Wright Brothers

by Lisa Wade McCormick

Meet The Wright brothers! Wilbur and Orville Wright were brothers. In the late 1800s, most people traveled on trains, boats, or bicycles. Wilbur and Orville wanted to fly.

Wilbur, Orville

Wilbur and Orville knew that other people had tried to build flying machines. Many people laughed at those machines. Wilbur and Orville studied them. Otto Lilienthal was an inventor. He tried to build flying machines, too.

Wilbur and Orville liked to make things. They built toys, bicycles, and many other gadgets. In 1899, the Wright brothers built their first plane. It was a glider. Orville and Wilbur tested their glider before flying it.

The glider had wings made from wood and cloth. The wings moved from side to side. The wind helped it to fly. This is one of the brothers flying the glider.

Wilbur and Orville put an engine on their plane. They added propellers to push the plane forward. This plane was called the Flyer.

propellers, engine. An engine, propellers, and the wind helped the Flyer to fly.

On 17 December 1903 Orville flew the first plane with an engine. He took off from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on the east coast of the U.S.

Kitty Hawk

The wind speed at Kitty Hawk would help the Flyer to fly.

Orville stayed in the air for 12 seconds. He flew 36.5 meters (120 feet). That's as long as three buses! Five people saw Orville make that flight. He and Wilbur proved that people could fly.