WRIGHT BROTHERS Aeroplane Company
A Closer Look

n September 7, 1900, Wilbur Wright left Dayton, Ohio for Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where he had been told the winds were strong and steady, and perfect for gliding experiments. His brother Orville joined him a week later, and the Wright brothers built their first manned aircraft.

The 1900 Wright Glider was a revolution in aeronautical engineering. It was huge -- its wings spanned over 17 feet, much longer than was considered wise by the top aviation experts of the day. (If Wilbur had been able to find the lumber he wanted, the wings would have stretched almost 20 feet!) And it had aerodynamic control surfaces - movable planes to help balance the glider in the air. The front elevator could be curved to pitch the nose of the aircraft up or down. The wings could be twisted or "warped" with an ingenious set of swing wires to roll the aircraft right and left. The pioneer glider pilots that preceded the Wright brothers had simply shifted their weight to balance their craft -- a difficult, dangerous, and ineffective method of control.

When the Wrights tested their first glider, its performance was disappointing. It did not produce the expected lift; consequently, they flew it mostly as an unmanned kite. But it was a success in one respect. The control surfaces worked wonderfully. Manipulating the controls from the ground with cables, the brothers could pitch and roll the aircraft with authority. Just before they left Kitty Hawk to return home to Dayton, they mounted their glider for several manned glides, some of which covered over 200 feet. Encouraged by the success of their controls and thrilled by their first real flights, they began to build a series of gliders and airplanes, each one better than the last. This work eventually resulted in the first practical aircraft.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of these first tentative flights, the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company built a replica of the 1900 Glider, then flew it at Kitty Hawk on October 22, 2000 -- precisely a century after the Wrights made their first flights. Below is a "walk-around" of our glider, as it was displayed for its unveiling in front of the Packard Museum in Dayton, OH. For you folks that like to know what makes things tick, we've also included so pictures of the airframe before we covered it. If you'd like to see some photos from our test flights, click HERE.

The 1900 Glider replica as it looks from the rear. Like all early Wright aircraft, the elevator is in front. This aircraft had a tail at first, but Wilbur removed it when he was sure the controls worked properly.	The glider from the side -- note that the rear spar is on top of the ribs instead of under them. Early on, the Wrights thought that lift was produced underneath the wings and that it was more important to keep the underside of the wing smooth.	The glider diagonally from the side. They were wrong, of course -- about keeping the bottom of the wings smooth, that is. In its position on top of the spar, the rear spar acts as a spoiler and reduces the lift.	The glider straight on. Although the rigging was based on a standard "Pratt Truss," it was a system the Wrights had invented. By tensioning just four wires on the airplane, they could tune all the flying and landing wires.
Another diagonal view -- that's a vintage Packard behind the glider.	And finally, a rear diagonal. The street behind the glider -- Ludlow Street -- was once used as a runway. In the 1910s, an airplane manufacturer (a rival to the Wrights) would take off and land here.	The glider cockpit -- you lay down with your weight supported on the front spar and the "belly bar." It is the most uncomfortable cockpit you can imagine. The Wrights were dynamite at engineering, but sadly lacking in ergonomics.	The kickbar -- by pressing the top of the "T" with one foot or the other, you actuate the wing warping and roll the aircraft right or left.
The elevator is actually part of the supporting surface -- notice the camber. To pitch the glider up or down, you change the camber.	The elevator control is a bar that you roll with your wrists. The bar moves levers which are attached to the elevator, and this in turn changes the camber of the elevator	The glider is covered with cotton chintz -- called "sateen" in the Wright brother's time. This fabric is seized at the factory, making it less porous to the air.	The glider as it looks best -- atop a sand dune in Kitty Hawk.
The completed airframe of the 1900 Wright Glider.	A close-up of the cockpit. frame. A "belly bar" bridges the gap between the two inboard ribs. This supports the pilot.	The elevator frame does not pivot. Instead it flexes to create a negative or positive camber. To pitch up, roll the control bar forward.	The control bar and levers attach to the elevator frame with tension springs.
A view of the cockpit from the back.	This kick bar is attached to cables that warp the wings. This is the only part of the glider where we had to guess at the construction --  it's not shown in the historic photos.	To allow the wings to warp, the spars are hinged to the struts with special hardware.	Hardware is used very sparsely, however. Most of the frame is lashed together with waxed linen cord.

A Digital Walk-Around for the 1900 Glider

While we were down in the North Carolina Outerbanks for the Return to Kitty Hawk 2001, Michelangelo Flores, the benevolent master of virtual realities, put together a series of "VR images" for us.  The image you see here allows you to "spin" the 1900 Wright Glider on the sand so you can see it from all angles -- just click on the photo to the right.  (It's 115K.) To enjoy the VR images that Michelangelo has created, you'll need a QuickTime extension for your browser . If you don't have one, download it from the Apple web site. It's free! QTVR image � 2001 by Michelangelo Flores

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