اصول پرواز: راهنمای نهایی نحوه عملکرد هواپیما
در حوزه هوانوردی، چهار نیروی اساسی در طول پرواز بر روی هواپیما عمل می کنند: لیفت، وزن، رانش و درگ. این نیروها باید هماهنگ باشند تا یک هواپیما بتواند با موفقیت ...
برادران رایت
مفهوم پرواز قرن ها بشریت را مجذوب خود کرده است. از تلاش های اولیه ایکاروس تا نوآوری های پیشگامانه <anchor>برادران رایت</anchor>، توانایی اوج گرفتن از طریق آسمان یک پیگیری مداوم بوده است. اصول پرواز ریشه در اصول فیزیک و مهندسی دارد که با ترکیب آنها شگفتی های مدرنی که هواپیما هستند را ایجاد می کند. در این راهنمای جامع، ما جنبه‌های اساسی نحوه کار هواپیماها را با شروع از هسته بررسی می‌کنیم [اصول آیرودینامیک](http://principles of aerodynamics) به سیستم‌های پیچیده‌ای که به این کشتی‌ها اجازه می‌دهد برخاسته، در آسمان حرکت کنند و ایمن فرود بیایند.
Wright brothers | Biography, Inventions, Hometown, Plane, & Facts | Britannica
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[Wright brothers](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothers)

Table of Contents


- [Introduction & Top Questions](/biography/Wright-brothers)

- [Early family life](/biography/Wright-brothers#ref8024)

- [Printers and bicycle makers](/biography/Wright-brothers#ref8025)

- [Early glider experiments](/biography/Wright-brothers/Early-glider-experiments)

- [Solving the problems of lift and control](/biography/Wright-brothers/Early-glider-experiments#ref8027)

- [Powered, sustained flight](/biography/Wright-brothers/Powered-sustained-flight)

- [Making the invention public](/biography/Wright-brothers/Powered-sustained-flight#ref8029)

- [Going into business](/biography/Wright-brothers/Going-into-business)

- [Orville carries on the legacy](/biography/Wright-brothers/Going-into-business#ref8031)


[References & Edit History](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothers/additional-info) [Quick Facts & Related Topics](/facts/Wright-brothers)

[Images & Videos](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothers/images-videos)

[![Orville and Wilbur Wright](https://cdn.britannica.com/10/69210-004-3EF4F2E2/Orville-Wright-1910.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/10/69210-050-33BA2D24/Orville-Wright-1910.jpg)[![Wilbur Wright](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/5226-004-21C74C17/Wilbur-Wright.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/5226-004-21C74C17/Wilbur-Wright.jpg)[![Orville Wright](https://cdn.britannica.com/25/5225-004-BF8BD496/Orville-Wright.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/25/5225-004-BF8BD496/Orville-Wright.jpg)[![Wright glider](https://cdn.britannica.com/33/99733-004-4D7EF9AC/Side-view-level-flight-Wilbur-Wright-Kitty-October-10-1902.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/33/99733-050-45E2F492/Side-view-level-flight-Wilbur-Wright-Kitty-October-10-1902.jpg)[![Wright glider](https://cdn.britannica.com/33/18933-004-E91B5FE4/Wilbur-Wright-banking-turn-right-glider-North-October-24-1902.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/33/18933-004-E91B5FE4/Wilbur-Wright-banking-turn-right-glider-North-October-24-1902.jpg)[![first flight by Orville Wright, December 17, 1903](https://cdn.britannica.com/38/4738-004-F9A19A6F/Orville-Wright-history-airplane-flight-Kill-Devil-December-17-1903.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/38/4738-050-C1D653C7/Orville-Wright-history-airplane-flight-Kill-Devil-December-17-1903.jpg)[![Wright flyer, 1905](https://cdn.britannica.com/28/166928-004-EA9D64C6/Wright-brothers-flying-machine-controls-Huffman-Prairie-October-4-1905.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/28/166928-050-56FE97A6/Wright-brothers-flying-machine-controls-Huffman-Prairie-October-4-1905.jpg)[![Orville Wright](https://cdn.britannica.com/74/135174-159-EFE67F1A/Orville-Wright-brothers-airplane-US-Army-Fort-Sept-9-1908.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/74/135174-050-D1D66555/Orville-Wright-brothers-airplane-US-Army-Fort-Sept-9-1908.jpg)[![Orville Wright: flight of the first military airplane, 1909](https://cdn.britannica.com/75/23175-138-940D3289/world-military-airplane-pilot-Orville-Wright-Frank-1909.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)](/video/23175/world-military-airplane-pilot-Orville-Wright-Frank-1909)[![Wilbur Wright](https://cdn.britannica.com/76/135176-004-71112A5A/Wilbur-Wright.jpg)](https://cdn.britannica.com/76/135176-050-C8185D11/Wilbur-Wright.jpg)

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[What Very Big Thing Happened on This Day?](/quiz/what-very-big-thing-happened-on-this-day)

[![NASA's Reduced Gravity Program provides the unique weightless or zero-G environment of space flight for testing and training of human and hardware reactions. NASA used the turbojet KC-135A to run these parabolic flights from 1963 to 2004.](https://cdn.britannica.com/44/154144-131-EA176216/Gravity-Program-NASA-space-flight-human-testing-2004.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/quiz/history-of-flight-quiz)

[History of Flight Quiz](/quiz/history-of-flight-quiz)

[![NASA's Reduced Gravity Program provides the unique weightless or zero-G environment of space flight for testing and training of human and hardware reactions. NASA used the turbojet KC-135A to run these parabolic flights from 1963 to 2004.](https://cdn.britannica.com/44/154144-131-EA176216/Gravity-Program-NASA-space-flight-human-testing-2004.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/quiz/all-about-the-wright-brothers-quiz)

[All About The Wright Brothers Quiz](/quiz/all-about-the-wright-brothers-quiz)

Related Questions


- [What did the Wright brothers invent?](/question/What-did-the-Wright-brothers-invent)
- [Is Internet technology "making us stupid"?](/question/Is-Internet-technology-making-us-stupid)
- [What is the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technology on society?](/question/What-is-the-impact-of-artificial-intelligence-AI-technology-on-society)

Read Next


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[10 Inventions That Changed Your World](/list/10-inventions-that-changed-your-world)

[![Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.](https://cdn.britannica.com/09/221409-131-22325294/Helen-Keller-Anne-Sullivan-Deliverance-1919.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/story/how-did-helen-keller-fly-a-plane)

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[History of Technology Timeline](/story/history-of-technology-timeline)

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Discover


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[12 Greek Gods and Goddesses](/list/12-greek-gods-and-goddesses)

[![The Battle of New Orleans, by E. Percy Moran, c. 1910. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812.](https://cdn.britannica.com/94/159994-131-8E828D22/Battle-of-New-Orleans-oil-painting-E-1910.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/story/25-decade-defining-events-in-us-history)

[26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History](/story/25-decade-defining-events-in-us-history)

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[First Day of Fall](/story/first-day-of-fall)

[![Clouds of smoke rise from fires at the World Trade Center Towers as a result of terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Photographed 9:54 am in Lower Manhattan.](https://cdn.britannica.com/24/199824-131-8B2223A9/smoke-rise-Clouds-fires-result-terrorist-attack-September-11-2001.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop)](/list/timeline-of-the-september-11-attacks)

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Contents


[Technology](/browse/Technology)[Engineering](/browse/Engineering)[Aerospace Engineering & Aviation](/browse/Aerospace-Engineering)

[![](https://cdn.britannica.com/10/69210-050-33BA2D24/Orville-Wright-1910.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/10/69210-050-33BA2D24/Orville-Wright-1910.jpg)

[Orville and Wilbur Wright](https://cdn.britannica.com/10/69210-050-33BA2D24/Orville-Wright-1910.jpg) Orville Wright (left) and Wilbur Wright, c. 1910.(more)

# Wright brothers

American aviators



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External Websites


- [National Park Service - Wright Brothers National Memorial North Carolina](https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm)
- [Smithsonian - National Air and Space Museum - The Wright Brothers](https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/wright-brothers)
- [Space.com - Wright Brothers and the First Airplane Flight](https://www.space.com/16634-wright-brothers-first-flight.html)
- [The Henry Ford - Wilbur and Orville Wright](https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/stories-of-innovation/visionaries/the-wright-brothers/)
- [HistoryNet - Wright Brothers: A Promise of Flight Fulfilled](https://www.historynet.com/wright-brothers-a-promise-of-flight-fulfilled/)

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

- [Wilbur and Orville Wright - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)](https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Wilbur-and-Orville-Wright/353940)
- [Wilbur and Orville Wright - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)](https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Wilbur-and-Orville-Wright/277808)



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External Websites


- [National Park Service - Wright Brothers National Memorial North Carolina](https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm)
- [Smithsonian - National Air and Space Museum - The Wright Brothers](https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/wright-brothers)
- [Space.com - Wright Brothers and the First Airplane Flight](https://www.space.com/16634-wright-brothers-first-flight.html)
- [The Henry Ford - Wilbur and Orville Wright](https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/stories-of-innovation/visionaries/the-wright-brothers/)
- [HistoryNet - Wright Brothers: A Promise of Flight Fulfilled](https://www.historynet.com/wright-brothers-a-promise-of-flight-fulfilled/)

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

- [Wilbur and Orville Wright - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)](https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Wilbur-and-Orville-Wright/353940)
- [Wilbur and Orville Wright - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)](https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Wilbur-and-Orville-Wright/277808)


Written by


[Tom D. Crouch\
\
Curator Emeritus, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. Author of _The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright_ and many others.](/contributor/Tom-D-Crouch/4335)

Tom D. Crouch

Fact-checked by

[The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica\
\
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.](/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419)

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated:

Jul 30, 2024
• [Article History](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothers/additional-info#history)


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Top Questions


### What did the Wright brothers invent?

The Wright brothers invented the first [airplane](https://www.britannica.com/technology/airplane) that could be controlled by the pilot. Among their many creations, they built the [1902 Wright glider](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wright-glider-of-1902), which was the first controlled glider with a movable rudder that allowed the pilot to more precisely control yaw, and the [1905 Wright flyer](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wright-flyer-of-1905), which was the first practical flying machine.

### When was the Wright brothers’ first successful powered, sustained flight?

Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful self-propelled sustained flight on December 17, 1903. The flight lasted 12 seconds, and the aircraft flew approximately 20 feet (6 metres) above the ground for 120 feet (36 metres).

### Where was the Wright brothers’ first successful powered, sustained flight?

The Wright brothers’ first successful self-propelled sustained flight occurred at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, in 1903. They had previously tested gliders at Kitty Hawk, a village on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

### Did Neil Armstrong pay homage to the Wright brothers?

On his mission to the Moon in 1969, U.S. astronaut [Neil Armstrong](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Neil-Armstrong) took along small pieces of fabric and propeller from the original [1903 Wright flyer](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wright-flyer-of-1903) in his “personal preference kit,” a bag of items that each astronaut is allowed to take on a mission.

### Who was Katharine Wright?

Katharine Wright was the younger sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright. She was instrumental in the promotion of the Wright brothers’ inventions in Europe, where she was seen as more charismatic and outgoing than her brothers. Along with her brothers, she was awarded the Legion of Honor in France.

[![](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/5226-004-21C74C17/Wilbur-Wright.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/5226-004-21C74C17/Wilbur-Wright.jpg)

[Wilbur Wright](https://cdn.britannica.com/26/5226-004-21C74C17/Wilbur-Wright.jpg)(more)

[![](https://cdn.britannica.com/25/5225-004-BF8BD496/Orville-Wright.jpg?w=300)](https://cdn.britannica.com/25/5225-004-BF8BD496/Orville-Wright.jpg)

[Orville Wright](https://cdn.britannica.com/25/5225-004-BF8BD496/Orville-Wright.jpg)(more)

**Wright brothers**, were [American](https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States) [inventors](https://www.britannica.com/topic/inventor) and [aviation](https://www.britannica.com/technology/aviation) pioneers who achieved the first powered, [sustained](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/sustained), and controlled [airplane](https://www.britannica.com/technology/airplane) flight (1903). [Wilbur Wright](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilbur-Wright) (April 16, 1867, near Millville, Indiana, U.S.—May 30, 1912, Dayton, Ohio) and his brother [Orville Wright](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Orville-Wright) (August 19, 1871, Dayton—January 30, 1948, Dayton) also built and flew the first fully practical [airplane](https://www.britannica.com/technology/airplane) (1905).

_[(Read Orville Wright’s 1929 biography of his brother, Wilbur.)](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Orville-Wright-on-Wilbur-Wright-2215554)_

## Early family life

Wilbur and Orville were the sons of Milton Wright, an ordained minister of the Church of the United [Brethren in Christ](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brethren-in-Christ), and Susan Catherine Koerner Wright, whom Milton had met while he was training for the ministry and while Susan was a student at a United Brethren college in Hartsville, [Indiana](https://www.britannica.com/place/Indiana-state). Two boys, Reuchlin (1861–1920) and Lorin (1862–1939), were born to the couple before Wilbur was born on a farm near Millville. The young family then moved to [Dayton](https://www.britannica.com/place/Dayton-Ohio), [Ohio](https://www.britannica.com/place/Ohio-state), so that Milton could take up duties as the editor of a church newspaper. In that city a pair of twins, Otis and Ida, were born and died in 1870. Orville arrived a year later, followed by Katharine (1874–1929).

Elected a bishop of the church in 1877, Milton spent long periods of time away from home visiting the Brethren congregations for which he was responsible. The family moved often: to [Cedar Rapids](https://www.britannica.com/place/Cedar-Rapids), [Iowa](https://www.britannica.com/place/Iowa-state), in 1878; to a farm near [Richmond](https://www.britannica.com/place/Richmond-Indiana), Indiana, in 1881; and back to Dayton in 1884. The Wright children were educated in public schools and grew up, as Orville later explained, in a home where “there was always much encouragement to children to pursue [intellectual](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual) interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity.” In a less-nourishing [environment](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environment), Orville believed, “our curiosity might have been nipped long before it could have borne fruit.”

[![Quiz thumbnail, "What Happened on this Very Important Date" quiz. A push pin on a calendar](https://cdn.britannica.com/88/259288-131-D51AA72F/quiz-thumbnail-what-happened-on-this-very-important-date.jpg)\
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Britannica Quiz\
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What Very Big Thing Happened on This Day?](/quiz/what-very-big-thing-happened-on-this-day)

These were not tranquil years for Bishop Wright. As the leader of a [conservative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservative) faction opposed to modernization in the church, he was involved in a 20-year struggle that led to a national [schism](https://www.britannica.com/topic/schism) in 1889 and was followed by multiple lawsuits for possession of church property. Even as these decades of crisis were approaching a conclusion, an entirely new conflict developed, this time within the small schismatic branch that Bishop Wright had led away from the original church. The resulting church disciplinary hearings and civil court cases continued up to the time of the bishop’s retirement in 1905.

Bishop Wright exercised an extraordinary influence on the lives of his children. Wilbur and Orville, like their father, were independent thinkers with a deep confidence in their own talents, an unshakable faith in the soundness of their judgment, and a determination to persevere in the face of disappointment and adversity. Those qualities, when combined with their unique technical gifts, help to explain the success of the Wright brothers as inventors. At the same time, the bishop’s rigid [adherence](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adherence) to principle and disinclination to negotiate disputes may have had some influence on the manner in which the brothers, later in life, conducted the marketing of their invention.

## Printers and bicycle makers

![](https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp)

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Wilbur and Orville were the only members of the Wright family who did not attend college or marry. Wilbur’s plans to enter college came to an end when he was injured in a [hockey](https://www.britannica.com/sports/ice-hockey) accident in the winter of 1885–86. He spent the following three years recovering his health, reading extensively in his father’s library, assisting the bishop with his legal and church problems, and caring for his invalid mother, who died of [tuberculosis](https://www.britannica.com/science/tuberculosis) in 1889.

Following their mother’s death, Orville, who had spent several summers learning the [printing](https://www.britannica.com/topic/printing-publishing) trade, persuaded Wilbur to join him in establishing a print shop. In addition to normal printing services, the brothers edited and published two short-lived local newspapers. They also published another newspaper, _The Tattler_, for Dayton’s African American [community](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community), which was edited by poet [Paul Laurence Dunbar](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Laurence-Dunbar), a high-school classmate of Orville’s. They developed a local reputation for the quality of the [presses](https://www.britannica.com/technology/printing-press) that they designed, built, and sold to other printers. These printing presses were one of the first indications of the Wright brothers’ extraordinary technical ability and their unique approach to the solution of problems in mechanical design.

In 1892 the brothers opened a bicycle sales and repair shop, and they began to build [bicycles](https://www.britannica.com/technology/bicycle) on a small scale in 1896. They developed their own self-oiling bicycle wheel [hub](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/hub) and installed a number of light [machine tools](https://www.britannica.com/technology/machine-tool) in the shop. Profits from the print shop and the bicycle operation eventually were to fund the Wright brothers’ aeronautical experiments from 1899 to 1905. In addition, the experience of designing and building lightweight, precision machines of wood, wire, and metal tubing was ideal preparation for the construction of flying machines.

In later years the Wrights dated their fascination with flight to a small [helicopter](https://www.britannica.com/technology/helicopter) toy that their father had brought home from his travels when the family was living in Iowa. A decade later, they had read accounts of the work of the German glider pioneer [Otto Lilienthal](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Otto-Lilienthal). But it was news reports of Lilienthal’s death in a [glider](https://www.britannica.com/technology/glider-aircraft) crash in August 1896 that marked the beginning of their serious interest in flight. By 1899 the brothers had exhausted the resources of the local library and had written to the [Smithsonian Institution](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Smithsonian-Institution) for suggestions as to further reading in aeronautics. The following year they wrote to introduce themselves to [Octave Chanute](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Octave-Chanute), a leading [civil engineer](https://www.britannica.com/technology/civil-engineering) and an authority on [aviation](https://www.britannica.com/technology/aviation) who would remain a [confidant](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/confidant) of the brothers during the critical years from 1900 to 1905.