Submitted by: Submitted by bwoodson23
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Date Submitted: 12/05/2010 01:26 PM
The Wright brothers tried for a few years before they were eventually able to achieve controlled, sustained, powered flight. They went through different models of control systems and aircraft designs before they found the one that eventually carried them to their first flight. It was a long and hard process, but one that led them to the discovery of a lifetime.
One of the important inventions that the Wright brothers came up with was the idea of wing warping. They came up with this by studying birds and they way they created lift during flight. They saw that the air flowing over a bird’s curved wings produced lift, and to turn a bird would shift its wings one way or the other. They used this example and decided that they could control how an airplane turned by changing the shape of the wing on one side or the other. In 1899 they created their first aircraft, a biplane that was wind powered like a kite. To turn, the wingtips would arch slightly. This was called wing warping.
Eventually the Wright Brothers developed a system of control that would use the three axis of flight, the same that are used today. Left and right were controlled by a rudder in the back, up and down was controlled by an elevator in the front, and bank was controlled by the wing warping system they’d developed. This system was used on the gliders that they built and tested at Kitty Hawk.
In October of 1900, the Wright Brothers were ready to test their first full size glider. They called the Weather Bureau to try to determine the best place for the tests, and they suggested Kitty Hawk. This was a great place because it had steady, reliable winds and plenty of open space. The Wright Brothers chose a place just south of Kitty Hawk on the beach called Kill Devil Hills. Here the Wright Brothers tested their first glider. It was a biplane that weighed 50lbs and had a 17 foot wingspan. They tested it in unmanned flight as well as with a pilot aboard. The Wright Brothers had a few...