2023-05 The Wright Brothers

Back in October 2021, a great scouter passed away, my father.  In addition to being the greatest man and father anyone could ask for, he was also a patriot and loved American history. Dad worked in broadcasting for many years and as I was going through some of his personal items after his death, I came across a podcast that he was creating but never published. The name he had planned for it was “Byte of History” where he would have a weekly topic on American history.  This week’s Scouter’s minute, we share with you one of the completed episodes of “Byte of History” entitled, The Wright Brothers. I hope you enjoy it.

Byte of History - The Wright Brothers

We return to history in 1899. Having labored in relative obscurity, Wilbur and Orville, the Wright brothers had been scientifically experimenting with the concept of flight. While balloons and gliders had been used for flight,  no one had been able to master powered flight. Samuel Langley of the Smithsonian was working on it but could not achieve powered flight. Langley had the spotlight being followed by the press and the war department. 

Everyone who tried to achieve powered flight relied on brute power to keep their machines aloft. Many of these machines were put together in such a way as to deny the scientific concept of flight. Wilbur Wright once said, “it is possible to fly without motors but not without knowledge and skill.” The Wright brothers had knowledge and skill with over 1,000 glides from the big Kill Devil Hill at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They had the understanding of what was needed as they truly were the very first pilots and the skills they had learned from the glides helped them come to the point of powered flight. It was all these glides that led them down the path of discovery. They had solved the problem of sustained lift and more importantly, they could now control an aircraft while in flight. 

So they were ready to fly, but how would they power their aircraft? At this time gasoline engine technology had advanced. It was now feasible to use it in an aircraft. But since a lightweight gas engine was not being made, the Wright brothers designed and made their own. It was cruder and less powerful than gas engines of the time, but the Wright Brothers understood that relatively little power was needed. With the right lifting surfaces, and of course the correct propellers. Propellers! They were not available. So using their air tunnel information they designed and made the very first efficient airplane propeller. This in itself is one of the most original and purely scientific achievements of the Wright Brothers. 

Now it was time to try all of these new ideas. So they return to the outer banks of North Carolina at their camp at Kill Devil Hills.  The brothers mounted the engine on the new 40-ft, 605 lb flyer with double tails and elevators. The engine drove two pusher propellers. With chains, the props rotated in opposite directions to counteract a twisting tenancy in flight. Of course they had their problems with broken propeller shafts and other things, but on December 14th 1903 it was time to fly.  By a flip of the coin Wilbur won the opportunity to try to fly first. Wilbur started down the launching rail. As he left the rail he oversteered with the elevator. He climbed too steeply and then stalled. The flier dove into the sand with no flight at all. Then it was back to the workshop for repairs. 

Then 3 days later on December 17th 1903, the Wright brothers would attempt to fly for the second time. On that day there was a 27 mph headwind. That of course was more than what they wanted but they pressed on. They're predicted cruising speed was only 30 to 35 mph. With a sheet, they signal the volunteers from the nearby lifesaving station that they were about to try again. This time it was Orville's turn.  Orville positioned himself and tested the controls.  He remembered what happened to Wilbur three days ago. He moved the stick that ran the elevators to climb and to send. The cradle that he swang with his hips, moved everything needed to turn the aircraft.  His only other control was the gas flow lever and the airspeed recorder. 

The controls were simple and Orville knew the rest was up to him. They started the engine and the propellers. Could they get this 605 lb aircraft to fly?  At 10:35 a.m. Orville released the restraining wire.  With Wilbur studying the wings, the flier moved down the rail.  Just as Orville left the ground, John Daniels from the lifesaving station snapped the shutter of a preset camera capturing the historic picture of the airborne aircraft with Wilbur running alongside. The aircraft was again unruly, pitching up and down as Orville overcompensated with the controls. Orville kept the flier aloft until it hit the sand about 120 ft from the rail.  With the head wind of 27 mph the ground speed had been slowed to 6.8 miles per hour. This made the total air speed 34 miles per hour. They had done it!  The Wright brothers had flown a powered aircraft. 

The brothers took turns flying three more times that day.  With each flight they had a better feel for the controls and increased their distance. The fourth Flight of the day, this one by Wilbur was an impressive 852 ft with a duration of 59 seconds.  But this was the last flight of the day, and the last flight of this aircraft as it was caught by a gust of wind and rolled over and damaged beyond easy repair. While the first flight by Orville was only 120 ft, which is approximately the length of one wing of a modern-day 747 jumbo jet, it was the real deal.  

Orville and Wilbur Wright had transcended all the others and their aircraft had flown.  To this day we are blessed by what Orville and Wilbur did at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina as they took all of us to the unlimited bounds of the sky.