Bull Tiger Biographical Library · Giant Hundred -- Wright Brothers

Author: Liu Dongli et al
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-10-01
Features: We are pleased to recommend the "Giant Biographies Series" to all young friends. At the turn of the century, having such a fine series accompany you is a joy in wisdom. We believe that from the footsteps of these giants and masters, you can learn how to properly handle success and failure, comfort and hardship, joy and pain, smoothness and adversity, and understand how to approach life, how to learn to be a person, how to pursue knowledge, how to shape oneself, and how to shape the future.
Principal of Peking University, Secretary Zhao Yulin
Principal of Tsinghua University, Secretary Zhao Qinggang
Giant is the elite of humanity, they have made outstanding contributions to the progress of human society and civilization, their spirit of struggle and superhuman achievements are deeply admired by people and become models for people to learn from. Giants are human, not gods, they come from ordinary people but are above ordinary people. High ideals, the belief of seeking happiness for the motherland and humanity, are the driving force for their unremitting efforts and fearlessness of difficulties.
Principal of Tianjin Nankai Middle School, Kang Xiuyan
By carefully reading this series of books, you will feel their appearance, speech, and actions, and experience their ideals, beliefs, ambitions, and sentiments, which will help you learn to be a person, learn to pursue knowledge, and learn to build a career.
Principal of Fudan University, Cao Tianren
Wilbur Wright was born on April 16, 1867, and his brother Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871. They had a strong interest in mechanical assembly and aviation from a young age and engaged in bicycle repair and manufacturing. The successful glider flight of Otto Lilienthal inspired them to pursue flying. In 1896, Lilienthal's glider flight crashed, which led them to focus their attention on the balance and control of aircraft. They particularly studied bird flight and deeply researched almost all existing aviation theory books at the time. During this period, aviation faced continuous setbacks: the death of the pilot in a crash, the failure of the inventor of the machine gun in a test flight, the fall of the aviation scientist Langley with his aircraft into the water, and so on, which made most people believe that flight powered by its own engine was completely impossible.
However, the Wright brothers did not give up their efforts. From 1900 to 1902, in addition to conducting over 1,000 glider tests, they built more than 200 different wings and conducted thousands of wind tunnel experiments, corrected some of Lilienthal's incorrect flight data, and designed wing cross-section shapes with greater lift. In 1903, they built the "Flyer I," the first aircraft capable of carrying passengers and powered by its own engine. This aircraft had a wingspan of 13.2 meters, with the elevator in front and the rudder behind. The two sets of two-blade propellers were driven by a chain, and the landing gear was skid-type, equipped with a four-cylinder engine weighing 70 kilograms and with a power of 8.8 kilowatts. This famous aircraft in aviation history is now displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
From December 14 to 17, 1903, the "Flyer I" conducted its fourth test flight on a sand dune in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA. The flight was piloted by Orville Wright, covering a distance of 36 meters and staying in the air for 12 seconds. The fourth flight was piloted by Wilbur Wright, covering a distance of 260 meters and staying in the air for 59 seconds.
In 1906, their aircraft was granted a patent in the United States. As a result, they received the U.S. Congress's Honorary Award in 1909. That same year, they founded the "Wright Aircraft Company." Wilbur Wright passed away on May 29, 1912, at the age of 45. After that, Orville Wright worked for 30 years to make the Wright Aircraft Company a world-famous aircraft manufacturer with a capital of billions of dollars. Orville Wright passed away on January 3, 1948.