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Life of Wright Brothers
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Birth of Wilbur Wright
Wilbur Wright was one of 7 children of Milton Wright and Susan Catherine Koerner. He was born naer Millville, Indiana. Some of the other siblings were Katharine, Otis, and Ida. Otis and Ida were twins who died in infancy.
All About the Wright Brothers -
Birth of Orville Wright
Orville Wright was one of 7 children of Milton Wright and Susan Catherine Koerner. He was born in Dayton, Ohio. He is younger that Wilbur by about 4 years. Some of his siblings were Reuchlin and Lorin. Orville was even once expelled in middle school. -
Starting a Business
The Wright Brothers' first business was printing newspapers. Orville dropped out of highschool and Wilbur soon joined him after his 4th year. The paper evolved from The West Side News to The Evening Item. Later, one of teir friends, who was a writer, joined them and became their editor. They then changed the name to te Dayton Tatter. -
Bicycles
The brothers started manufacturing their own brand of bikes as there was a craze for them. They started the Wright Cycle Exchange. The money they got from this is what they used to fund their interest of flight. -
Flight Inspiration
The Wright Brothers were inspired to start experimenting with flight after reading many articles in newspapers. Despite accidents from other flyers, they prefered to master the art of controlling the plane. It is said that their father brought home a toy helicopter that the brothers played with until it broke. This is said to be the start of their flight interest. -
Gliding
From 1900 to 1903, the brothers only experimented with gliders instead of planes with engines. They did all this in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Apart from their first glider, their second one in 1902 had a functioning tail. They achieved true control in October of 1902. -
Adding Power
It was hard for the brothers to get a lightweight engine, so they had to ask a friend who made a customized one for them. They powered their Wright Flyer 1 with it. It only costed $1,000 as opposed to the $50,000 the government paid another manufacturer. The flyer's wingspan was 40 ft. and weighed about 600 pounds. -
Public Flight
The Wright brothers demonstrated their inventions and flying abilities in Virgina. There were many people who were skeptic and didn't believe that the plane would work. Wilbur proved them wrong and amazed them by doing many maneuvers and staying airborne for about 1 minute and 45 seconds. -
Last Years of Wilbur Wright
After Wilbur's last flight, he was caught up in business in the Wright company. He and Orville had to deal with many lawsuits and many other business problems. Wilbur got tired of it and spent the last year of his life traveling before his death. -
Wright Company
After Wilbur's death, Orville became the president of Wright Company. He didn't have the same business skills as his brother. This lead to him selling the company in 1915. -
Last Years of Orville Wright
Orville took over the Wright Company company but sold it a few years later. He became an elder statesman of aviation after his last flight. He served on many oficial boards and committees including NASA. He later died from his second heart attack. -
Influence
The Wright brothers have definately made a huge influence on the world today. They made major advancements in aviation, plane manufacturing, and air travel. Without their work, there's no telling where we would be today.
History of Wright Brothers
