1903 Wright Flyer I

On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the first sustained motorized aircraft flight at 10:35 AM, piloted by Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. From the article:


"1903 Wright Flyer I

After a failed attempt on 14 Dec 1903 by Wilbur, the Wrights flew the world's first powered airplane at Kitty Hawk on 17 Dec 1903. Beginning at 10:35 AM, Orville flew it about 120-feet or 36.5 meters (in about 12 seconds. Then Wilbur flew for about 175 feet or 53.3 meters, followed by Orville who flew about 200 feet or 60.9 meters. Finally about 12:00 PM, Wilbur flew 852 feet or 259.7 meters in 59 seconds.

The Flyer I had a wooden frame in which the straight parts were spruce and the curved parts ash. The frame was covered with a finely-woven cotton cloth and was sealed with "canvas paint" similar to what sailors in Kitty Hawk used on their sails, probably paraffin dissolved in kerosene. The metal fittings were made from mild steel and the aircraft was rigged with15-gauge bicycle spoke wire. The engine block was cast from a hard aluminum alloy, 92% aluminum and 8% copper. The other parts of the engine were made from steel or cast iron, with the exception of the spark points which contained tiny bits of platinum.

Like the 1902 Glider, the Flyer I had three-axis control and was the first powered aircraft to be so equipped. The wings twisted or "warped" to roll the aircraft from side to side. The elevator (in front of the wings) pitched the aircraft nose-up and nose-down, The rudder (behind the wings) yawed the aircraft right and left. As in the 1902 Glider, the roll and yaw controls were interconnected -- when the pilot moved a cradle in which his hips rested from side to side, the wings warped and the rudder pivoted. The elevator was actuated by a lever to the pilot's left.

The Flyer I specifications:

40.3 ft (12.2 m) wingspan
0.83 ft (25 cm) anhedral
6.5 ft (198 cm) chord
6.2 ft (189 cm) separation
510 sq ft (47.4 sq. m) wing area
1:20 camber
48 sq ft (4.6 sq m) double front elevator (referred to as "horizontal rudder" by the Wrights
21 sq ft (1.9 sq m) twin movable vertical rear rudders
21.1 ft (6.4 m) overall length
605 lb (274.4 kg) total weight (without pilot)
4 cylinder engine, 12 hp at 1150 rpm
Two contra-rotating propellers, 8 ft (244 cm) long, turning at 350 rpm
The engine (on the right side of the centerline) weighed 170 lbs. or 77.1 kg. The pilots (who lay on the left side of the centerline) weighed just 145 lbs. or 65.8 kg. To compensate for this imbalance, they made the right wing 4 inches (10 cm) longer so that it would produce slightly more lift than the left.

This was the only aircraft the Wrights tried to preserve. Damaged by wind after 4th flight, they returned it to Dayton; Orville restored it in 1916 and sent it to the Kensington Science Museum in London, England in 1928. It was returned to the United States in 1948 and since 1949 the Smithsonian has displayed it as the world's first piloted powered airplane.

The plaque reads: "THE ORIGINAL WRIGHT BROTHERS AEROPLANE: The world's first power-driven, heavier-than-air machine in which man made free, controlled and sustained flight, invented and built by Wilbur and Orville Wright flown by them at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina December 17, 1903. By original scientific research the Wright Brothers discovered the principles of human flight as inventors, builders, and flyers they further developed the aeroplane, taught man to fly, and opened the era of aviation."

References:

McFarland, 1953, pp , 394-397, 1183, plates 60, 63-78.
McFarland, Marvin W. (ed) The papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1953, pp 394-397, 1183, plates 60, 63-78."