1903
	Plans/Diagrams
	Construction
	Photos
	Engine
	Specifications
	Wind Tunnel Tests
2003
	Rediscovering Secrets
	Construction
	Photos
	Wind Tunnel Tests

1903 Wright Flyer Construction

Discovery is born of experimentation.
Experimentation is born
of unyielding perseverance.

Wilbur and Orville Wright opened a door to the future when they unlocked the secrets of flight. Sons of a bishop, neither brother graduated from high school. Instead, they opened a bicycle shop in Dayton and put their natural genius to work. Ever the inventors, they soon turned a passionate curiosity into a history-changing achievement.

Experiments with gliders spurred their interest in flight, and the Wrights built their first glider in 1899, a biplane kite with mechanical wings. The brothers made their first trip to Kitty Hawk in 1900 to conduct glider experiments amid the sand hills. Other Wright-built gliders and flight tests followed in 1901 and 1902.

Back in Dayton, the brothers built the first wind tunnel, and calculated lift pressures for various wing surfaces and wind speeds. They soon built a powerful four-cylinder engine and an efficient propeller. Then on December 17, 1903, they returned to Kitty Hawk, and left their gliders behind for the world’s first powered flight.