Historical Figure
Wilbur Wright
1867–1912
American aviation pioneers, inventors of the airplane
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Key Dates
Birth
1867 April 16, 1867 →Death
1912 May 30, 1912 →Biography
The Wright brothers, Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright, were American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane. They made the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, four miles (6 km) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at what is now known as Kill Devil Hills. In 1904 the Wright brothers developed the Wright Flyer II, which made longer-duration flights including the first circle, followed in 1905 by the first truly practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III.
Timeline
To keep their knowledge from falling into competitors' hands, the Wrights stopped flying and disassembled the airplane on November 7, 1905. Two and a half years later, having won American and French contracts to sell their airplane, they refurbished the Flyer with seats for a pilot and passenger, equipped it with upright control levers and installed one of their new 35-horsepower in-line vertical engines. They shipped it to North Carolina and made practice flights near Kill Devil Hills from May 6 to 14, 1908 to test the new controls and the Flyer's passenger-carrying abilities. On May 14, 1908, Wilbur flew mechanic Charles Furnas (1880–1941) 1,968 feet (600 m) in 29 seconds, making him the first airplane passenger. The same day, Orville also flew with Furnas, this time 2,125 feet (648 m) in 4 minutes 2 seconds. Orville's flight with Furnas was seen by newspaper reporters hiding among the sand dunes; they mistakenly thought Wilbur and Orville were flying together. He is one of the few people to fly with both Wright brothers (their sister Katharine being another). Later that day, Wilbur was flying solo when he moved one of the new control levers the wrong way and crashed into the sand, suffering bruises. The Flyer's front elevator was wrecked and the practice flights ended. Due to deadlines for their upcoming public demonstration flights in France and Virginia, the Wrights did not repair the airplane and it never flew again.
October 5 →en Le Mans (Francia), Wilbur Wright vuela su avioneta Flyer en un trayecto de 124 km en 2:20 horas.
December 31 →Wilbur Wright makes his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France. It is the Wright Brothers' first public flight.
August 8 →More from the Victorian Era
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