15 Wonderful Facts About the Wright Brothers and the First Flight

Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world’s first powered, controlled flight in a heavier-than-air machine on 17 December 1903, at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville flew first, staying in the air for 12 seconds and covering 120 feet (37 metres). Later that day Wilbur flew for 59 seconds and 852 feet (260 metres).

Two bicycle makers from Dayton, Ohio, with no university education, had solved the problem that had beaten scientists for a century. Here is how they did it, and what happened next.

The Wright brothers at a glance

Wilbur Wright: born 16 April 1867, died 30 May 1912
Orville Wright: born 19 August 1871, died 30 January 1948
First flight: 17 December 1903, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
Who flew first: Orville, for 12 seconds
Longest flight that day: Wilbur, 59 seconds
The aircraft: the Wright Flyer, now in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

1A toy helicopter started it all

In 1878 their father, Milton Wright, brought home a small toy helicopter made of cork, bamboo and paper, powered by a twisted rubber band. It was based on a design by the French aviation pioneer Alphonse Pénaud. The boys played with it until it broke, then built their own copies. Both later said it was where their interest in flight began.

2They were born in different states

Wilbur was born near Millville, Indiana, in 1867, and Orville in Dayton, Ohio, in 1871. The family moved several times because of their father’s work as a bishop, but Dayton became their home and the base for all their work.

3Neither brother got a high school diploma

Wilbur completed his final year of high school, but the family moved before graduation and he never received his diploma. Orville left school early to start a printing business. Wilbur had planned to go to Yale, but a hockey stick injury to his face in his late teens left him withdrawn for several years, and he never went.

4Bicycles paid for their aircraft

The brothers first ran a printing business, then in 1892 opened the Wright Cycle Company, where they repaired, sold and later built their own bicycles. The shop gave them money for their experiments, and the skills they learned working with chains, lightweight frames and balance turned out to be ideal for building aircraft.

5They asked the Smithsonian for help

In 1899 Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian Institution asking for anything it had published on flight. The brothers read everything they were sent, and quickly realised that most of the published data on wings was wrong.

6Their big breakthrough was control, not power

Other inventors were trying to build more powerful engines. The Wrights realised that the real problem was keeping an aircraft balanced and steering it. By watching birds, and by twisting a long cardboard box in his hands, Wilbur came up with “wing warping”, twisting the wings to bank and turn. Their system of controlling an aircraft in three directions is still the basis of how planes fly today.

7They built their own wind tunnel

In 1901, frustrated by bad data, they built a small wind tunnel in their bicycle shop and tested around 200 different wing shapes. The results let them design wings that actually produced the lift they needed.

8They chose Kitty Hawk for its wind and sand

The brothers asked the US Weather Bureau where they would find strong, steady winds. Kitty Hawk, on the remote Outer Banks of North Carolina, had wind, open space, privacy and soft sand to land on. They tested gliders there from 1900 to 1902 before returning with their powered Flyer in 1903.

9Their mechanic built the engine in about six weeks

No car maker could supply an engine light and powerful enough, so their mechanic, Charlie Taylor, built one in the bicycle shop in around six weeks. It produced about 12 horsepower. The brothers carved their own propellers too, working out their shape from scratch.

10Wilbur won the coin toss, but Orville flew first

Wilbur won a coin toss and tried first, on 14 December 1903, but the Flyer stalled and came down after about three seconds, which the brothers did not count as a flight. Three days later it was Orville’s turn, and his 12-second flight on 17 December became the first. They made four flights that day, taking turns.

11The first Flyer never flew again

After the fourth flight, a strong gust of wind caught the parked Flyer and rolled it over, badly damaging it. It never flew again. Altogether it had been in the air for less than two minutes.

12Hardly anyone believed them at first

Few newspapers reported the flights, and those that did got many details wrong. The brothers kept improving their aircraft quietly near Dayton, but many people doubted their claims. That changed in 1908, when Wilbur gave public flights at Le Mans in France and amazed European crowds by flying in smooth, controlled circles.

13Orville survived the first fatal plane crash

On 17 September 1908, during a demonstration for the US Army at Fort Myer, Virginia, a propeller broke and Orville’s plane crashed. His passenger, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, was killed, the first person to die in a powered aircraft crash. Orville was badly injured but recovered.

14Their Flyer spent 20 years in London

The Smithsonian for many years said that its former secretary, Samuel Langley, had built the first aircraft capable of flight. In protest, Orville lent the original Wright Flyer to the Science Museum in London in 1928. The Smithsonian eventually withdrew its claim, and the Flyer returned to the United States in 1948, the year Orville died.

15Pieces of the Flyer have been to the Moon and Mars

Neil Armstrong carried a piece of wood and fabric from the Wright Flyer to the Moon on Apollo 11 in 1969. In 2021 NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter carried a postage-stamp-sized piece of the Flyer’s wing fabric to Mars, where it made the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.

FAQs about the Wright brothers

Which Wright brother flew first?

Orville. He made the first powered flight on 17 December 1903, lasting 12 seconds.

When and where was the first flight?

On 17 December 1903 at Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

How long did the first flight last?

12 seconds, covering 120 feet (37 metres). The longest flight that day, by Wilbur, lasted 59 seconds.

Did the Wright brothers ever marry?

No. Neither brother married. They lived together with their sister Katharine, who supported their work and later travelled with them in Europe.

How did Wilbur Wright die?

Wilbur died of typhoid fever on 30 May 1912, aged 45. Orville lived until 1948.

Where is the Wright Flyer now?

In the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Sources and further reading

• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: 1903 Wright Flyer
• US National Park Service: Wright Brothers National Memorial

Do you know any fun facts about the Wright brothers? Share them in the comments below!