Failure™ Magazine

Get Your Wings

On the centennial of first flight, rediscover the remarkable achievements of the Wright Brothers.

Written by Jason Zasky   Filed under History, Science & Technology

In the spring of 1899, the Wrights began investigating the problem of flight by reading a book on ornithology—a branch of zoology dealing with birds. In May of that year, Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian Institution, telling them he was about to begin a “systematic study of the subject,” and requested any publications available with information about flying. The brothers were thoroughly impressed by the list of people who had conducted failed flight experiments. Among those were Sir Hiram Maxim (inventor of the machine gun), Thomas Edison, and Dr. Samuel P. Langley, secretary of the Smithsonian.

“At that time, there were two major thoughts on how to solve the problem of flight,” notes Collins. “In one group were the people who felt it was only a question of developing high horsepower engines and sticking those engines in airplane frames.” Langley subscribed to this theory, and using government funds, designed and built what he called an aerodrome—essentially a full-scale version of a model—which he attempted to launch on two separate occasions from a houseboat on the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. The second attempt took place on December 8, 1903—just nine days before the historic first flight. The craft was thrust into the air by a spring-loaded catapult, but immediately flipped back on itself and crashed into the Potomac, an embarrassing incident that a New York Times editorial dubbed, “Langley’s Folly.” A storm of derision in the press prevented Langley from obtaining additional funding, and he died just a few years later.

Meanwhile, the Wright Brothers took a different approach, believing that power was a secondary issue and that it was necessary to acquire flying skill and knowledge in order to control an airplane. “In 1899, they began their experiments in Dayton with a five-foot kite,” relates Collins. “What they were testing with the kite was a method of keeping the wings level in flight by twisting the tips of the wings. It worked so well they decided to build a man-carrying glider.”

By this time, Wilbur and Orville had pored over virtually every book and article in existence related to flying. Most notably, they read “Progress In Flying Machines” (1894) by Octave Chanute, an exhaustive history of attempts to solve the problem of flight, with in-depth analysis of advances and past failures. Chanute would soon become a friend and mentor (he was on hand for many of the experiments at Kill Devil Hills), and frequently corresponded with Wilbur over a ten-year period that began in May of 1900.

The Mosquito Coast
By 1900, the Wright Brothers had come to the conclusion that weather conditions in Dayton were unsuitable for flying gliders. In their trademark methodical way, they obtained a listing of all the weather stations on the East Coast and then researched statistics from the U.S. Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C. After reviewing the statistics and corresponding with an individual named William Tate (who lived near the weather station at Kitty Hawk), the Wright Brothers determined that North Carolina’s Outer Banks were perfectly suited for their experiments. “Tate gave them a personal invitation,” says Collins. “But he also described the area as it was at the turn of the century—no trees, no grass, and wide open beaches with soft sand dunes. It was an ideal place to fly gliders.”

However, as far as the Wright Brothers were concerned, the area had several major drawbacks. To begin with, the trip from Dayton to the North Carolina coast took several days, and crossing the sound to the Outer Banks was yet another ordeal. “At the time, it was a pretty isolated place,” reminds Collins. “The only way to get to the Outer Banks was by sailboat; there were no roads or bridges.” Supplies had to be hauled two miles from the nearest boat landing to the Wright Brothers’ campsite, which was located in the midst of four sand dunes called the Kill Devil Hills of Kitty Hawk. “One of the oldest legends is that there was a local who had a whiskey still hidden amongst the hills. People said the drink he made was so bad it would kill the devil,” allows Collins.

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