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An Event at Kitty Hawk

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Objectives Know how the Wright brothers succeeded in the first flight Know the anatomy of the Wright ... heavier-than-air human flight with a ... to Army Aviation ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: An Event at Kitty Hawk


1
An Event at Kitty Hawk
2
Objectives
  • Know how the Wright brothers succeeded in the
    first flight
  • Know the anatomy of the Wright Flyer
  • Know the principles of airplane flight
  • Know the history of the Wright brothers
    involvement with the US Army

3
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
4
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 1 Build a Test Model
  • The Wrights chose a glider as their starting
    point
  • They could focus first on balancing and
    controlling the aircraft
  • They discovered that they didnt need to tilt an
    entire wing to turn the craft only the ends of
    the wings (wing warping ailerons)
  • Engine power could come later

5 ft Wingspan Similar to Power Model
5
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 2 Build a Manned Glider
  • Between 1900 and 1902, the brothers built three
    gliders
  • Before putting a man aboard, they flew each
    glider like a kite
  • They wanted to test it for control and lift
  • Only after doing this would they put a man aboard

6
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 2 Build a Manned Glider
  • The early glider experiments taught the brothers
    three important things
  • How to control climb and descent
  • The best design for the shape of the wing
  • How large the wing area had to be to sustain lift

7
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 2 Build a Manned Glider The1900 Glider
  • The brothers test-flew their glider at Kill Devil
    Hills in 1900
  • It didnt crash, but clearly improvements were
    necessary
  • The Wrights headed back to Ohio to build the next
    version

8
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 2 Build a Manned Glider The1901 Glider
  • For the 1901 glider, the brothers increased the
    wing area to 290 square feet
  • This glider was also a big disappointmentthey
    couldnt control it well when they tested it at
    Kill Devil Hills
  • It flew less than 300 feettime to return to
    Dayton!

9
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 2 Build a Manned Glider Wind Tunnel
  • The brothers built a wind tunnel in their bicycle
    shop to test model-size wings
  • Made them of sheet steel
  • Cut more than 200 model wings of different shapes

10
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 2 Build a Manned Glider The1902 Glider
  • This glider had two fixed, vertical rudders
    behind the wings
  • Test flights showed that this resulted in erratic
    behavior during turns
  • So the Wrights tried a single, movable, vertical
    rudder which greatly improved control
  • The brothers took to the air in the North
    Carolina dunes more than 700 times in the fall of
    1902

11
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 3 Build an Engine
  • The brothers set out to fit their plane with an
    engine
  • They tried to buy one ready made, but no one met
    their needs or price
  • So they had their bicycle mechanic, Charles E.
    Taylor, build them a four-cylinder, 12-horsepower
    engine

12
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 4 Test Flight
  • In September 1903 they returned to Kitty Hawk and
    Kill Devil Hills
  • They built a trolley track to give their powered
    aircraft a running start
  • Bad weather also caused delays
  • The brothers tossed a coin, and Wilbur won
  • However, on the first test flight of the Wright
    Flyer, he crashed it
  • It took three days to repair the damaged craft

13
The Wright Brothers Flight Checklist
Step 5 Success
  • On 17 December, Orville took the controls
  • The Flyer stayed aloft for 12 seconds and
    traveled 120 feet
  • Orville had made the first controlled, sustained,
    heavier-than-air human flight with a powered
    aircraft
  • The brothers took turns piloting the Flyer for
    three more flights
  • The fourth and final launch lasted 59 seconds,
    and the craft traveled 852 feet

14
Anatomy of the Wright Flyer
Biplane with wingspan of 40 feet, four inches,
and a wing area of 510 square feet
15
Wright Brothers Involvement With the US Army
  • The Wright brothers continued refining their
    airplane
  • In January 1905, they had contacted their
    representative in Congress (R. M. Nevin) and
    tried to interest the US government in buying
    their airplane
  • Their offer was turned down
  • The British and French governments were
    interested in buying the Flyer
  • But the brothers wanted the US government to have
    the first crack at owning a Wright Flyer
  • On 22 May 1906 they received a government patent
    for their invention

16
Ways the Wright Brothers Contributed to Army
Aviation
  • Orville spent much of 1908 and 1909 improving the
    Flyer
  • He made more test flights and took up military
    passengers
  • One such flight tragically ended in a crash that
    seriously injured Orville and killed 1st Lt
    Thomas Selfridge the first US military aviation
    casualty
  • The Wrights continued working with the Army as
    flight instructors

17
Army Airplanes
  • It took a while for the Army to decide how to use
    airplanes during war
  • At first, the Army thought that airplanes would
    be useful only for aerial reconnaissance
  • World War I brought about a change in strategy
  • But before that could happen, airplanes needed
    improvements to make them faster, sturdier, and
    more reliable

18
Objectives
  • Know how the Wright brothers succeeded in the
    first flight
  • Know the anatomy of the Wright Flyer
  • Know the principles of airplane flight
  • Know the history of the Wright brothers
    involvement with the US Army
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