Assignment on Wright brothers’

Contribution in Aviation
Subject: Introduction to Aerospace Engineering

Submitted to:
Dr. Iqbal Rasool

Submitted by:
Anum Mairaj
Nimrah Aftab
AVI-2 (15-C)

Date: 4th oct,2016

Wright brothers (Inventor of the first
practical Airplane)
 Wilbur and Orville Wright
were American inventors and
pioneers of aviation.
 In 1903 the Wright brothers
achieved the first powered,
sustained and controlled
airplane flight.
 They built and flew the first
fully practical airplane.
WILBUR WRIGHT
 Born in Millville, Indiana, on April
16, 1867.
Facts about Wilbur:
 Presented an independent
personality.
 Never graduated from high school.
 Loved to read and write!
Orville Wright
 Born in Dayton on August 19, 1871
Facts about Orville:
 Developed an interest in technology
and science early in life.
 More of an inventor than Wilbur.
 Never graduated from high school.
 Achieving Flight
 We knew that men had by common consent adopted
human flight as the standard of impossibility. When a
man said,’It can’t be done, a man might as well learn to
fly,’ as he was understood as expressing the final limit of
impossibility.”
Wilbur Wright
PRINCIPLES FOR AIR CRAFT
1. Wings that provide lift.
2. A power plant to propel it.
3. Means of control.
Ideas and Beliefs
 Pilot control- to aim or align the aircraft correctly.
 Discovered wing-warping.
 First 2 gliders did not have tails.
 Experimented their ideas on bicycles.
 Kite + plain.
 Wind tunnel tests.
 Didn`t like the press because they were convinced that
someone would steal their ideas and inventions.
 Early Life
 When Otto Lilienthal was accidently killed during glider flight, in
the wake of his publicity, Wright brothers’ interest in aviation.
 Like several pioneers before him, Wilbur took up the study of bird
flight as a guide on the path toward mechanical flight.
 In this way, the concept of ‘Wing Warping’ is use to control
airplanes in lateral (rolling) motion.
 At that time, Wilbur is anxious to experiment with this concept,
and wrote books and papers on aeronautics, his brother Orville
became enthusiastic as his brother, and they both work together.
 First aircraft (Biplane kite)
 Wingspan of 5 ft
 This machine was designed to test the concept of wing
warping, which was accomplished by means of four controlling
strings from the ground.
 And this concept worked.
Wright Brother’s Air Craft Gliders
 Glider 1
 The 1900 Wright glider had a wingspan
of 17-ft, a light wooden frame and a
horizontal elevator in front of the
wings and was flown on strings from
the ground.
 The brothers would fly the gliders like
kites
 By writing to the US weather bureau,
they found an ideal spot for glider
experiment and that is Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, where there were
strong and constant winds.
 Glider 2 (1901)
 With some success behind their first
glider, Wright brothers proceeded to
build their second glider.
 This glider had 22-ft wingspan.
 The flights of second glider were mostly
manned, with Wilbur or Orville prone
on the bottom wing, facing into the
wind.
 It also had a horizontal elevator in front
of the wing.
 The Wright felt that a forward elevator
protect them from the type of fatal
nosedive that killed Lilienthal.
 1901-1902
 The 1901 glider crashed when it spun
out of control.
 In 1902, the brothers used a wind
tunnel for testing wing and propeller
design by running air over each.
 Glider 3 (1902)
 After two years of experiments and relied upon
detailed aerodynamic information generated by
Lilienthal, the wrights undertook a major
program of aeronautical research.
 They built a wind tunnel in their bicycle shop and
tested over 200 different airfoil shapes.
 They designed a force balance to measure
accurately lift and drag.
 It was a biplane glider with a 32-ft 1-in wingspan.
 After several modifications , the wright added a
vertical rudder behind the wings
 This machine was the first aircraft that had active controls
for all three axis; roll, pitch and yaw. At the end of 1902, the
Wright brothers were the two most experienced glider
pilots in the world.
 The longest glide was measured and timed at 622.5 ft (189.7
m) in 26 seconds.
 Now they need an Engine…
 After making the Gliders, they need an engine and
desinged the Wright Flyers but they couldn’t find any
commercial engine.
 So that, the Wright brothers designed and build their own
engine.
 It produced 12 hp and weighed about 200 lb.
 Wright Flyer I
 With all the major obstacles, Wilber and
Orville built their Wright Flyer I from
scratch.
 It closely resembled the third glider but
had a wingspan of 40-ft 4-in.
 In this, they used a double rudder behind
the wings and a double elevator in front
of the wings.
 There was the spectacular gasoline-fueled
Wright engine, driving two pusher
propellers by means of bicycle type
chains.
 Wilbur was the first pilot for the first test of Wright Flyer
I.
 Wilbur admitted that he put on too much elevator and
brought the nose too high.
 The last covering 852-ft remaining in the year for 59 sec.
 It is the World succesful flight and the aeronautical
engineering had been born.
Wright Flyer II (1904)
 Wright flyer II was almost
similar to Wrigth flyer I.
 This aircraft had a smaller wing
camber (airfoil curvature) and a
more powerful and efficient
engine.
 Flight duration was 5min and 4s
tansversing 2 ¾ mi.
 Wright Flyer III (1905)
 The wing area was slightly smaller than the
flyer II.
 In flyer III, the airfoil camber was increased
back.
 The biplane elevator was made larger and was
placed in front of the wings.
 This is the world’s first powered aeroplane
that is justified by the sturdiness of its
structure, which withstood constant takeoffs
and landings.
 Its ability to bank, turn and
perform figures of eight and its
reliability in remaining
airborne (with no trouble)for
over half an hour.
 It’s longest flight was 38 min
and 3 sec, covering 24 mile. It
weighed over 700 pounds and
was thought of as the “First
Practical Airplane”
 Wright Type A
 After flyer III, Wright brothers built at
least six new engines, and after that
they designed a new flying machine,
which was named as Wright Type A,
that is similar to Flyer III.
 But it had 40-hp engine and provided
for two people seated upright between
the wings.
 Concept of the airplane designed
carried out to the present plane.
 The Beginning of a Legacy
 Wilbur died on May 30, 1912 from typhoid
fever at the age of 45.
 Orville died on January 27, 1948.
 All of their planes that survived their
purposes are currently inside the
Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space
Museum.
References
 Introduction to Flight (Text Book)
 https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-
brothers/online/fly/1899/kite.cfm
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers
 http://wright.nasa.gov/airplane/unpowered.html
 http://www.wright-
brothers.org/Information_Desk/Just_the_Facts/Airpla
nes/Flyer_II.htm