“If birds can glide for long periods of time, then… why can’t I?” The Brothers Who Learned to Fly

Creation of the Masterpiece

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur were the first ones to successfully conduct aeronautical research that allowed them to create a motorized flying machine. They called this revolutionary invention the Wright Flyer. All airplanes since their breakthrough have been based on their machine. In their career, the brothers harnessed a vast amount tools for their cause, including the Air Anemometer.

A Bit of Back Story

Wilbur Wright was born in 1867, and his brother Orville followed in 1871. They had very loving parents and despite having three other siblings, Wilbur and Orville shared a special bond with each other. Their fascination with flying was sparked when their father gave them a small 50 cent toy helicopter with limited flying abilities.

Before their fame, the Wright Brothers’ first business together was a printing press for local newspapers. At their print press was the first time the brothers saw “the Wright brothers,” in ink. They continued this business until 1899, where they sold it to Ed Sines, who had been doing most of the day-to-day work.

Didn’t Go as Planned

When inventing the Wright Flyer, the two brothers actually envisioned their machine to prevent war, not encourage it. Their thinking was that airplanes would negate the element of surprise, discouraging opposing sides to attack each other. In addition, they thought airplanes were such expensive machines. The Wright brothers believed nations would avoid war due to how much more expensive it would be with aircraft. Little did they know how much of a deathly impact their invention would cause. At the beginning of WW1, the B.E.2 Aircraft was used primarily for scouting enemy trenches and gaining information. Opposing sides pushed their technology to the limits to advance cameras to take ariel photos. From 1916-1917, ariel combat was very popular and the opposing nations used the pilots as propaganda heroes. Later on in the war tactical bombing was discovered which started a new era of mass destruction.

Not All that bad

Although aviation did pave the road to easy access to mass destruction, it did also benefit the world in endless ways. Aviation supports 65 million jobs worldwide! It has never been easier for anyone to fly across the world in a couple of days! After my recent trip to Cancun, Mexico, it is safe to say I am glad they were invented.

Citations:
https://www.atag.org/our-activities/social-and-economic-benefits-of-aviation.html#:~:text=Aviation%20supports%2065.5%20million%20jobs,to%20visit%20friends%20and%20family.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothershttps://www.biography.com/news/orville-wilbur-wright-brothers-first-flight
https://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/Wright_Story/Career_Choices/Wright_&_Wright/Wright_Press_Sidebar.htm
https://wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/Just_the_Facts/Airplanes/Flyer_II.htm
https://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/Wright_Story/Career_Choices/Wright_&_Wright/Wright_Press_Sidebar.htm