Wright Glider

The Wright brothers were two amazing inventors who dreamed of making machines that could fly. In the years 1900 to 1902, they designed, built, and flew three special gliders to help them learn how to fly. Before that, in 1899, they even tested ideas using a kite. These gliders helped them understand flying better, which was very important for their big goal of powered flight. Later, in 1911, Orville Wright tested a more advanced glider. Although none of the original gliders or the kite were kept safe, people have made exact copies of them to remember their important work. The journey of the Wright brothers with their gliders was a key step in the history of aviation.

1899 kite

In 1899, the Wright brothers made a small kite near their home in Dayton, Ohio. The kite had a wingspan of only 5 feet and was made from pine wood. Though it was too small to carry a pilot, it helped test an important idea called wing-warping for roll control. This idea was key to their later success in flight. The Wrights later burned the kite along with other items in 1905.

1900 glider

The 1900 Wright Glider was the first glider the Wright brothers built that could carry a person. They based its design on a glider made by Octave Chanute in 1896 and used information from Otto Lilienthal’s studies about how wings lift things up.

On September 23, 1900, Wilbur wrote from Kitty Hawk about his plans to practice and learn how to balance the glider. The glider weighed 52 pounds and had a wingspan of 17.5 feet. It was first flown as a kite on October 5, 1900, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Later, Wilbur made several flights with people holding ropes to keep it in the air. After the tests, the glider was left behind and eventually disappeared in storms.

1901 glider

The 1901 Wright Glider was the second glider the Wright brothers built. They flew it over the Kill Devil Hills, near a place called Kitty Hawk. This glider was bigger than their first one, with larger wings. It first flew on July 27, 1901, and they stopped using it on August 17. During that time, it made between 50 and 100 flights, some free and some held with a string like a kite.

This glider had a wingspan of 22 feet and weighed 98 pounds. The brothers found that the wings did not lift as much as they thought they would. They also discovered that turning the glider was trickier than they expected. After they finished testing, they stored the glider in a shed, but it was later damaged by strong winds. They used some parts from it for their next glider in 1902.

1902 glider

The 1902 Wright Glider was the third glider built by the Wright brothers. It was the first to have a rear rudder for better control, which helped them prepare for their powered flight in 1903.

The brothers tested many wing shapes in a wind tunnel they built themselves. They made the glider in Dayton and flew it in Kill Devil Hills from September to October 1902. With the new rudder, they could control turns better. They made over a thousand flights, with some lasting more than 600 feet and up to 26 seconds. Both brothers flew it, and they set new records for distance and time in the air. Later, they used the glider to practice before building their powered airplane.

1911 glider

In 1911, Orville Wright went back to the Kill Devil Hills with a new glider and his friend Alec Ogilvie. Orville wanted to test a new control system, but decided not to because reporters were there. Later, he used this idea in a powered airplane in 1913. This glider looked different from the earlier ones—it had a tail at the back instead of a front-mounted control surface called a canard. The pilot also sat with hand controls, unlike the earlier gliders where the pilot lay down.

On October 24, Orville flew the glider for over 9 minutes in strong wind, which was much longer than any previous glide. This record lasted until 1921 when it was broken in Germany by Wolfgang Klemperer.

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 21 ft 6 in (6.5 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 0 in (9.8 m)
• Height: 9 ft 10 in (3 m)
• Wing area: 300 sq ft (28 m²)
• Empty weight: 170 lb (77 kg)

Replicas

Many copies of the Wright gliders have been made. Rick Young, a historian from Richmond, Virginia, has built nine exact working copies of all the Wright gliders and the 1903 Flyer. His 1902 gliders have been in many films and TV shows, including a 1986 IMAX film called On the Wing. One of his 1902 copies is shown at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in their Wright Brothers gallery. The Virginia Aviation Museum at Richmond International Airport has the Wright 1899 Kite, the 1900, 1901, and 1902 gliders, and the 1903 Flyer, all built by Young. In 2011, Young made a copy of the 1911 glider to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Orville Wright’s record glide.

Copies of the 1902 glider can be seen at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park in Dayton, Ohio, the U.S. National Soaring Museum in Elmira, New York, and the San Diego Air & Space Museum in San Diego, California. A smaller copy is displayed at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver, Colorado. A team from the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company has also made copies of all three gliders. Some of these copies are still flown today.