Who would have hoped that two cyclist brothers could fly through the air: the story of the Wright brothers

One winter day in 1903, in the remote Outer Banks District of North Carolina, two brothers from Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright, changed the course of history. The era of flight began with the first heavy, powered and pilot-carrying machine.

Wilbur and Orville were more than just two untrained bicycle designers who achieved commercial success: They had extraordinary courage and perseverance based on their upbringing. They had a wide range of intellectual interests and endless curiosity.

The house they lived in had neither electricity nor plumbing. But there were plenty of books provided by their father, and they never stopped reading. Wilbur was undoubtedly a genius. Orville had a very rare mechanical skill. Their education at the high school level, little money and no acquaintances in high places never discouraged them from their dreams of taking flight. Nothing, not even the danger of death they risked each time they attempted their new inventions, succeeded in discouraging them.

Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 and his brother Orville in 1871 in Dayton, Ohio. Their mother, Susan Wright, did not have a higher education, but had high physical and mechanical skills. Thanks to his advanced hand skills, he is a person who understands repairs and can make sleds for his children. It can be thought that she passed on her knowledge of physics and mechanics to her children. Father Milton Wright, director of the United Brethren Church, is a university educated intellectual who enjoys learning. One of the two libraries in the house is mainly filled with theology books, and the other is filled with books on popular topics that interest children. The Wright brothers have the opportunity to grow by reading the books in their library and acquiring new curiosities. Besides, they are curious about how everything works and they like to tinker with things in the house. As a little boy, Orville wrote to his traveling father, “The other day I bought a tin machine box and filled it with water. I put it on the stove and waited for a while. The water gushed almost 30 cm,” he writes.

If it weren't for the toy their father brought back from a trip in 1878, Orville would perhaps never have asked, "If birds can glide for a long time, why can't I?" he wouldn't think. This simple toy has a simple helicopter-like design inspired by the work of Alphonse Pénaud, the most important name in French aviation. Still, the Wright Brothers had a major influence on their decision to fly.

Alphonse Pénaud broke new ground in aviation by flying 40 m in 11 seconds under the supervision of Société de Navigation Aérienne in Tuileries Gardens, Paris for the first time on 18 August 1871. This model aircraft, which he named the Planophore, was the first structurally balanced aircraft in history.

Wilbur and Orville brothers start to publish a newspaper by manufacturing a printing machine in 1889, but they can't get rid of the loss. In 1892, Orville buys a Columbia bike and another used bike from Wilbur. After a while, they open a shop to sell bicycles and bicycle parts and repair work. They contribute to the fast-spreading fashion of safe cycling in America by producing two different models of bicycles (Van Cleve and St. Claire) in this shop. These are handmade bespoke bikes for every customer. In 1896, German pioneer glider pilot Otto Lilienthal died when the engine stopped while flying in his bird-like machine. This tragedy spurs the Wright brothers' desire to conduct their own flight experiments.

In 1890 Wilbur and Orville Wright began systematically examining anything that could give them clues about how birds flew. They started with the work of German engineer Otto Lilienthal, who was trying to fly a glider over a hill near Berlin and took very careful notes on the subject. Both brothers did not receive scientific education, nor did they go to a higher school after high school. They advanced their method of flying through hundreds of experiments with model airplanes, kites, and human-carrying gliders.

In 1899, Wilbur starts looking for a place where they can conduct their flight experiments and writes a letter to the American Meteorological Service requesting information about weather conditions and wind speed in different parts of the country. Wilbur, who got the impression that the Kitty Hawk (North Carolina) region was a suitable place for flight experiments from the information received from the Meteorology Department, also wrote a letter to the weather station there. The station attendant, Tale, reports that Kitty Hawk is a suitable place for flight experiments, not only in terms of wind strength, but also with its soft sandy terrain, helpful people and socially isolated nature.

Thus, in 1900, the Wright Brothers began their glider trials at Kitty Hawk. The first step in their work was to construct a large-scale glider, which they modeled in the shape of a kite. On the last day of the trial season, they even make a piloted trial, as the wind strength is appropriate.

Returning to Kitty Hawk in 1901 to test their new glider, the Wright Brothers build a small wooden hangar on the field for their glider. They also take shelter in a tent they set up on the sandy ground. They spent 1902 making flight trials. They manufacture the parts for the glider at their bike shop, then send them to Kitty Hawk and assemble them there. The Wright Brothers gradually improved their gliders through numerous trials during 1900-1902. As they couldn't find a company to produce the engine that will drive their planes for the next stage, they produce a very light engine in their shop in just 6 weeks. Naturally, the first aircraft propeller bears the signature of the Wright Brothers.

On December 17, 1903, Orwille Wright, in his 12 horsepower, two-propeller airplane, which they named Flyer, flew for 12 seconds on the first try and covered only 37 meters. On the same day, on the last attempt, it takes 59 seconds and reaches a distance of 280 meters. When we look at their aircraft, the first thing we notice is that it consists of only a pair of wings, an elevator and a rudder. Its body consists of rods that hold these structures together. The most striking detail on the plane is an anemometer (wind gauge). Only the ascent rudder is controlled, the balance of the aircraft is maintained by the prone pilot shifting his weight to the right and left. They made every single part of the plane themselves, by trial and error. First, a giant kite that can carry people goes to the glider stage, where the structure of the airplane begins to form, and finally, the Flyer, which is brought to life by only a 12 horsepower engine, takes off with the help of a towing mechanism.

In the following years, they develop the design of the aircraft they made. They offer longer flights in Dayton, different destinations in America and Europe. They return to Kitty Hawk to make the world's first two-man flight in 1908. During the flight with Orville Wright to evaluate the Wright Brothers' plane, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge from the US Army, the plane got out of control when one of the engine propellers broke, and the lieutenant dies. Orville Wright's leg and ribs were broken and he survived with injuries.

As a result of their success, the Wright Brothers become one of the most important characters of the twentieth century. However, the ongoing debate over whether the first powered airplane in world history belonged to the Wright Brothers continues even today. Even this controversy cannot overshadow the Wright brothers' victory. When Wilbur died of illness in 1912, the whole world knew them. By the time Orville died in 1948, planes had already crossed the oceans. For 28 years, Orville served on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NACA, which would later lead to the founding of NASA. Neil Armstrong carried a piece of the 1903 Flyer I with him as he walked on the moon to honor their memory.