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The Wright brothers kept no diary notes or records of the original kite\u2019s flights, and their accounts of its construction and flights come from depositions given in patent lawsuits in 1912. The descriptions of the kite\u2019s performance are brief. Although clear, the account is far from detailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Orville recalled Wilbur\u2019s report that the kite \u201c\u2026responded promptly to the warping of the surfaces, always lifting the wing that had the larger angle [of incidence]. Several times, according to Wilbur\u2019s account to me, when he shifted the upper surface backward by the manipulation of the sticks attached to flying cords, the nose of the machine turned downward as was intended; but in diving downward it created a slack in the flying cords, so that he was not able to control it further. The model made such a rapid dive to the ground that the small boys present fell on their faces to avoid being hit, not having time to run\u2026We felt that the model had demonstrated the efficiency of our system of control. After a little time we decided to experiment with a man-carrying machine embodying the principle of lateral control used in the kite model already flown\u201d<\/em>(McFarland, p. 11).<\/p>\n\n\n\nDr. Tom Crouch, senior curator of the National Air and Space Museum has written a definitive account of the Wrights\u2019 activities of this time. He is also the owner of a reproduction 1899 kite, made for him by the Wright Experience. An experienced and respected kite flyer, his record in keeping the kite aloft is about a minute\u2014a testament to Wilbur\u2019s description. Like all Wright machines, it worked as it was intended\u2014but that doesn\u2019t mean it was easy to fly.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Kite’s Last Mission<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button>\n\n\n\n\n
Almost all that is known about the kite itself comes from the court depositions of Orville and Wilbur Wright, and some of the witnesses to the kite\u2019s test flights. For each of them, their recollections of the kite were 13 years old. Orville had never seen it fly. The witnesses who had seen it were just boys when the kite flew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wrights were in litigation against Glenn Curtiss and others, as they had patented their system of control as realized in their 1902 glider, and sued those who they felt had violated the patent. In the course of the lawsuits, they had to explain the origin of their control system, which naturally led them to describe and even draw the kite\u2014the precursor to all their machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the Wrights eventually won their suits, the wing warping system was abandoned by the aviation industry in favor of ailerons for lateral control. The kite remains an outstanding example of the Wrights\u2019 genius for simple, elegant, and revolutionary solutions to previously insurmountable problems.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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What Happened in 1900?<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button>\n\n\n\n\n
In 1900, the Wrights were already deeply involved their work with flight, following their encouraging kite tests and initial research in 1899. In May, Wilbur wrote to Octave Chanute, starting a correspondence that would last for ten years. In September, the brothers were in Kitty Hawk, beginning the first season of experiments that would ultimately result in the triumph of 1903.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1900 season established the fundamental practices the Wrights would develop over the coming years: discrete periods of focused experimentation, the meticulous recording of test results and conditions, the use of photography for record keeping and for further flight analysis, and the adoption of the dunes of the Outer Banks as their field laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1900 flight tests themselves were only partially successful. The brothers had hoped to have \u201chours\u201d of time in the air in order to gain experience in controlling their machine in the air. Due to inadequate lumber available locally, the glider\u2019s wingspan was shorter than planned and proved insufficient to carry the weight of the pilot. Although their total flying time amounted to a only couple of minutes and the machine suffered a major crash, the Wrights were greatly encouraged by the effectiveness of their control system and the soundness of their design. A return trip was planned for the following year with a new machine and even greater expectations. (McFarland, pp.105-107)<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Lilienthal and the Wrights<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button>\n\n\n\n\n
In 1896, Wilbur and Orville Wright learned of Otto Lilienthal\u2019s death. Each stated that this event spurred on their longtime interest in flight and inspired them to start experiments. Lilienthal\u2019s influence on the Wrights was far more than an initial inspiration. They studied his work in detail, and considered him their greatest predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Wilbur\u2019s words: \u201cHerr Otto Lilienthal seems to have been the first man who really comprehended that balancing was the first instead of the last of the great problems in connection with human flight. He began where others left off, and thus saved the many thousands of dollars that it had heretofore been customary to spend in building and fitting expensive engine to machines that were uncontrollable when tried. He built wings of a size suitable to sustain his weight and made use of gravity as his motor\u2026 Lilienthal not only thought, but also acted; and in so (sic) doing probably made the greatest contribution to the solution of the flying problem that has ever been made by one man. He demonstrated the feasibility of actual practice in the air, without which success is impossible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAt first glance, there are many similarities: both are launching unpowered gliders from hills. Both display the machines in controlled flight. However, the fact that Lilienthal\u2019s legs are visible underneath his machines is, in terms of control, a major difference and represents a significant advance made by the Wrights. Lilienthal controlled his machine by throwing his weight fore and aft and left and right, changing the center of gravity of the glider as it descended. In the images of the Wright glider, Wilbur\u2019s position on the machine is virtually unchanged. Using the forward elevator and wing warping controls, the pilot controlled his descent by changing the aerodynamic shape of the machine itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Otto Lilienthal was the pioneer most admired by the Wrights. He stood apart for the courage of his convictions and the thorough, rigorous quality of his scientific approach to flight. However, the Wrights only began to study his work when they learned of his death. The Wrights ultimately called many of Lilienthal\u2019s assumptions and data into question, particularly his ideas about control propulsion, and his tables of lift data. Eventually, aviation would be based on their work, not his. Ever critical of pretenders and false claimants, they nevertheless always acknowledged the achievements Lilienthal had made and the quality and courage of his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why did Lilienthal die? What caused his crash? How had his machine failed? What was wrong with his system of control? Lilienthal\u2019s death posed many questions to the Wrights, and helped clearly define their focus on what they saw as the most important single factor of flight, control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lilienthal was their most significant source of inspiration and technical data for their first years of experiments. They based their 1901 glider on Lilienthal\u2019s lift tables, and used their ground breaking wind tunnel experiments to test Lilienthal\u2019s lift table data. Eventually, the Wrights questioned almost every aspect of Lilienthal\u2019s work, as it formed the basis of their own early disappointing experiments. Like the other predecessors they admired, they never lost their respect for Lilienthal, despite having advanced far beyond his achievements.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Lilienthal’s Experiments<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button>\n\n\n\n\n
Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) was a highly trained civil engineer. He ran a small factory, and, with his brother Gustav, pursued the study of flight which had been an interest since his boyhood. Although best known for his gliders and pioneering flights, Lilienthal was perhaps most important to the Wrights for his theoretical approach to flight and the scientific data he developed and compiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lilienthal approached flight as an engineer. His work was based on the notion of birdflight as an acceptable model for human flight (Jakab, p.33). He had spent hours studying the storks in flight near his home, and, beginning in 1867, performed experiments to determine the characteristics of efficient wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lilienthal\u2019s controlled experiments included whirling arm tests, measuring the amount of lift generated by a wing against a flat plate of known resistance. As the wing lifted, he measured the amount of deflection in a tension spring and calculated the lift coefficients over a series of angles of attack. the results of these tests were compiled into tables of lift data for wings \u2013 the first such tables ever produced. With his first public lecture in 1873, Lilienthal\u2019s theories and tests became widely available throughout the world, published in a variety of books and journals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wrights\u2019 faith in Lilienthal\u2019s work was absolute as they started their work. Almost every aspect of their scientific approach to flight can find a precedent in Lilienthal\u2019s work: theories based on observation, design based on reliable data, experiments carried out in controlled environments and recorded in detail. When they began to question his experimental data following the disappointing flights of 1901, they began their wind tunnel experiments to confirm his work, not disprove it. At the conclusion of their experiments, Wilbur even wrote, \u201cI am led to think that Lilienthal himself had noticed that there was a discrepancy between his glides and his tables, at small angles especially.\u201d(McFarland, p.173)<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Making Changes in the Field<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button>\n\n\n\n\n
The design of the 1901 machine sought to be an improvement of the 1900 glider, and was similarly based on the lift data compiled by Otto Lilienthal. In Wilbur\u2019s words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAccordingly, the curvature of the surface was increased to 1 in 12, to conform to the shape on which Lilienthal\u2019s table was based, and to be on the safe side, we also decided to increase the area of the machine from 165 square feet to 308 square feet, although so large a machine had never been deemed controllable.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn describing the machine\u2019s first trials, Wilbur relates their surprise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe machine sailed off and made an undulating flight of a little more than 300 feet. To the onlookers this flight seemed very successful, but to the operator it was known that the full power of the rudder had been required to keep the machine from either running into the ground or rising so high as to lose all headway. In the 1900 machine one fourth as much rudder action had been sufficient to give much better control. It was apparent that something was radically wrong, though we were for some time unable to locate the trouble.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen the brothers deduced that the movement of the center of pressure across the surface of the wings resulted in this imbalance and difficulty of control, a modification to the wing shape was required:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis point having been definitely settled, we proceeded to truss down the ribs of the whole machine, so as to reduce the depth of curvature\u2026 On resuming gliding, we found that the old conditions of the preceeding year had returned; and after a few trials, made a glide of 366 feet and soon after one of 389 feet.\u201d<\/em> (McFarland, pp. 107-111)<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Wright\u2019s clarity of purpose is well illustrated in the above passages. When faced with a puzzling and unforeseen problem with their design, they were able to isolate the source of difficulty and correct the problem.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Measure of Things in Kitty Hawk<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button>\n\n\n\n\n
The Wrights\u2019 interest in Kitty Hawk evolved with the sophistication of their experiments. The records of their first visit in 1900 very much leave the impression of a working vacation. By 1901, Kitty Hawk itself was measured and recorded with the same attention to detail as the flights themselves. Key to the Wrights\u2019 analysis of their flights was the angle at which the glider descended the dunes and the slope of the dunes themselves. The dunes\u2019 heights were recorded, particularly after storms. Wind speeds and directions were monitored on a daily, even hourly basis for suitable flying conditions. The Wrights clearly understood the scientific value of accurately recording their testing conditions.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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What Happened Next<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button>\n\n\n\n\n
The Wrights\u2019 analysis of their flights left them convinced that the Lilienthal lift tables they had trusted were in error. They proceeded to devise a series of instruments to test the accuracy of the data, each of which was designed to measure the lifting ability of a curved surface against a flat plate placed in a stream of moving air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evolution of these devices resulted in the first use of a wind tunnel for aerodynamic research and design. The hundreds of tests carried out by the Wrights not only led them to their revolutionary glider of 1902, but established the fundamental practices of wind tunnel testing which has been in aerodynamic engineering ever since.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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What Happened in 1901?<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button>\n\n\n