Orville Wright & Wilbur Wright - First Piloted & Powered Airplane

Orville Wright & Wilbur Wright - First Piloted & Powered Airplane

"Flight is possible to man...[and] I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my life". - Wilbur Wright Co-Inventor of the first engined airplane.

Orville Wright (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) had requested a patent application for a "flying machine" nine months before their first successful flight, they were that confidant.

As part of the Wright Brothers' systematic practice of photographing every prototype and test of their various flying machines, they had persuaded an attendant from a nearby lifesaving station to snap Orville Wright in full flight. The craft soared to an altitude of 10 feet, traveled 120 feet, and landed 12 seconds after takeoff. After making two longer flights that day, Orville and Wilbur Wright sent a telegram to their father, instructing him to inform the press that manned flight had taken place. This was birth of the first real airplane.

Airplane Technology - How Does an Airplane Fly

All things that fly need air. Air has power to push and pull on the birds, balloons, kites and planes. So how does an airplane use the properties of air to create flight.

Post Propeller - Jet Airplane Technology

Inventors continued to improve airplanes after the Wright Brothers, and this led to the invention of jets, which are used by both the military and commercial airlines. A jet is an airplane propelled by jet engines. Jets fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes - as high as 10,000 to 15,000 meters (about 33,000 to 49,000 ft).

Two engineers, Frank Whittle of the United Kingdom and Hans von Ohain of Germany, developed the jet engine during the late 1930s.

Wright brothers in their workshop.

Wilbur and Orville Wright and Their Accomplishments, an oil painting by Dwight Mutchler, was completed in 1959. It honors Ohioans, the Wright brothers, who were first in flight. Their Dayton, Ohio bicycle shop can be seen on the right side of the . This art work is on display near the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse.