Wilbur (1867-1912) and his Brother Orville (1871-1948), who was they and what did they do?

At the beginning of the 20th century the area of Kitty Hawk became the cradle of the modern airplanes. America had a glider trend. Wilbur and Orville weren't the only people to try to build an airplane with an engine. The competition was hard. The plain had to be dirigible too. Others people tried the same. The Wright brothers were originally bicycle dealers, but since 1900 they had tested and constructed only airplanes. Because they were first they had to make all experiments by themselves. At first they agreed on the best place to start to construct the airplane. Kitty Hawk was the perfect place. They set up the tents and began with the constructions. They made 200 tests of wing-per-fall. The result was a stable airplane with a span of 10 meters. Now they had to find a suitable engine. The problem was great engine with much PS was very heavy. A little and easy one has less PS. The solution was a compromise. While the brothers were in Kitty Hawk, Taylor lad the little bicycle business. He built the 12 PS to16 PS strong engine. He fastened it on the underside of the airplane thus it didn't hurt the pilot if he crashed. On 14th December 1903 the brothers went with their airplane "Flyer" to the Kill Devil hills. Wilbur become by the lot pilot. Orville watched his brothers during his flight test. Wilbur took off after 15 meters but crashed suddenly to the ground. The "Flyer" was not damaged and Orville started the next flight test three days later. It was successful. Orville was the first dirigible engine airplane pilot. The two carried out good pioneer work for the modern airplane generation.

I think that this two mans carried much out for the airplane. A so primitive airplane to fly of about 200 meters is a technical master performance. One should not forget today that they compiled the basis for modern powered flight.

by Nicolas Willemin