December 17, 1903, is a day to be remembered for all who fly. That was the day 121 years ago that two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio made history with the first powered, controlled flight of an airplane.
The controlled part is most important. Others had leaped off hills in early versions of hang gliders, their bodies thrashing about in various ways to try to maintain control. The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, managed the trick with a combination of wing warping for banking, elevators for altitude control, and rudders to trim the turning motion of the airplane. Their aerodynamic contributions came from careful study and clever adaptation of their cycling craft.
Their powerplant, a 12-horsepower, 120-pound four cylinder engine, was the product of Charles E. Taylor, a machinist and mechanic in their shop. Taylor was limited in the equipment at hand, and drilled holes around the outline of the crankshaft o for the engine on a steel slab. He then hacksawed through the metal between the holes before being able to mount the shaft on a lathe and turn it to finished dimensions.

Charles Taylor’s engine was light for its era, partly because Wrights studied what European automakers were doing. The engine had no fuel pump, carburetor, spark plugs, or throttle. Yet the simple motor produced 12 horsepower, well above the Wrights’ minimum requirement of 8 horsepower.
The combination of the Wright’s careful study of the best aerodynamics of the time, coupled with the make-do machine work of Charles Taylor, made if possible for them to achieve their first flight of 120 feet from the beach at Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina. A member of the life-saving crew at that location took the photograph that chronicled their feat to the world.
121st Anniversary
Think of how far we’ve come in 121 years, from the propeller age to the jet age, with flight achieving speeds, altitudes, and distances the Brothers could not have dreamed of. We’re now seeing the birth of electric aviation, only 13 years since the Green Flight Challenge. Fred Militky flew the first successful battery powered aircraft in 1973, making the flight in Germany. Since then, we’ve seen records broken almost daily in battery development, conventional and electric Vertical Take Off and Landing craft, amphibians, and regional airliners. This rate of development seems to be speeding up, and enhanced energy sources and inspired designers, not soon to cease.
A Wright Flyer Reminiscence

Wright Flyer controls were unlike those of a modern aircraft
Your editor attended a 100th anniversary celebration in 2003 at the Seattle Museum of Flight. On display was a Smithsonian replica of the original craft and special flight simulator allowing one to lie on the lower wing and make a virtual flight. Several friends and your editor’s grandson Mitchell were along, and we all tried our hand at piloting the simulator. Since your editor was t he only private pilot in the crowd, he assumed he’d have the easiest time of it. He lasted eight second before crashing, about equivalent to a rodeo bronco ride. Others in our group met similar fates. But teenage Mitchell did 21 seconds and landed smoothly. He had no flying experience at all other than some rides in a Piper J-3. Despite the fact that they essentially invented the aircraft, the Brothers did not make it easy to fly.