WRIGHT BROTHERS BREAK THROUGH

                          Wright Flyer (often retrospectively referred to as Flyer I and occasionally Kitty Hawk) was the first powered aircraft designed and built by the Wright Brothers. It is considered by many to be the first successful powered, piloted aircraft

                          The Flyerwas based on the Wrights' experience testing gliders at Kitty Hawk between 1900 and 1902. Their last glider, the 1902 Glider, led directly to the design of the Flyer.

                           The Wrights built the aircraft in 1903. Since they could find no suitable automobile engine for the task, they commissioned their employee Charlie Taylor to build a new design from scratch. A sprocket chain drive, borrowing from bicycle technology, powered the twin propellers, which were also made by hand.

                           The Flyer was a canard biplane configuration. The pilot flew lying on his stomach on the lower wing with his head toward the front of the craft. He steered by moving a cradle attached to his hips. The cradle pulled wires which warped the wings and turned the rudder.

                           The Flyer's"runway" was a track of 2x4s stood on their narrow end, which the brothers nicknamed the "Junction Railroad."

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