Between 1900 and 1902, the Wright brothers built and tested a
series of
unpowered aircraft.
The brothers used these aircraft to flight test some of their ideas
concerning the
control
of aircraft, to learn the fundamentals of
aerodynamics,
and to learn to fly.
The aircraft were flown both as
kites
and as piloted gliders.
On this slide we show a computerized drawing of the
1900 aircraft being flown as a glider.
The
1900
aircraft was the first large aircraft built by the Wrights.
It was flown repeatedly at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, during 1900
to verify and demonstrate
roll
control by using
wing warping.
Kitty Hawk was chosen as the flight location because of the steady breeze
which blows in from the Atlantic and because the sand dunes provided a
"soft" landing during crashes. The plane was flown mostly as a kite, but
on the last day of the season it was flown nearly a dozen times as
a glider. This was the first flight experience for the Wright brothers.
This was a large aircraft as indicated by the size of the pilot on the lower
wing. The pilot could control the movement of the glider by pushing a pedal
with his feet. The pedal was connected to control wires which pulled on the
trailing edge of the wing tips. The wing tips on one side of the aircraft would
be pulled downward more than on the other side.
Changing the
shape of the wing tip changes the amount of
lift which that portion of the wing produces.
This would create more lift on one side of the aircraft than on the other.
An imbalance of lift on the wing causes the glider to
roll
towards the side with the lower lift. The airplane then
turns
in the direction of the lower lift as well. Controlling the amount of warp allows you to
control the roll of the aircraft and the direction in which it flies..
Unfortunately, there are no pictures of the 1900 aircraft flying as a glider.
There are however several pictures of the
1901
and
1902
aircraft in flight. The 1901 is on the left and the 1902 is on the right.
You can easily see the longer wing span of the 1902 and the newly added
rudder.
The longer wing span reduced the overall
drag of the aircraft and increased the
gliding distance.
The 1901 aircraft was flown more than 50 times as a glider, while the 1902
was flown more than 1000 times. At the conclusion of 1902, the Wright brothers
were the most experienced glider pilots in the world.
The
forces
on this aircraft when flown as a glider are only slightly different from the
forces
on the same aircraft when flown as a kite.
The Wright brothers used the aircraft to learn the fundamentals of
aerodynamics.
You can learn the same things in the same way by flying
your own kite or glider.
It's fun!
Navigation..
- Re-Living the Wright Way
- Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics
- NASA Home Page
- http://www.nasa.gov
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