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The Wright Brothers Two Bicycle Mechanics Beat America's Top Scientist
America's best-funded scientist spent $50,000 of government money on a flying machine. It crashed into the Potomac. Twice. Nine days later, two bicycle mechanics from Ohio flew, having spent about $1,000.
Wilbur and Orville Wright never received a high school diploma. Inspired by a toy helicopter and by the death of glider pioneer Otto Lilienthal, they set out to solve the one problem nobody had: control. They watched birds, built their own wind tunnel, found the scientific tables were wrong, and built their own engine and propellers. On December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, Orville flew for 12 seconds and 120 feet.
Almost nobody believed them, until Wilbur stunned France in 1908. Today a piece of their first airplane has been to the Moon and to Mars.
The facts behind this file
What the record shows
- Samuel Langley had $50,000 from the US War Department. His Aerodrome crashed into the Potomac on 7 October and 8 December 1903.
- Nine days after the second crash, on 17 December 1903, Orville flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. The Wright Flyer cost them less than a thousand dollars.
- Neither brother received a high-school diploma.
- A toy helicopter based on Alphonse Pénaud's design, a gift from their father in 1878, and the work of Otto Lilienthal got them started.
- They built their own wind tunnel. Their engine was built by their mechanic Charles Taylor, working closely with them.
- Wilbur's demonstration flights at Le Mans from 8 August 1908 convinced Europe.
- A piece of the 1903 Flyer's fabric went to the Moon with Apollo 11.
Main sources
- Fred Howard, Wilbur and Orville (1988)
- James Tobin, To Conquer the Air (2004)
Spotted a mistake or know a better source? Tell us.
Further reading
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Image & film credits
- Wright Cycle Shop, Greenfield Village: w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wind tunnel replica: MLWatts, CC BY-SA 3.0 ·
- The 1903 Wright Flyer, Smithsonian: Vintage Fan 5678, CC BY 4.0.
- Other archival photos are public domain (Library of Congress, Smithsonian, NASA, Gallica); video clips from Pexels.
- Music and sound made for this video.
