Click2History - History of Flight - Chapter 6

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>HISTORY OF FLIGHT</p> <p><font size="4">CHAPTER 6 - THE FIRST FLIGHT</b></font></p> </div>  <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">On December 17, 1903 these <a href="http://hawaii.psychology.msstate.edu/invent/i/Wrights/portraits/3A10.html" target="_blank"><b>normally cautious</b></a>, deliberative, methodical, <a href="http://hawaii.psychology.msstate.edu/invent/i/Wrights/portraits/3A8.html" target="_blank"><b>bicycle-shop-owning</b></a> brothers did something surprising. They disregarded every aspect of safety to become the world's first flying cowboys.</p> <p>The wind was strong that morning - gusting between 20 and 30 miles per hour. The Wright brothers had lots of reasons to delay their flight. The wind chill over the ocean would be about 4 degrees Fahrenheit - pretty cold for someone flying unprotected on Flyer 1. Just <a href="http://hawaii.psychology.msstate.edu/invent/i/Wrights/powered_flight/2A10.html" target="_blank"><b>three days before</b></a> Wilbur, winning a coin toss to see who would fly first, had taken the controls of Flyer 1 only to make a <a href="http://www.first-to-fly.com/History%20Images/1903_Dec._14_Fight_aftermath.JPG" target="_blank"><b>misjudgment</b></a> at launch. Will's telegraph describing the misadventure, <a href="http://www.first-to-fly.com/History%20Images/MW_Diary_12-15--03.jpg" target="_blank"><b>recorded by his father</b></a> on December 15, says it all.</p> <p>But even though weather conditions were extremely unfavorable on the 17th, the brothers wanted to be home <a href="http://hawaii.psychology.msstate.edu/invent/i/Wrights/kitty_hawk/4D9.html" target="_blank"><b>for Christmas</b></a>. In an uncharacteristic action that has amazed historians ever since, the Wrights put safety second and passion first. It was time to fly their new airplane.</p> <p>At about 10:30 a.m. Orville, who had lost the coin toss to Wilbur on the 14th, <a href="http://www.first-to-fly.com/History%20Images/1903_First_Flight.JPG" target="_blank"><b>took the controls</b></a>. The wind was gusting at about 27 mph. Orville flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. Since no one had ever flown before, the Wright brothers knew they were taking a chance. They had their <a href="http://www.first-to-fly.com/History%20Images/Kitty_Hawk_Lifesaving_Squad.jpg" target="_blank"><b>life-saving crew</b></a> standing by.</p> <p>The crew witnessed the <a href="http://www.first-to-fly.com/History%20Images/1903_1rst_flight_complete.JPG" target="_blank"><b>first time</b></a> a human being ever flew a plane, under his control, from the ground, through the air, and back safely. But the short flight was jerky and unsteady. Orville, like his brother three days before, didn't have a good handle on the controls. Inventing a plane was one thing; actually flying it in real time was something else. They wanted to test Flyer 1 again.</p> <p>Wilbur flew next. His flight took him 175 feet. Orville was pilot-in-command of the 200-feet <a href="http://www.first-to-fly.com/History%20Images/1903_Flyer_3rd_Flight.jpg" target="_blank"><b>third flight</b></a>. The last flight - ever - of Flyer 1 was amazing. Wilbur had a good feel of the controls. He flew 59 seconds and covered 852 feet before <a href="http://hawaii.psychology.msstate.edu/invent/i/Wrights/powered_flight/2B2.html" target="_blank"><b>he landed</b></a>, breaking the rudder frame, after he lost control in a wind gust.</p> <p>Hand-carrying Flyer 1 back to the launching point, the brothers nearly lost the plane and one of their helpers, John Daniels (who had photographed the first flight). With the wind continuing to blow, the men put the plane down so they could rest. A sudden wind gust picked up one wing and, with Daniels caught in the bracing wires as he tried to protect the plane, it rolled again and again. Daniels escaped without injury, but Flyer 1 looked like a heap of kindling wood and torn cloth. It was later <a href="http://www.nasm.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/wright03.htm" target="_blank"><b>put back together</b></a> and donated to the Smithsonian Institute where <a href="http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/gal100/wrightclsup.jpg" target="_blank"><b>it is today</b></a> - in the National Air and Space Museum. </p> </div> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="history_flight_ch5.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>     <a href="history_flight_ch1.htm">BACK TO FIRST CHAPTER  </a>   <a href="history_flight_ch7.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table> </body>