FRAMEWORK: The Wright Brothers
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The Glider

Although the glider had now already been invented, Wilber and Orville Wright were the first people to build a stable glider. The brothers built their glider from wood, cloth and wire. The glider had double-decker wings that were 17 feet long (5.2 meters) and 5 feet wide (1.5 meters). The wing's ribs were curved upward, which caused the speed of the air flowing over the tops of the wings to increase.

This structure resulted in the air on top of the wings having a lower pressure than the air below the wings, providing lift. The wings were connected to a control device that allowed the double wing structure to be twisted by the flyer, thus changing the local angle of incidence or angle of attack. This gave the craft the ability to turn. A forward horizontal structure called a canard provided additional lift. It also kept the craft stable by balancing the lifting force of the wings, preventing the glider from pitching up and over. They tested their glider in 1899 on a strip of land at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their test was successful. The Wright Brothers continued to improve their glider.

Near Kitty Hawk

In 1903, they constructed a self-propelled craft. It was a biplane (two winged) constructed in the same manner as their previous glider, except that a lightweight gasoline engine powered this plane. Two propellers, attached to shafts that turned in opposite directions, were at the back of the plane. The Wrights tested their flyer on December 17, 1903, at a beach near Kitty Hawk. The plane flew for 12 seconds, covering a distance of 36.6 meters, making it the first sustained flight of a heavier than air aircraft.  

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