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Airshows by
Wright Brothers Enterprises
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Launching the glider, Oct. 10, 1902.
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Harry and the reproduction glider, Oct. 23, 2003.
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History of the 1902 - 1903 Glider
In the spring of 1902 Wilbur and Orville Wright began designing a third glider. Armed with their own revolutionary wind tunnel data and two seasons of flying experience, the Wright Brothers would create one of the most significant aircraft in history.
Unlike other experimenters who relied on the pilot's shifting body weight for control, the Wright Brothers invented a mechanical system of flight controls. Like their 1900 and 1901 gliders, the 1902 glider used a forward elevator to control up and down pitch, and a wing-tip twisting "wing-warping" mechanism to control side to side roll. However, the 1902 glider also included a double-fin fixed tail rudder to prevent the machine from spinning and crashing in turns.
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The Wright Brothers took the new machine to Kitty Hawk, NC in late August. They made several successful glides but soon discovered that the glider had a dangerous flaw. The new rudder didn't work. In fact the spinning problem, dubbed "well-digging," was getting worse. Almost every time Wilbur and Orville tried to turn, the glider would spin and crash. Then on the night of October 3, Orville had an idea. He realized that the new tail wasn't helping, it was hurting. He also realized that the tail needed to be controllable, rather than fixed. The next morning he told Wilbur, expecting him to say "Oh yes, I've already thought of that." Instead, Wilbur paused, and then added that the rudder control should be connected to the wing-warping controls so that one movement could be used to bank and turn the machine. On October 8, the brothers tried again. Wlibur climbed aboard and flew out from the hill. He threw the controls sharply to the right and made the first fully controled turn in history. The secret of flight was discovered. The Wrights would make over a thousand more flights with this machine in 1902 and 1903.
The next year, the Wright Brothers would return with a larger machine. It would have an engine and propellers, and would make world's first manned, controled, powered flight. However, it would always owe its legacy its older sibling. Today, almost all airplanes use the system of mechanical control that was perfected on the beach October 8, 1902.
Unfortunately, when the Wright Brothers returned home in 1903, they brought the 1903 Flyer with them but left the 1902 glider in their shed at Kitty Hawk. Sadly, both the shed and the glider were destroyed by violent Atlantic storms and hurricanes sometime between 1903 and 1908. To our knowledge, no part of the 1902 glider remains today.
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Wright Brothers Enterprises
Frederick, CO
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This is the History Page.
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This page was last modified: April 02, 2007.
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