The Wright Brothers

Objective
Students will gain background
about the Wright Brothers
Wilbur and Orville Wright

Students will demonstrate

comprehension of information by
drawing and writing about their
own flying machine

Wilbur Wright
Born in Millville,
Indiana, on April
16, 1867
Died from
typhoid fever at
the age of 45
Wilbur- 13 years old

Facts about Wilbur

Presented an independent
personality
Never graduated from high school
Loved to read and write!
I have always thought I would like to
be a teacher.
-Wilbur Wright

Orville Wright
Born in Dayton
on August 19,
1871
Died at the age
of 76 from a
heart attack
Orville- 9 years old

Facts about Orville

Developed an interest in
technology and science early in life
More of an inventor than Wilbur
Very shy but a class clown
Never graduated from high school

 In 1884 the Wright Family moved

to Dayton
7 Hawthorne Street Dayton, Ohio

The West Side

Newspaper

In 1889 the Wright Brothers

started the West Side News
It was a weekly newspaper that
Wilbur and Orville Wright published
briefly in 1889 and 1891

The Wright Cycle

Company
In 1893 The Wright
Brothers started a bicycle
shop that allowed them to
rent and repair bicycles.
Only 5 of the Wright
Brothers bicycles
exist to this day.

The Van Cleve

sold for $65

The St. Claire

sold for
$42.50

The Beginning
The Wright Brothers developed
their plans for a flying machine
from bicycle concepts

Kitty Hawk

Wright Flyer 1
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, the Wright Flyer became
the first powered, heavier-than-air
machine to achieve controlled,
sustained flight with a pilot aboard.

 This stopwatch was used to time

the Wright Brothers flights at Kitty
Hawk
The first successful flight was 12
seconds long and covered 120 feet

Huffman Prairie

Travel to Kitty Hawk was tedious

The Wright Brothers found a local
cow pasture just outside of Dayton
where they could extend their
experiments and practices

 The farmer who owned Huffman

Prairie didnt not charge rent to the
brothers but he insisted that they
make sure the farm animals were
out of the way first!

Wright Flyer 2
The Wright Flyer 2 worked well
However, Wilbur and Orville still found it
difficult to control
On October 20, 1904 the Wright Brothers
flew the first complete circle in an aircraft
The flight was 1 minute, 36 seconds and
covered 4,080 feet

Wright Flyer 3
The Wright Flyer 3 was much easier to
control
The Wright Brothers began to stay in
the air for longer and longer periods of
time

The Ending
In 1905, the Wright Brothers
experimental period ended
With their third powered airplane, they
now routinely made flights lasting
several minutes
On October 5, Wilbur made an amazing
flight in which he circled the field 30
times in 39 minutes for a total distance
of 24 1/2 miles

Websites
http://www.aero-web.org/history/wright/first.htm
http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/wright.ht
ml
http://www.nasm.si.edu/wrightbrothers/index_full.cfm
http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Wrigh
t_Brothers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers
http://www.localhangar.com/cgi-bin/clubs/pictures_pages.pl?
CLUBNO=6&CATID=33

THE END