THE WRIGHT BROTHERS

INVENTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE AIRPLANE

BY ALEXANDER KLEMIN,

Associate Professor of Aeronautics, New York University

HE great story of the Wright Brothers begins

on the 16th of April, 1867, when Wilbur Wright was born within eight miles of New Castle, Indiana. Before Orville's birth on the 19th of August, 1871, the Wright family had moved to Dayton, a city which the two boys were to make famous as the birthplace of the airplane. The navigation of the air had occupied men's minds from the earliest ages. The interest of the Wright boys in this fascinating problem was aroused in early childhood. Late in the autumn of 1878 their father, Bishop Milton Wright, a respected and beloved citizen of the city, came into the house one evening with some object partly concealed in his hands, and before anyone could see what it was, he tossed it into the air. Instead of falling to the floor, it flew across the room, struck a wall, hovered a while, and finally sank to the floor. It was a little toy, known to scientists as a helicopter, but which the Wright boys, with sublime disregard for science, at once dubbed a "bat." It consisted of

a light frame of cork and bamboo, covered with paper, which formed two air screws, driven in opposite directions by two tightly twisted rubber bands. A toy so delicate lasted only a short time in the hands of small boys, but its memory was abiding. Thousands of boys had played with a similar toy and cast it aside. But with the young Wright brothers it was the first spark that lit the fire of genius.

Several years later Wilbur and Orville began building these helicopters for themselves. But to their astonishment, the larger the "bat" the less it flew. They finally became discouraged and turned to kite flying, a sport to which they devoted so much attention that they became experts. But as they grew older, they had to give up this fascinating sport as unbecoming to boys of their age. But they showed their energy and activity in other ways.

When Orville was still a boy in his teens he started a printing business, which was somewhat limited by the smallness of his machine and the small quantity of type at his disposal. The machine was built originally with odd pieces of string and wood-an early lesson in overcoming mechanical difficulties and in making the best of inadequate materials. Somehow or other, Orville managed to print a boys' paper the "Midget" which gained considerable popularity

in Dayton. Later, he obtained a more efficient outfit, with which he launched a weekly newspaper, four pages in size, entitled The West Side News. After three months' running, the paper was increased in size and Wilbur came into the enterprise as editor, contributing a series of articles on local affairs that gave evidence of the incisive and often sarcastic manner in which he was able to express himself throughout his life. Orville remained the publisher. The two brothers began work together early in life, and remained mutually helpful and inseparable partners till death parted them.

Following a strong mechanical bent, the two young men passed on to a small business as cycle makers. and repairmen, and built the "Van Cleve" bicycle, which won and kept great local reputation for excellence of construction. Incidentally they gained the mechanical skill and ingenuity, and the thoroughness which was to be so valuable to them. The house in which they worked was a small and unpretentious one; their shop and planning room but poorly equipped for the wonderful experiments they were soon to assay. The little building still remains, and may be purchased and maintained as a lasting memorial of the modest birthplace of the airplane, a shrine for all aeronautical enthusiasts.

Ever since their early kite flying days, Wilbur and

Orville had had the problem of flight in mind. But it was not till the news of the death of Lilienthal, a famous German glider enthusiast, reached America in the fall of 1896, that they gave the subject more than passing thought. Their early interest and mechanical ability then asserted themselves, and both brothers plunged into serious study of the writings of all the famous men who had increased man's knowledge of the air, without achieving its conquest. Neither of the brothers had studied science or engineering in the predigested fashion of the average college student; neither of them knew a great deal of mathematics; the literature of aeronautics was extensive, inaccurate and confused; but in spite of these handicaps, the two brothers penetrated to the very heart of the subject. Chanute's "Progress in Flying Machines," Langley's "Experiments in Aerodynamics,' and in particular the "Aeronautical Annuals" published by James Means gave them all the scientific knowledge then available, with a clear idea of the nature of the flying problem; while Mouillard's "Empire of the Air" and numerous articles by Lilienthal fired them with unquenchable enthusiasm, and converted curiosity into active scientific interest.

But the two practical young men were not content with book study of the work of other men. They realized immediately that while theory was indispensable,