987. wright flyer

first airplane

The Wright Flyer, also known as Flyer 1, was the first powered aircraft designed and built by the Wright Brothers, and was also the first airplane to be recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, the standard record keeping body for aeronautics, as the "first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight.

The Flyer was based on the Wright's experience with testing various unpowered gliders at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, between 1900-1902, and this experience directly led to the Flyer in 1903.

There was no automobile engine light enough to be put into the Wright Flyer at the time, so the Wright Brothers commisioned one of their employees, Charlie Taylor, to construct an entirely new engine from scratch. Taylor borrowed several elements from bicycle technology, including a sprocket chain drive that powered the twin propellors and turned the rudder simultaneously.

On December 14-17, the Wright Brothers took turns making brief, low altitude flights at Kitty Hawk. The first powered flight of The Flyer was shorter than the wingspan of today's Boeing 747. Unfortunately, the flights ended abruptly in an unintentional and bumpy landing which broke the front elevator supports, and as repairs were being made, a gust of wind picked up the flyer and permanently damaged it.

The Wright Flyer was the first airplane in human history to achieve powered, heavier-than-air controlled flight, thus ushering humanity into a new age of achievement.