Many great inventions are greeted with ridicule and disbelief. The invention of the airplane was
no exception. Although many people who heard about the first powered flight on December
17, 1903, were excited and impressed, others reacted with peals of laughter. The idea of flying an
aircraft was repulsive to some people. Such people called Wilbur and Orville Wright, the
inventors of the first flying machine, impulsive fools. Negative reactions, however, did not stop
the Wrights. Impelled by their desire to succeed, they continued their experiments in aviation.
Orville and Wilbur Wright had always had a compelling interest in aeronautics and mechanics.
As young boys they earned money by making and selling kites and mechanical toys. Later, they
designed a newspaper-folding machine, built a printing press, and operated a bicycle-repair shop.
In 1896, when they read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, the brothers' interest in flight grew
into a compulsion.
Lilienthal, a pioneer in hang-gliding, had controlled his gliders by shifting his body in the desired
direction. This idea was repellent to the Wright brothers, however, and they searched for more
efficient methods to control the balance of airborne vehicles. In 1900 and 1901, the Wrights
tested numerous gliders and developed control techniques. The brothers' inability to obtain
enough lift power for the gliders almost led them to abandon their efforts.
After further study, the Wright brothers concluded that the published tables of air pressure on
curved surfaces must be wrong. They set up a wind tunnel and began a series of experiments
with model wings. Because of their efforts, the old tables were repealed in time and replaced by
the first reliable figures for air pressure on curved surfaces. This work, in turn, made it possible
for them to design a machine that would fly. In 1903 the Wrights built their first airplane, which
cost less than one thousand dollars. They even designed and built their own source of propulsion—a
lightweight gasoline engine. When they started the engine on December 17, the airplane
pulsated wildly before taking off. The plane managed to stay aloft for twelve seconds, however,
and it flew one hundred twenty feet.
By 1905 the Wrights had perfected the first airplane that could turn, circle, and remain airborne
for half an hour at a time. Others had flown in balloons or in hang gliders, but the Wright
brothers were the first to build a full-size machine that could fly under its own power. As the
contributors of one of the most outstanding engineering achievements in history, the Wright
brothers are accurately called the fathers of aviation.
The Wright's interest in flight grew into a ____.