 ilbur and Orville labored over the design of the first Wright glider in September
of 1899, carefully calculating its performance from tables of data that Lilienthal had
gathered during his lifetime. It was a biplane, similar the Chanute’s successful 1896
glider. But where Chanute’s glider had been braced with wires to make it rigid along
its span (wing tip to wing tip) and chord (leading edge to trailing edge), the
Wright glider was braced along its span only. The chord was not braced to allow wing
warping. The brothers also placed a horizontal elevator in front of the wings in a
configuration that would later be called a canard. They did this because they
believed the elevator would be more effective in front, helping them to
control the pitch of the aircraft. They also figured it would offer
some protection in the event of a crash.
They did not dispense with the tail, however. Even though they no longer planned to use it as a control surface, they attached a tail to the back of the glider for stability -- and insurance. Wilbur wrote to his father, "The tail of my machine is fixed and even if the steering arrangement should fail, it would still leave me with the same control that Lillienthal had at best." Wilbur thought that if the horizontal elevator and the wing warping were not enough to balance the glider in the air, he could revert to shifting his weight as Lillienthal had done. The next question was where to fly it. Wilbur calculated that he needed a steady wind of at least 15 miles per hour to get the craft airborne. He wrote to Octave Chanute at his home in Chicago on May 13, 1900 for advice, the beginning of a long and fruitful correspondence. (To read Wilbur's first letter to Chanute, see below.) Chanute advised Wilbur to find a location where the Wrights could experiment over water or sand to cushion the impact of a crash. Wilbur wrote the U.S. Weather Bureau for a list of windy locations. Sixth on the list was an out-of-the way place in North Carolina with vast stretches of sand and water, few trees, and reasonably good weather. It was called Kitty Hawk. Wilbur next wrote the Weather Bureau office at Kitty Hawk, inquiring about the area. The Bureau passed the letter to Bill Tate, the local postmaster, who sent a warm response. "I will take pleasure in doing all I can for your convenience & success & pleasure," wrote Tate, "& I assure you [that] you will find a hospitable people when you come among us." |
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photo to enlarge it.
 The Tate family on the porch of the Kitty Hawk Post Office.
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In Their Own Words
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