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Need to
get your
bearings? 
Try our Museum Guide for help in navigating or Search the Museum to find specific information.

Meanwhile:
How about a
little music?
We have a selection of tunes that were popular during the first days of aviation, performed by Sue Keller, courtesy the Ragtime Press:

Alexander's Ragtime Band
Irving Berlin 1911
Aviation Rag
Mark Janza 1905
Maple Leaf Rag
Scott Joplin 1909
St. Louis Rag
Tom Turpin 1903
Waiting for the Robert E. Lee
Gilbert/Muir 1912

Want to ask a question? Tell us something? Arrange a showing of one of our airplanes? Ping:
 mailto:[email protected]

his is the story of Wilbur and Orville Wright, the invention of the airplane, and man's first flights. It's a complex story that includes not only the Wright Brothers, but also the myriads of people who touched their lives -- and those whose lives were touched by them.  It spans hundreds of years and reaches to every part of the globe, from the gloomy moors of Britain's Yorkshire, where a baronet with an insane wife built the first successful gliders, to the New Zealand outback, where a self-taught rancher labored in obscurity on an aircraft that may have made a few tentative hops just before the Wright Flyer leaped into the air.

The story is here in its entirety, but it's told in such a way that you can glean as little or as much information as you need. If you just want to know a little more about the Wright Brothers or visit a site rich in early aviation history, we're here to help. And if you're a serious researcher who wants to wade through the minutia of the Wright's diaries, papers, and correspondence, this is where to start.

 WILBUR WRIGHT.JPG (4052 bytes)
Wilbur Wright, born 1867, died 1912 at age 45

ORVILLE WRIGHT.JPG (4143 bytes)
Orville Wright, born 1871, died 1948 at age 77
Navigating the Museum
The "exhibits" in this virtual museum are organized in four sections,  each of which is further divided so you can find what you want easily. To help the information load quickly, most photos and drawings are thumb nailed in the right-hand column. To see an illustration full-size, click on its thumbnail, then use your browser's BACK button to get back to the exhibit. 

Now and then, you will come to a whirling propeller. This indicates that we have some pioneer aviation trivia to share with you, should you be interested.

 

Click on the prop and a small box will pop up. To get rid of the box, click the "X" in the upper right-hand corner and it will close.

 To find your way around this huge museum, use our Museum Guide. To locate specific information or illustrations, you can do a key-word search at Search the Museum.

 1902 Flyer Sketch.jpg (36484 bytes)
The Wrights sketched the first true airplane on  wrapping paper in 1902. We've used this sketch as wallpaper throughout the museum.

A map of the museum:

Museum wings and sections:
The History Wing  follows the lives of Wilbur and Orville Wright, from their childhood as the "Bishop's kids" to Orville's twilight years as the elder statesman of aviation. It also recounts the History of the airplane and offers an almanac of early aviation facts. 1908 Sunset Flight.jpg (19224 bytes)
Wilbur flies into the sunset in France, 1908
The Adventure Wing   offers hands on pioneer aviation experiences -- building models and replicas of old aircraft or looking them over. Or you can conduct a virtual "walk-around" of various Wright aircraft, or take a virtual trip to museums and historic locations that offer information about the Wright brothers and pioneer aviation !Aloft in 02.jpg (65513 bytes)
Get up close and personal with the 1902 Wright Glider in our Virtual Hangar. Or download the free plans in Will and Orv's Workshop and build your own.
Our Information Desk will help you find more information on the Wright Brothers and early aviation -- publications, movies, videos, and links to other web sites. We also offer help for students writing papers or preparing presentations on the Wright brothers. We even publish a newsletter, the West Side News (after the Wright's short-lived weekly) to help keep you informed as the world gears up to celebrate the Centennial of Flight in 2003. 1910 AIRMEET POSTER.JPG (45429 bytes)
A poster for the first air show in San Diego, 1910
Our Outreach Programs provide unique experiences in pioneer aviation for people of all ages. You can have us bring and airplane to you,  you can help build them, you can even help fly them!
"The Spirit of Dayton" Project is a portable museum of the Wright brothers that we take to schools across America.
Look around, enjoy yourselves, and come back often. Please excuse our construction in some areas. Like the airplane itself, this virtual museum is -- and always will be -- a work in progress.

This virtual museum is  maintained by the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company, an organization of aviation enthusiasts who have come together to share information about the Wright Brothers, build pioneer aircraft,  and celebrate a century of flight.

The music is courtesy Ragtime Press, performed by Sue Keller.
The maps were produced on Simply Streets software from DeLorme.
 Many of the videos were produced by David Garrigus Productions.
 The virtual reality images were produced by artist/photographer Michelangelo Flores.

Notice: While some photos and illustrations in this virtual museum are in public domain, others are used by permission and may not be copied. All text information is copyrighted by Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company and may not be duplicated without written permission, with the exception of students who have term papers due tomorrow. (Hey, we were young once and had better things to do than homework.)

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