How did the Wright Brothers decide which brother, Orville or Wilbur, would be the pilot on their historic first flight?
Subject: Invention - The Wright Brothers
Event: The Wright Brothers granted a patent for their flying machine, 1906
It wasn’t luck that made them fly; it was hard work and common sense; they put their whole heart and soul and all their energy into an idea and they had the faith. -David McCullough
On this day in 1906, Orville and Wilbur Wright were granted a patent for their flying machine.
Neither brother earned a high school diploma, yet both were mechanically gifted. Prior to working in flight, their passion was bicycles, which became a craze at the end of the 19th century. After passionately participating in the sport and becoming experts in bicycle mechanics and repair, they opened a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio in 1892.
Four years later, Wilbur happened to read an article about aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal, who had died on a test flight of one of his gliders. The article fueled Wilbur’s imagination and soon both he and his brother were dreaming of being the first to fly.
Despite the fact that they lacked either the aviation expertise or the experience to be competitive, the brothers nevertheless were audacious enough to enter the race to be the first in flight. Rather than worry about how to get an aircraft off the ground, the brothers began instead by learning how to fly, first by building kites and then by building gliders. Moving from Ohio to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the brothers took advantage of the strongest winds in the U.S. as well as the sand dunes which allowed them to both get airborne and land safely on the soft beach sands. Applying their knowledge of bicycle technology to their gliders, the brothers were able to perfect a design over time that allowed them to both fly significant distances and to maintain control for maneuvering the glider.
Finally, after learning to fly and after creating a suitable glider, they were prepared to add the features needed to get their plane off the ground. Their eventual success came from their ability to design both their own propellers and their own custom engine.
With just five witnesses on the ground at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903, Orville successfully flew the Wright Brothers’ flying machine for twelve seconds, covering a distance of 120 feet. He earned the right to be the first to fly by virtue of a coin toss. Three more flights were completed that day, the longest, with Wilbur at the helm, covered 852 feet in 59 seconds. Thus, two brothers, who lacked neither advanced engineering knowledge nor extensive aeronautic experience, were able to privately fund the most important do-it-yourself project in history and give birth to the modern aviation age (1).
Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason: How long (time and distance) was the first flight? How are Orville and Wilbur Wright excellent examples of the growth mindset in action?
Challenge - Creative Partners: Do some research on other creative partners from history. When you find one pair that’s interesting, write a report about how these two use teamwork to collaborate and create new ideas.
Sources:
1-Green, Robert. Mastery. New York: Penguin Books, 2013: 215-219.
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