Orville and Wilbur Wright: Pioneers of the Age of Flight
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Chapter 1 Eyes on the Skies One day in 1878 a pair of young brothers eagerly awaited their father’s return from a business trip Their father was a church minister He traveled often serving a variety of communities throughout the American Midwest When he came home from his trips he always brought souvenirs and trinkets for his children gifts designed to spark their imaginations and curiosity Sometimes the presents were as simple as a rock or other natural item Sometimes though Milton Wright brought special treats After this particular 1878 trip the gift he brought for his sons Wilbur and Orville sent their imaginations soaring Born Inventors Wilbur Wright was 11 years old and his brother Orville was seven the day their father Opposite Wilbur shown left in posed photo and Orville Wright often kept their pioneering work in aviation private But they also thrilled crowds sometimes numbering in the thousands at public events and demonstrations Images such as those shown here serve as a powerful reminder of the fact that every time the Wrights displayed their work to the public people marveled at machines and feats that only a year or so earlier could only be imagined A photographic illustration of Orville left and Wilbur Wright from a newspaper article published sometime after December 17 1903 when the Wrights flew the first powered aircraft capable of controlled flight 5
Late in the autumn of 1878 our father came into the house one evening with some object partly concealed in his hands and before we could see what it was he tossed it into the air Instead of falling to the floor as we expected it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling where it fluttered awhile and finally sank to the floor It was a little toy known to scientists as a hélicoptère A toy so delicate lasted only a short time in the hands of small boys but its memory was abiding Orville Wright Century Magazine 1908 came home with a newfangled toy It was a small flying gizmo a sort of helicopter made of paper bamboo and cork It had a rubber band connected to a propeller The propeller was mounted atop of a stick When the boys twirled the propeller with their fingers the elastic wrapped tightly around the stick When they let go the elastic unwound quickly spinning the propeller The toy flew The little gadget was based on a design by Alphonse Pénaud a French aviation pioneer Alphonse had invented a rubber torsion motor in the early 1870s Toymakers in Europe had been making miniature models of the device ever since but the wonderful whirligig had only just made its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States Wilbur and Orville were fascinated with their new plaything They called it a bat 66
The BaT Man French inventor Alphonse Pénaud the son of a navy admiral was born in Paris in 1850 He intended to follow in his father’s footsteps but he had a hip condition that prevented him from joining the navy Instead the young man turned his interest in transportation to aircraft In 1870 Alphonse invented a rubber torsion motor a motor operated by a twisted rubber band Using this design he built a model aircraft he called a planophore It was 20 inches 51 centimeters long with an 18-inch 46-cm wingspan With its tail rudder and rear-mounted propeller the planophore was the first model aircraft capable of stable steady or secure flight It could fly almost 200 feet 60 meters Later Alphonse built a small ornithopter a flying machine that flapped its wings He also created model helicopters Toy versions of the helicopter and ornithopter were big sellers It was one of the small helicopters that sparked the Wright brothers interest in flying Throughout the 1870s Alphonse experimented with different styles of wings propellers and landing gear He eventually built full-sized flying machines He even tested floating aircraft Many of Alphonse’s ideas were sound but so far ahead of their time that he was ridiculed for them Because of that and because nobody would help fund his projects Alphonse gave up He committed suicide in 1880 at age 30 Today he is considered one of the most important aviation pioneers of his time Three of Alphonse Pénaud’s flying models From top to bottom the helicopter the planophore airplane and the ornithopter 7
