The concept of flight has fascinated man for millennia. The minds
of the ancients invented winged gods and goddesses who lived in the
heavens or who traversed it in chariots of gold. The restless
brilliance of Leonardo da Vinci designed a flying machine five
centuries ago; but his vision, as well as those of many who
followed, relied on the muscle power of man to make it work. That
would not be enough. A mechanical engine would be necessary. Flight
would have to be a byproduct of the industrial revolution. In the
meantime, man turned to an alternative means of reaching into the
sky-balloons. The first balloon ascent occurred in Paris in
1783-the same year the United States gained its independence from
Britain, ratified, coincidentally, by a treaty signed in Paris.
Over the next century and a half, balloons and their more steerable
brethren, dirigibles or rigid airships, were designed and flown in
various countries worldwide. But the notion of heavier-than-air
flight in a winged vehicle would not go away. Throughout the latter
half of the nineteenth century a number of aviation pioneers
studied the problem of flight from an increasingly scientific
viewpoint. All recognized that two primary problems needed to be
overcome-power and directional control. Someone would have to build
an engine that was both powerful enough and light enough to lift an
airplane and its pilot into the air and sustain it. The internal
combustion engine was the obvious solution, but early motors that
were made for automobiles and dirigibles were too heavy- they
delivered too little horsepower for their weight. Related to this
issue was the need for a suitable airscrew, or propeller, to attach
to the engine that would propel the craft through the air. The
second problem, controlling an airplane in flight, seemed even more
difficult. Both of these problems were solved by two hard-working
and taciturn bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio. (Their bicycle
shop has since been restored and moved to Greenfield Village near
Detroit). Orville and Wilbur Wright, sons of a minister, designed
and built their own gasoline engine that was not a spectacular
device, but adequate for their purpose. It weighed about 200 pounds
and delivered 12 horsepower. Just enough. Also important, the
brothers designed and built their own propellers. Their solution to
the directional control issue was more ingenious. Learning from the
flight of birds, the brothers saw that birds made subtle changes in
their wingtips, bending them up or down slightly, and this allowed
them to turn quickly and gracefully. The Wrights therefore rigged
up a series of cables and pulleys that connected the wings of their
craft to levers where the aviator would lie (later sit). When
manipulating the levers, the pilot would actually twist the shape
of the wings themselves-much like a bird alters the shape of its
wings-allowing the craft to turn. This "wing warping" method was
soon replaced by more practical devices-movable rudders and
ailerons. The latter consisted of a separate airfoil usually
attached to the outer portion of a wing: but the basic principle
the Wrights invented was sound. On Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, the Wright brothers made history's first powered
flight in a heavier-than-air machine that incorporated their two
scientific breakthroughs. Their invention, the airplane, changed
the world. As the centennial of their momentous achievement
approaches, the United States Air Force has established the
Centennial of Flight Office, whose mission is to celebrate airpower
and the Wright brothers' historic event. One of their projects is
this pamphlet series, which will trace the most significant people,
events, technologies and ideas in the history of the United States
Air Force.
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