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Wilbur and Orville were American inventors and pioneers of aviation. In 1903 the brothers achieved the first powered sustained and controlled airplane flight.
The Wright brothers; Wilbur and Orville were the sons of Milton (father) and Susan (mother) Wright and members of a warm, loving family that encouraged learning and doing. The bothers were both born in the United States of America (USA). Wilbur was born in 1867 near Millville, Indiana and Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1871.
Milton was a bishop in the United Brethren Church, and was often away from home on church business. He wrote hundreds of letters home, and often brought home presents from his trips, exposing his children to the world beyond their horizon. In 1878, he brought home a rubber band-powered helicopter. Young Wilbur and Orville were immediately inspired and began to build copies of it. Their fascination continued as they grew older and in 1899 they built their first model - a cloth-covered kite, that they could steer from the ground.
The brothers' both went through high school, but neither ended up with a diploma. Wilbur missed his commencement ceremony because the family moved, and Orville studied special subjects rather than the regular curriculum his senior year. They had always loved tinkering with mechanical things.
After high school, Orville built and operated a printing press. The brothers published a weekly paper that Wilbur edited. Orville was a champion cyclist, and in 1892 they opened a bicycle shop, selling and renting the newly popular vehicle.
The Wright Brothers bicycle business was at 1127 West Third Street, from 1897 to 1908. It was here that the brothers conducted their first serious aviation experiments and built their gliders and the 1903 Wright Flyer, the first successful heavier-than-air powered aircraft.
The wright brothers cycle shop | The Henry Ford's innovation nation (4:17)
The Henry Ford - YouTube
"The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through."
Evolution of the Airplane | The Wright Flyer to the Antonov An-225 Mriya (2:24)
ABC News - YouTube
AIRFLIGHT
AIRFLIGHT
Long before Wilbur and Orville Wright began their pursuit of flying, everyday people could only travel by foot, horse and buggy, train or ship. Thank you, Henry Ford, for inventing the automobile, but back then, the average person could not afford one. Traveling cross-country took weeks and even months, which also applied to mail delivery and the transport of goods. People would write letters as a means of communication, although it would take quite a while to get a reply. That is until the United States Postal Service started using airplanes to transport mail all over the nation. The ability to fly anywhere (pre-COVID) has opened up a level of globalization unheard of in the previous century. Almost every location on the planet was accessible by using air travel. Our big world had shrunk into a community of human beings able to share cultures, ideas, and so much more. The airplane did indeed changed the world!
WATCH THIS ORIGINAL FOOTAGE
WATCH THIS ORIGINAL FOOTAGE
First flight original footage.movFlights contribution to society. In the past, global cultures rarely crossed paths. Only the explorer or adventurer would be able to meet and mingle with isolated communities across continents. Shipping was instrumental in transporting goods and people around the globe, and yet, the average citizen could rarely take advantage of it. They were busy working and trying to survive. Airplanes changed all that. Now you can sample tantalizing delicacies from anywhere in the world as well as introduce yourself to peoples in remote locations anywhere there is a landing strip.
Flights contribution to the environment. An article in Nature Climate Change in May-2020 concluded that 10% of the decline in global CO2 emissions attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic was the result of the reduction in air transport operations. The article also indicated that air transport generally contributes some 2.8% of global CO2 emissions, this is a stark illustration of just how much aviation has suffered in relation to other industries, as well as of its relatively high carbon intensity.
Flights contribution to the environment. An article in Nature Climate Change in May-2020 concluded that 10% of the decline in global CO2 emissions attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic was the result of the reduction in air transport operations. The article also indicated that air transport generally contributes some 2.8% of global CO2 emissions, this is a stark illustration of just how much aviation has suffered in relation to other industries, as well as of its relatively high carbon intensity.
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