Last WEDNESDAY before the next one

Today is the anniversary of the first sustained flight by a heavier than air powered and controlled aircraft – the Wright Flyer. Invented and flown by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, it marked the beginning of the pioneer era of aviation.

The aircraft is a single-place biplane design with anhedral (drooping) wings, front double elevator and rear double rudder. It used a 12 horsepower (9 kilowatts) gasoline engine powering two pusher propellers.

The Wrights built the aircraft in 1903 using spruce for straight members of the airframe (such as wing spars) and ash wood for curved components (wing ribs). The fabric for the wing was 100% cotton muslin called “Pride of the West”, a type used for women’s underwear. Since they could not find a suitable automobile engine for the task, they commissioned their employee Charlie Taylor to build a new design from scratch, a lightweight 12-horsepower gasoline engine, weighing 180 pounds, with a 1-US-gallon fuel tank.

A sprocket chain drive, borrowing from bicycle technology, powered the twin propellers, which were also made by hand. In order to avoid the risk of torque effects from affecting the aircraft handling, one drive chain was crossed over so that the propellers rotated in opposite directions.

First successful flight of the Wright Flyer, by the Wright brothers. Orville Wright was at the controls of the machine, lying prone on the lower wing with his hips in the cradle which operated the wing-warping mechanism. Wilbur Wright ran alongside to balance the machine, and just released his hold on the forward upright of the right wing in the photo.