Orville and Wilbur Wright

SCIENCE HERO:
ORVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT
by Zurneva Rosy
A hero, to me, is someone who perseveres, who is
willing to take risks, and who never gives up. Someone
who follows their dreams and doesn’t care what people
think. Someone who believes that anything is possible.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were two brothers who fulfill
my definition of a hero with their amazing
accomplishment of creating the first successful
airplane.
Born April 16, 1867, Wilbur was the older brother to
Orville who was born on August 19, 1871. The boys
had two other brothers and a younger sister. Their
father was a bishop at the Church of the United
Brethren in Christ and they lived most of their life in
Dayton, Indiana. As a child Orville wrote, “We were
lucky enough to grow up in an environment where
there
Orville
was Wright
always much encouragement to children to
pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever
aroused curiosity.”
Photo of Wright Brothers - Wilbur and Orville
Somewhere between 1885 and 1886, Wilbur was hit
in the head with a baseball bat while playing a game
on a frozen lake. He suffered from nervous palpitations
of the heart, keeping him homebound during the time
when his parents had planned to send him to take
courses at Yale College. He is said to have suffered
from depression at this time as well. Although this was
a setback to his dream of attending college, it did not
hold him back from the amazing discoveries that he
would make in the upcoming years with his brother.

Photo from
http://www.nasm.si.edu/wrightbrothers/
Perhaps the boys' first thoughts of creating a flying
machine to hold man began when they received a
flying toy from their father as young children. It
consisted of cork and bamboo, with a paper body, and
was powered by rubber bands. Although this toy didn’t
last very long before it was broken, the two boys
always remembered its last flight. This was the
beginning of their innovation.
Each year between 1899 and 1905 brought about a
new advance in their developing airplane. The first
years were mostly filled with research and learning
about the science of aeronautics. Wilbur became
captivated and read every book or paper he could find
on the earthbound science of human flight. They
looked at all the other earlier approaches at creating a
flying machine, and saw that the most practical way of

going about trial and error was using man-carrying
gliders. They basically focused on maintaining balance
and control rather than on creating an engine. By
1900, they had enough knowledge to build a pilotless
kite with a 5-ft. wingspan made of wood, wire and
cloth.
Photo of Night Flight at Kitty Hawk from
http://www.nasm.si.edu/wrightbrothers/
Later in 1900, they were able to create a glider that
had a 17 foot wingspan and weighed 52 lbs. They took
the glider to Kitty Hawk, their first trip there. Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina, seemed to be a promising area
because of its long isolated strips of beach. The flight
was fairly unsuccessful and the glider fell and smashed

into the sandy ground. The Wright brothers repaired it,
though, and continued the test process. Another glider
which was larger than the 1900 one was built in 1901.
It had control problems and couldn’t lift off the ground.
In 1902, though, they had greatly improved their
glider, and it was fully controllable and could hold a
human. This was the most advanced glider ever to be
created and held a world record of flying over 600 feet.
In 1903, the Wright brothers created the first
powered aircraft. This had a 40 foot wingspan, weighed
750 lbs, and had a 12 horsepower engine. The first
flight lasted 3 ½ seconds, and made it obvious that
some small changes and another try would lead to
success. They fixed the flyer and the two brothers
flipped a coin to see who would get to be the first to fly
in the plane. Wilbur won and 3 days later he flew the
plane 120 feet and for 12 seconds.
In 1905 the Wrights' experimental period came to an
end as Wilbur was able to fly their aircraft a total of 39
minutes, and for 24 ½ miles. This accomplishment was

a very important one in American history, and this is
why the Wright brothers are my heroes. I can't just say
that one success is what makes them my heroes
though; it is more the fact that they never stopped
trying. Every year they advanced in their discoveries
and they never let a failure become discouraging;
rather, they wisely used their mistakes as learning
material.
ZURNEVA ROSY

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SCIENCE HERO:

ORVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT

A hero, to me, is someone who perseveres, who is

willing to take risks, and who never gives up. Someone

who follows their dreams and doesn’t care what people

think. Someone who believes that anything is possible.

Orville and Wilbur Wright were two brothers who fulfill

my definition of a hero with their amazing

accomplishment of creating the first successful

Born April 16, 1867, Wilbur was the older brother to

Orville who was born on August 19, 1871. The boys

had two other brothers and a younger sister. Their

father was a bishop at the Church of the United

Brethren in Christ and they lived most of their life in

Dayton, Indiana. As a child Orville wrote, “We were

lucky enough to grow up in an environment where

Photo of Wright Brothers - Wilbur and Orville

Somewhere between 1885 and 1886, Wilbur was hit

in the head with a baseball bat while playing a game

on a frozen lake. He suffered from nervous palpitations

of the heart, keeping him homebound during the time

when his parents had planned to send him to take

courses at Yale College. He is said to have suffered

from depression at this time as well. Although this was

a setback to his dream of attending college, it did not

hold him back from the amazing discoveries that he

would make in the upcoming years with his brother.

machine to hold man began when they received a

flying toy from their father as young children. It

consisted of cork and bamboo, with a paper body, and

was powered by rubber bands. Although this toy didn’t

last very long before it was broken, the two boys

always remembered its last flight. This was the

beginning of their innovation.

Each year between 1899 and 1905 brought about a

new advance in their developing airplane. The first

years were mostly filled with research and learning

about the science of aeronautics. Wilbur became

captivated and read every book or paper he could find

on the earthbound science of human flight. They

looked at all the other earlier approaches at creating a

flying machine, and saw that the most practical way of

gliders. They basically focused on maintaining balance

and control rather than on creating an engine. By

1900, they had enough knowledge to build a pilotless

kite with a 5-ft. wingspan made of wood, wire and

Photo of Night Flight at Kitty Hawk from

Later in 1900, they were able to create a glider that

had a 17 foot wingspan and weighed 52 lbs. They took

the glider to Kitty Hawk, their first trip there. Kitty

Hawk, North Carolina, seemed to be a promising area

because of its long isolated strips of beach. The flight

was fairly unsuccessful and the glider fell and smashed

though, and continued the test process. Another glider

It had control problems and couldn’t lift off the ground.

In 1902, though, they had greatly improved their

glider, and it was fully controllable and could hold a

human. This was the most advanced glider ever to be

created and held a world record of flying over 600 feet.

In 1903, the Wright brothers created the first