You might know that the Wright brothers flew and built the first airplane but lots of stuff in this biography you may not know. Here is the story.
            Wilber Wright was born on April 16, 1871, in Millville, Indiana. Four years later, after his family moved to Dayton, Ohio, his younger brother Orville was born.  One day, the boys’ father came home – but the boys saw he had a toy! The toy was a helicopter and it flew! After that day the boys were ever so curious about flight.

The Wright brothers’ house in Dayton, OH

As the boys got to be about 20 years old they did business together. They first worked in the printing business (and didn`t make much money).  Then they opened a bike shop.

One day the brothers saw an article.  Otto Litherhall, a famous glider pilot, had died in a glider crash. Gliders had been popular for experimenting for flight but unfortunately gliders had not been very safe. Otto had been very into gliders….. and flying. Otto himself had never flown a plane with an engine. The brothers knew they had to be careful……. really careful!!! Instead of flying gliders right away, the brothers studied birds and how they flew, and how bikes balanced.

Orville and Wilbur Wright

            When the brothers built a glider they chose to fly it in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which is in the Outer Banks.  They chose Kitty Hawk because of the sand surrounding the dunes and the steady wind. Now let`s talk about the glider. The glider had a cradle for your hip like the plane the brothers would invent. If you put your hip to the right, the glider would go right, and vice versa. Even with all those controls the Wright brothers flew the glider like a kite at first. Later, the brothers flew in the glider.  Then they built an engine powered plane based on what they learned from the gliders. An important discovery the Wright Brothers made from the gliders was how to control roll, pitch and yaw.  Roll, pitch and yaw are the directions a plane can go.  The Wright Brothers figured out how to bend their wings to help control the plane.
            In 1903, the brothers tried to fly the engine powered plane (named Flyer) on two dates. The first time they tried was December 14, 1903. Wilber got on, started the engine and down the track came Flyer …………but she and Wilber crashed. The next time was December 17, 1903. It was Orville`s turn. He got on, turned on the engine and down the track came Flyer………………..and she flew!!!  The Wright brothers just made history!!! Later Wilber flew for almost a minute!

1903 Wright Flyer
           

Nine years later Wilber died of typhoid fever which almost killed his brother and partner Orville years earlier. Forty-five years after the plane Flyer flew, Orville died peacefully in his home.

SOURCES

Burleigh, Robert. (2002). Into the Air: The Story of the Wright Brothers’ First Flight. San Diego, New York, London: Harcourt, Inc.

Ford, Carin T. (2003). The Wright Brothers: Heroes of Flight. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Jenner, Caryn. (2003). First Flight: The Story of the Wright Brothers. New York, NY: DK Publishing, Inc. 

MacLeod, Elizabeth. (2002). The Wright Brothers: A Flying Start. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press Ltd.

Wright Brothers,  brochure by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers

Photos courtesy of www.wright-brothers.org