These 'Countdown to Kitty Hawk" Moments, written by Roger Jaynes, appear in FLYING Magazine throughout this Centennial of Flight year.
	The Moment
	Wilber Wins, But Loses
	Gloom and Confidence
	The Whopper Flying Machine
	The Little Engine That Would
	Round and Round They Went…
	The Mouse and the Cornbread
	Light at the End of the Tunnel
	Mosquitoes...and Disappointment
	Fall 1900...The First Flights
	A Place Called Kitty Hawk
	Birds...And the Twisted Box
	Lilienthal…and the Mysterious Book

Kitty Hawk Moments: Light at the End of the Tunnel

The Wrights’ Home-Built Wind Tunnel Provided Much New Data

This was where their genius for visualizing mechanical solutions to theoretical problems paid off. First, they mounted an airfoil test rig on a wheel ahead of the handlebars on a bicycle and then rode the bicycle to create a wind. What they found was that Smeaton's original coefficient for air pressure figure in the mode of calculation for flying (which Lilienthal had also used) was far too high. At this point, they decided to recheck all the earlier data, taking nothing as proven until they proved it themselves.

To do this, the Wrights built their own wind tunnel - an 8-foot long by 16-inch square box that looked like an ordinary packing crate sitting on two sawhorses. Inside, they constructed two balances from hacksaw blades and bits of wire to accurately measure lift and drag coefficients. With this, over the next two months, they tested more than 200 small wings from three to nine inches long. They measured monoplanes, biplanes, and even a tandem plane. Most important, they discovered new lift (weight carrying) specifications that proved all those before them had been wrong. And they found more efficient specs for the wings of a biplane, and how to best shape the tips of those wings.

Later, the Wrights would recall that period from mid-November to early December, 1901, as the psychological peak of their career. Daily, they were making new discoveries, breaking new ground, and with that knowledge, their doubts and uncertainties vanished. "Wilbur and I could hardly wait for morning to come," Orville recalled later, "to get at something that interested us. That's happiness."

As Christmas approached, the brothers had good reason for cheer. Now, finally, they had verified facts and figures they could trust. With all this new data now at hand, they now had no doubts that they could design, construct - and fly - the most advanced glider in the world when they returned to Kitty Hawk the following year.

This "Kitty Hawk Moment" is brought to you by EAA, whose Countdown to Kitty Hawk program, presented by Ford Motor Company, includes an exact flying reproduction of the Wright Flyer. It is the centerpiece of EAA's national tour during 2003, which will conclude with a five-day celebration at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where the Wright flyer will fly again at exactly 10:35 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2003, commemorating 100 years of powered flight.

This “Kitty Hawk Moment” is brought to you by EAA, whose Countdown to Kitty Hawk program, presented by Ford Motor Company, includes an exact flying reproduction of the Wright Flyer. It is the centerpiece of EAA’s national tour during 2003, which will conclude with a five-day celebration at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where the Wright flyer will fly again at exactly 10:35 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2003, commemorating 100 years of powered flight.