This is the story of how two honest, straightforward, hard-working Americans who have accomplished something fantastic and magical; creating a craft of stick and fabric that flew in the air like the chariots of the gods, opening the skies to all humankind. Their success came so suddenly and from such an unexpected quarter that their colleagues could not believe the Wrights had done what they claimed. After all, if well-known scientists and engineers all over the world had been puzzled in their efforts to invent the airplane, how could two common men from rustic America have succeeded?
Around the turn of the century, dozens of people were working to invent the airplane. The period of active experimentation began in 1891 when German engineer Otto Lilienthal began experimenting with hang gliders. Through an extensive study of birds and bird flight, he realized that the lift function and the thrust function of bird wings were separate and distinct, and could be imitated by different......
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Approximate Word Count: 2777
Approximate Pages: 11 (260 words per double-spaced page) |