Brothers, p. 25).

From bicycles, the brothers advanced to designing, building and testing gliders, airplanes without engines. Once satisfied with their glider, they began building a motor to defy gravity and keep the machine in the air. With all of their experience in bicycle repair and design, they adapted bicycle parts to use in their flying machine, an airplane. The end result was a machine they designed from their deep knowledge of physics and aeronautics and their years of experience repairing and building bicycles. The brothers were so devoted to their work, neither of them married.

Shortly after the dawn of the 20th century, they were ready to test their flying machine. Versions of their gliders and flying machines were tested in North Carolina leading up to the official first flight.

On Dec. 17, 1903, the brothers, with five other people watching, successfully flew in the air for 12 seconds at a distance of 120 feet. John T. Daniels snapped the picture that is now one of the most famous photos ever taken. The brothers took turns flying that morning and by noon, they had logged a flight of 59 seconds at an altitude of 852 feet and a distance of more than one-half of a mile. (The Wright Brothers, p. 105-106) Human flight had been conquered.

At first the United States Army was not that interested in the Wright Flyer. But in 1908, the brothers were awarded a $25,000 contract from the Army and began training the first U.S. Army pilots. Military aviation was born.

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
Read David McCullough’s book. It’s a gift to aviation and American history because it is a thoroughly researched book about the brothers who had their minds in the sky, not their heads in a cloud. Readers will have a renewed respect for the brothers’ total dedication to understanding aeronautics and building flying machines aligned to that science.

Early aviation pioneers surely learned from each other but it was the Wright brothers who figured out how to build an airplane. They filed many patents to protect their design. Sadly, Wilbur spent a lot of his time defending those patents so others could not profit from their hard work. By 1912, he was worn down from all of the travel. He became ill with typhoid fever and died in Dayton on May 30, 1912 when he was 45 years old. Orville and the Wright family were devastated. Orville operated their airplane company for a few years but sold it by 1918 (The Wright Brothers, p. 258-259). After selling the company, Orville opened the Wright Aeronautical Laboratory in downtown Dayton where he conducted research.

Orville died on Jan. 30, 1948 having lived to see the airplane rapidly evolve for both commercial and military uses. He served on the Board of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) that was formed in 1915. NACA became NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1958.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Where did Orville and Wilbur Wright design their airplane?

2. Where did Orville and Wilbur Wright test their airplane?

3. How did Orville and Wilbur become experts in aviation?

4. What business prepared them to be successful in aviation?

INQUIRY QUESTIONS

1. Why was the first decade of the 20th century such an important one for transportation?

2. Why do you think Orville and Wilbur were so successful?

3. How did the Wright Brothers lay the foundation for NASA and its success landing on the Moon in 1969?

4. Read the headline again. Discuss its literal and figurative meanings.