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The Flying Machine
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The
first flight took place on a cold windy day on a beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on 17
December 1903.
The brothers had a coin toss who
would fly the airplane first. It was Wilbur who attempted the first flight but was
unsuccessful and damaged the airplane. After a few days when the airplane was
repaired, it was Orville's turn. Orville was at the controls, lying down on the wing
with his hips in the cradle to operate the wing-warping mechanism. The flight lasted
12 seconds and flew a distance of 120 feet. Orville Wright sent a telegraph
message to their parents and described their successful event. The telegraph reads:
| 176 C KA CS 33 Paid.
Via Norfolk Va
Kitty Hawk N C Dec 17
Bishop M Wright
7 Hawthorne St
Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty one mile
wind started from Level with engine power alone average speed
through air thirty one mile longest 57 seconds inform Press
home Christmas.
Orville Wright 525P
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After the
event, the brothers continued to experiment in Ohio at Huffman Prairie and the Wright
Brothers were granted a patent for their invention in 1906.
In 1909, the
Wright brothers had started a company, The Wright Company, to manufacture Wright airplanes
and began their suit against another patent by Glenn Curtis and other competitors.
In 1909, the Wright Company sold its first airplane to the U.S. Army Signal Corps
for $30,000.
You can learn more about the Wright brothers by visiting these sites:
Wright Brothers |
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with questions or comments about this web site.