Ivan Jurilj - Aviation And Airplane: 110 Years Of Historical Development And Technical Evolution

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS STORY

December 17, 1903, Kill Devil Hills North Carolina, only a few curious individuals were present for the historical event. After acceleration, on a specially designed 20 meter long catapult rail, the Flyer aircraft in the hands of pilot Orville Wright, took off in the air. Although it was only a twelve-second flight, at the distance of just 36 meters, that was officially the first sustained, controlled flight in the aircraft heavier than air and powered by engine and one of the most important events in human history.

The flight of one of the Wright brothers was a result of many years of effort of these two excellent designers and visionaries and marks the beginning of a new era in humans conquering the sky. To achieve their goal, Wilbur and Orville Wright, besides their unlimited devotion and efforts, used the findings of their predecessors in the field of aircraft design and aerodynamics.

The older of the two brothers, Wilbur Wright, was born in 1867 in Millville, the American state of Indiana. Four years later Orville was born in the city of Dayton, the state of Ohio.

In 1878, when Orville and Wilbur were 7 and 11 years old, their father gave them a helicopter toy made by an idea of the French aerodynamic pioneer Alphonse Penaud. The toy made from cork, bamboo and paper with a rubber strip for rotating the propeller was no bigger than a human palm and it could fly.

Orville and Wilbur Wright the brothers who opened the era of aviation with the first flight of the Flyer aircraft. (Photo: Wilbur and Orville Wright)

Otto Lilienthal conducting many flight experiments in gliders of his own design and manufacture, he systematically followed and documented behaving of aircraft in the air. (Photo: Dr. Richard Neuhauss)

Many years later the Wright brothers stated that exactly that moment from their childhood triggered their curiosity and interest in flying. Trying to design the same model of the toy, they were not successful enough so they focused on manufacturing the kites.

In 1896 the great German airman and flyer, Otto Lilienthal, died after he crashed in his glider. His pioneering work proved that human flight is very well possible. Otto Lilienthal will be remembered for his first scientifically based studies of the bird flight, especially storks. Using polar curves he managed to describe aerodynamics of their wings, putting in correlation aerodynamic drag and lift. Later, using the obtained results, he started to design the flying machines for flights and experiments.

His motorless kites were controlled by changing the center of gravity of the aircraft by moving the body of the pilot over the triangle control frame; exactly the same like the one we can find today in modern ultra light hang gliders powered or unpowered by the motor. Lilienthal also conducted an array of experiments to improve stability of his aircraft. This included a two-wing design, so that with a smaller wing span he could keep the same wing surface. He also installed trailing edges of tail horizontal stabilizers over hinges to be able to move them up and down, and in such a way influence the controllability of the aircraft around its lateral axis.

In the period of his research activities on his own gliders he conducted over 2,500 flights, starting in 1891, with his first glider called Derwitzer and until his death after crashing in his aircraft on August 9, 1896. His last words were: Sacrifices must be made.

The French aeronautical researcher Octave Chanute gathered the results of Otto Lilienthal research work and started designing his own gliders, based on the design concepts of the famous German. The experiments conducted by the Chanute in 1896 and 1897, on the sandy dunes of the Lake Michigan, made him sure that the best way to generate sufficient lift over wing surfaces of the aircraft is to put more wings one above each other. To achieve adequate stiffness of the wing constitution, wings had to be connected using vertical rigid links and then those links had to be diagonally connected with wire. So the overall constitution of the wings, links and wires would get the form of braced girder; very well known to Chanute from his former business bridge construction.