Wright brothers and Diavik Airport: Difference between pages

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{{Infobox Airport

{|align=right

| name = Diavik Airport

|[[Image:Orville Wright.jpg|thumb|Orville Wright]]

| nativename =

|[[Image:Wilbur Wright.jpg|thumb|Wilbur Wright]]

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The '''Wright brothers''', '''Orville Wright''' ([[August 19]], [[1871]] - [[January 30]], [[1948]]) and '''Wilbur Wright''' ([[April 16]], [[1867]] - [[May 30]], [[1912]]), are generally credited with the design and construction of the first practical [[aeroplane]], and making the first controllable, powered heavier-than-air [[flight]] along with many other aviation milestones. However, their accomplishments have been subject to many [[first flying machine |counter-claims]] by some people and nations at their start, and through to the present day.

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==Early career and research==

| caption =

Wilbur Wright was born in [[Millville, Indiana|Millville]], [[Indiana]] in [[1867]], AND KILLED BIN LADEN AND RAPED HIMOrville in [[Dayton, Ohio|Dayton]], [[Ohio]] in 1871. Both received high school educations but no diplomas. And their biggest achievment is FUCKIN MONKEY KING!!!!

| IATA =

| ICAO = CDK2

| type = Private

| owner-oper = [[Diavik Diamond Mine]]s

| city-served =

| ___location = Diavik Diamond Mine

| elevation-f = 1,413

| elevation-m = 431

| coordinates = {{Coord|64|30|41|N|110|17|22|W|type:airport}}

| website = [http://www.diavik.ca/index.htm www.diavik.ca/]

| metric-elev =

| metric-rwy =

| r1-number = 10T/28T

| r1-length-f = 5,004

| r1-length-m = 1,525

| r1-surface = [[Gravel]]

}}

'''Diavik Airport''' {{Airport codes|||CDK2}}, is a private aerodrome in the [[Northwest Territories]], [[Canada]] that serves the [[Diavik Diamond Mine]]. It's situated in a busy area due to the closeness of [[Ekati Airport]]. Prior permission is required to land except in the case of an emergency.

The Wright brothers grew up in Dayton, where they opened a [[bicycle]] repair, design and manufacturing company (the [[Wright Cycle Company]]) in 1892. They used the occupation to fund their growing interest in flight. Drawing on the work of [[Sir George Cayley]], [[Octave Chanute]], [[Otto Lilienthal]] and [[Samuel Pierpont Langley]], they began their mechanical aeronautical experimentation in 1899. The brothers extended the technology of flight by emphasizing control of the aircraft (instead of increased power) for taking off into the air. They developed three-axis control and established principles of control still used today.

==External link==

The Wrights had researched and initially relied upon the aeronautical literature of the day, including Lilienthal's tables; but finding that the Smeaton Coefficient (a variable in the formula for lift and the formula for drag) was wrong, had a [[wind tunnel]] built by their employee, [[Charlie Taylor]], and tested over two hundred different wing shapes in it, eventually devising their own tables relating air pressure to wing shape. Their work and projects with bicycles, gears, bicycle motors, and balance (while riding a bicycle), were critical to their success in creating the mechanical airplane.

*[http://www.copanational.org/PlacesToFly/airport_view.php?pr_id=8&ap_id=1039 Page about this airport] on [[Canadian Owners and Pilots Association|COPA's]] ''Places to Fly'' airport directory

==References==

During their research, the Wrights always worked together, and their contributions to the aeroplane's development are inseparable.

*{{CFS}}

{{Canadian Airports}}

==Flights==

[[Category:Airports in the Northwest Territories]]

===Toward first flight===

[[Image:Wrightflyer.jpg|thumb|300px|First flight, December 17, 1903.]]

The Wright Brothers were noted for placing the emphasis of their aviation research on navigational control rather than simply lift and propulsion which would make sustained flight practical. To that end, they first made gliders (beginning in 1899), using an intricate system called “[[wing warping]].” If one wing bent one way, it would receive more lift, which would make the plane lift. If they could control how the gliders' wings warped, then it would make flying much easier. To allow warping in the first gliders, they had to keep the front and rear posts that hold up the glider unbraced. The warping was then controlled by wire running through the wings, which led to sticks the flyer held, and he could pull one or the other to make it turn left or right.

{{NorthwestTerritories-airport-stub}}

In 1900 they went to [[Kitty Hawk, North Carolina|Kitty Hawk]], [[North Carolina]] to continue their aeronautical work, choosing Kitty Hawk (specifically a sand dune called Kill Devil Hill) on the advice of a National Weather Service meterologist because of its strong and steady winds and because its remote ___location afforded the brothers privacy from prying eyes in the highly competitive race to invent a successful heavier-than-air flying machine. They experimented with gliders at Kitty Hawk from 1900 through 1902, each year constructing a new glider. Their last glider, the [[Wright Glider of 1902]], applied many important innovations in flight, and the brothers made over a thousand flights with it. On [[March 23]], [[1903]] they applied for a [[patent]] (granted as U.S. patent number 821,393, "Flying-Machine", on [[May 23]], [[1906]]) for the novel technique of controlling lateral movement and turning by "wing warping". By 1903, the Wright Brothers were perhaps the most skilled glider pilots in the world.

[[lmo:Diavik Airport]]

[[Image:Stamp-ctc-first-flight.jpg|left|thumb|USPS stamp depicting the "first flight."]]

[[pms:Diavik Airport]]

In 1903, they built the [[Wright Flyer]] -- later the ''Flyer I'' (today popularly known as the ''Kitty Hawk''), carved propellers and had an engine built by Taylor in their bicycle shop in [[Dayton, Ohio|Dayton]], [[Ohio]]. The propellers had an 80% efficiency rate. The engine was superior to manufactured ones, having a low enough weight-to-power ratio to use on an aeroplane. (The chain used in the engine was a bicycle chain, not surprisingly.)

Then on [[December 17]], [[1903]], the Wrights took to the air, both of them twice. The first flight, by Orville, of 39 meters (120 feet) in 12 seconds, was recorded in a famous photograph. In the fourth flight of the same day, the only flight made that day which was actually controlled, Wilbur Wright flew 279 meters (852 ft) in 59 seconds. [http://www.thewrightbrothers.org/fivefirstflights.html].

The flights were witnessed by 4 lifesavers and a boy from the village, making it arguably the first public flight. A local newspaper reported the event, inaccurately. Only one other newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, printed the story the next day.

The ''Flyer I'' cost less than a thousand dollars to construct. It had a wingspan of 40 feet (12 m), weighed 750 pounds (340 kg), and sported a 12 horsepower (9 kW), 170 pound (77 kg) engine.

===Trouble establishing legitimacy===

The Wrights established a flying field at [[Huffman Prairie]], near Dayton, and continued work in 1904, building the ''Flyer II'' and using a [[Assisted take off|catapult take-off system]] to compensate for the lack of wind in this ___location. By the end of the year, the Wright Brothers had sustained 105 flights, some of them of 5 minutes, circling over the prairie, which is now part of [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]]. In 1905, they built an improved aeroplane, the ''Flyer III''.

In 1904 and 1905, the Wright Brothers conducted over 105 flights from Huffman Prairie in Dayton, inviting the press and friends and neighbors. Here they completed the first aerial circle and by [[October 5]], [[1905]] Wilbur set a record of over 39 minutes in the air and 24 1/2 miles (39 km), circling over Huffman Prairie.

The press was not sympathetic to the Wright Brothers. When a large contingent of journalists arrived at the field in 1904, for instance, the Wrights were experiencing mechanical difficulties, and were unable to correct them within two days. As a result, the first local report of the flights appeared in a beekeeping magazine. The news was not widely known outside of Ohio, and was often met with skepticism. The [[Paris, France|Paris]] edition of the ''[[International Herald Tribune|Herald Tribune]]'' headlined a 1906 article on the Wrights "FLYERS OR LIARS?"

This was reinforced by the fact that the Wright Brothers, wary of the competition stealing their plans, refused to make public demonstrations of their machines or take part in air shows before signing firm contracts with the military. They attempted to sign contracts with the US army, the French army, the English army, and even the German army, but all refused as they had not been shown the flying machine in operation. Thus, ridiculed by the press, the Wright brothers continued their work in semi-obscurity, while other pilot pioneers like Franco-Brazilian pioneer [[Alberto Santos-Dumont]] or US pioneer [[Glenn Curtiss]] were occupying the limelight.

Santos-Dumont received a world triumph after succeeding with the first public take-off, flight, and landing in the history of aviation, flying 60 meters with his ''[[Santos-Dumont 14-bis|Oiseau de proie]]'' aircraft during a public demonstration at Bagatelle, on the outskirts of [[Paris]], on [[October 23]], [[1906]]. On [[November 12]] he flew 220 meters. It was a very pale performance compared to the 39 kilometers flown by the Wright Brothers the year before, but at the time the October 23, 1906 flight in Paris was thought to be the first flight of an airplane in human history, as people were unaware or doubtful of the previous flights of the Wright Brothers. As for Glenn Curtiss, he succeeded with America's first public and official airplane flight on [[July 4]], [[1908]].

===Acceptance===

[[Image:Wright-Fort Myer.jpg|thumb|300px|Demonstrating flight to the U.S. Army, September 17, 1908.]]

It is only after they signed a contract with the US Army and a French company that the Wright Brothers accepted to take part in public demonstrations and flying contests. Their first public demonstration was held on [[August 8]], [[1908]], on the racing track of [[Le Mans]], [[Sarthe]] ''[[département]]'', [[France]], where Wilbur Wright took the command of the Wright Flyer model A and made a series of technically challenging flights, demonstrating to the world his skills as a pilot as well as the potential of his flying machine, far surpassing all other pilot pioneers. The Wright Brothers became world famous overnight.

Orville Wright followed his brother's success by demonstrating the flyer to the [[United States Army]] at [[Fort Myer]], Virginia on [[September 17]], [[1908]]. [[Thomas Selfridge]] became the first person killed in a powered airplane on that day (Charlie Furnas had become the first air passenger on [[May 14]]), when a propeller failure caused the crash of the passenger-carrying plane Orville was piloting. Orville broke a leg and two ribs. (This was the only serious accident the Wrights suffered.) In late 1908, Madame Hart O. Berg became the first woman to fly when she flew with Wilbur Wright in Le Mans, France.

The French public was thrilled by the feat of Wilbur Wright, and the Wright Brothers were offered the direction of a flying school in the Sarthe ''département'', and later in [[Pau]], southern France, which they accepted. Later, they returned to the United States. On [[September 29]], [[1909]], one million New-Yorkers witnessed the extraordinary [[Wright Brothers flights of 1909|flight]] of Wilbur Wright above the Hudson River and around the Statue of Liberty, which solidly established the fame of the Wright Brothers in America.

Also in 1909, the Wrights won the first US military aviation contract when they built a machine that met the requirements of a two-seater, capable of flights of an hour's duration, at an average of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) and land undamaged. $30,000 of the federal budget was reserved for military aviation. That year the Wrights were also building Wright Flyers in factories in Dayton and in [[Germany]].

On [[October 25]], [[1910]], the Wright Brothers were engaged by Max Moorehouse of [[Columbus, Ohio]] to undertake the first commercial air cargo shipment. Moorehouse, owner of Moorehouse-Marten's Department store in Columbus, asked if the Wright Brothers could carry a shipment of silk ribbon from a wholesaler in Dayton to Columbus. The Wright brothers agreed to the proposal, adding that their pilot and airplane would put on an exhibition once the cargo was delivered to the Driving Park landing area on the east side of Columbus. Moorehouse, in turn, agreed to pay the Wrights $5,000 for the service, which was more an exercise in advertising than a simple delivery. The actual flight occurred on [[November 7]], [[1910]], with the Model "B" Wright Flyer piloted by [[Phil Parmalee]]. The 62 mile (100 km) flight took 62 minutes, with Parmalee overtaking the [[Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway|Big Four]] express train in London, Ohio. In addition to carrying the first air-freight, Parmalee's speed of 60 miles an hour (97 km/h) set a world record for in-flight speed. For the return trip, however, the Wright Flyer was loaded on a train the night of the world record flight, and Parmalee returned to Dayton on the same Big Four Express train that he overtook in the air the day before.

The Wrights took over 300 photographs of flights and many other events of those pioneer days of aviation.

The Wrights were involved in several patent battles, which they won in 1914. Wilbur died from [[typhoid fever]] in 1912, an event Orville never completely recovered from. Orville sold his interests in the airplane company in 1915 and died thirty-three years later from a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] while fixing the doorbell to his home, [[Hawthorn Hill]], in [[Oakwood, Montgomery County, Ohio|Oakwood, Ohio]]. Neither brother married. The ''Flyer I'' is now on display in the [[National Air and Space Museum]] in [[Washington, D.C.]].

==Earlier and later flying craft==

There are many claims of earlier flights made by other flying machines in various categories and qualifications. See [[First flying machine]].

[[Lighter-than-air]] balloons, dirigibles, airships had been taking people into the sky for much of the 18th century before the Wrights, and several people had been working on heavier-than-air flying machines as well. Numerous claims before the Wrights aspire to the title of being the first powered, controlled, and self-sustaining flight (or minor variations of this classification). Several claims are actually after the Wrights, and lay claim by discounting the Wrights' attempt either on the basis of its authenticity (that it's valid enough), on some technical basis of the flyer in relation to the technical details to the title, or sometimes both. (Note that claims earlier than the Wrights are often criticized on similar grounds.)

The Wrights' flights have what is usually considered to be reasonable proof, including photos and multiple eyewitnesses. However, some of the strongest claims lie in the design qualities of the craft itself and the spread of those features to other pioneers. The ability of the Wrights to demonstrate the source of, and in many cases explain, the features that they combined and developed into the first working airplane (aeroplane), along with the ability to see these same features turn up in later craft is among the most powerful evidence of what they accomplished.

Many earlier attempts featured powerful powerplants or very light powerplants. Many had wing designs of some effectiveness. Many had the ability to glide (translate forward speed into lift), and some had control mechanisms. The Wright Brothers' patented three-axis system of control, using wing warping (later supplanted by other 3-axis control systems), an effective wing design for the craft's weight, a light enough motor with power to maintain steady flight, an effective system to turn the engine power into thrust (the propeller), and some other features allowed it to be significantly better than any previous manned flying machine. The careful balance between all these areas are seen in any craft capable of sustained flight, and they first happened in the flyer.

Still, controversy in the credit for invention of the airplane has been fuelled by the Wrights' secrecy while their patent was prepared, by the pride of nations, by the number of firsts made possible by the basic invention, and other assorted issues.

There has also been much debate about whether the Wright Brothers' early flights (as well as those of earlier claims) flew high enough to be out of [[ground effect]].

Another source of attack is that some of the recreations of the Wright ''Flyer'' do not fly. The reasons for failures of recreations usually stem from an inability to know exactly the Wrights' design and to duplicate the conditions of the flight. Things that even the Wrights do not know about the ''Flyer I'' that enabled it to fly are lost to history, such as things like the octane of the fuels used, and the small details of aerodynamics that can have disproportionate effect on the ability of planes to fly. The Wrights' initial troubles with their own recreation, the ''Flyer II'', makes the matter even harder. Regardless, some recreations do fly, and the ''Flyer II'''s impressive performance and flights largely vindicate the design.

After their Kitty Hawk flights, which used a rail but no mechanical assistance in windy conditions, the Wrights developed a weight-powered catapult in Ohio to aid initial acceleration. This method of launching has been the source of controversy for some attacks on the Wrights' claim. Some consider that a plane incapable of taking off using its own power could not be a true aircraft, but choosing a non-standard definition does not necessarily exclude the Wrights.

Just as many aircraft do not have enough power to take off in certain conditions, the ''Flyer'''s trouble with achieving its take off speed on land is not a real issue. The ''Flyer'' did manage to get off the ground under its own power in some instances, and its powered and controlled flights after it was aided in achieving its take-off speed by the catapult largely redeem it. Furthermore, if an aircraft does not have enough peak power to overcome the extra drag from being in contact with the ground, some other means must be found to overcome it. This is done in a number of ways. In modern aircraft a landing gear and long runways enable them to build up to take-off speed. This important advancement would have to wait till [[Alberto Santos-Dumont]] and the flight of the 14-Bis to be implemented in aircraft. This machine used the Wright's essential developments. Catapults do remain in use on aircraft carriers where planes cannot build enough speed to take off, and these still make use of landing gear.

Most counter-claims to having the 'first plane' often have some truth to them. Many heavier-than-air aircraft became airborne before the Wrights, but lacked control. Endlessly more advanced machines came after. But the Wright ''Flyer'' stands out as the first practical flying machine (airplane/aeroplane) with a combination of features not used before, but included in all that came later, to this day (effective wings, 3-axis control, an effective system to generate power and turn into thrust, and an effective takeoff system).

==The Smithsonian issue==

In the early 1900s professor [[Samuel P. Langley]] was secretary of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. He had a claim to being "father of flight" as he had for many years worked on gliders and successful powered models, and his assistant C. M. Manley was actually employed by the US government to construct aircraft for military use. His full-sized planes, however, were complete failures at flight. When the Smithsonian proposed a display that would not have made this clear, Orville Wright responded by loaning the ''Flyer I'' to the [[London Science Museum]]. Orville stated it wouldn't be returned until he and his brother were acknowledged as the "Fathers of Powered Flight". The Smithsonian eventually agreed, but the ''Flyer'' remained at Kensington in London until 1948. On [[November 23]], [[1948]] the executors of the estate of Orville Wright wrote a contract with the Smithsonian Institute regarding the display of the aircraft, stating that "Neither the Smithsonian Institution or its successors, nor any museum or other agency, bureau or facilities administered for the United States of America by the Smithsonian Institution or its successors shall publish or permit to be displayed a statement or label in connection with or in respect of any aircraft model or design of earlier date than the Wright Aeroplane of 1903, claiming in effect that such aircraft was capable of carrying a man under its own power in controlled flight." If this wasn't fulfilled the ''Flyer'' would be returned to the heir of the Wright brothers.

==Effect on Dayton==

See [[Dayton]] for city history. The Wrights' contributions to the city of Dayton were and remain immeasurable. From their use of local materials, when Requarth Lumber Company wood was used to construct the ''Flyer I'' and other airplanes, to the encouragement of local arts and sciences, as with [[Paul Laurence Dunbar]], to their financial and political contributions, as with the massive Air Force base and museum, the Wright Brothers changed the city's history.

==Ohio/North Carolina dispute==

The states of [[Ohio]] and [[North Carolina]] both take credit for the Wright Brothers and their world-changing invention - Ohio because the brothers developed and built their design in Dayton, and North Carolina because Kitty Hawk was the site of the first flight. With a spirit of friendly rivalry, Ohio has adopted the informal slogan "Birthplace of Aviation" (later "Birthplace of Aviation Pioneers", with a tip of the hat to not only the Wrights, but also [[John Glenn]] and [[Neil Armstrong]], both Ohio natives.) North Carolina has also adopted the slogan "First In Flight" and includes the theme on state license plates.

As the positions of both states can be factually defended, and both states play a significant role in the history of flight, neither state truly has a complete claim to the Wrights' accomplishment. It was in Ohio, however, where the Wright Brothers' many inventions were made, and where the 1903 Wright Flyer was manufactured prior to its partial disassembly and shipment to North Carolina.

==Media==

{{multi-video start}}

{{multi-video item|filename=Wilbur Wright onboard flight, Italy 1907.ogg|title= Wilbur Wright onboard flight, Italy, 1907|description= This film was taken in Italy on April 24, 1907. It is the first time a film was ever shot from a plane in flight. The footage shows what it was like to fly on one of the early Wright craft, with Wilbur at the helm.|format=[[Theora]]}}

{{multi-video item|filename=First flights in aviation history.ogg|title= First flights in aviation history|description= A 1945 newsreel covering various firsts in human flight, including Wright brothers footage|format=[[Theora]]}}

{{multi-video end}}

==See also==

*[[First flying machine]]

*[[List of years in aviation]]

*[[Accidents and incidents in aviation]]

*[[Aviation history]]

*[[List of early flying machines]]

*See [[Paul Laurence Dunbar]] for the Wrights' contributions to the career of the distinguished [[African American]] [[poet]].

==External links==

*[http://www.outerbanks.com/wrightbrothers/wrightlc.htm Kitty Hawk - Kill Devil Hills Wright Brothers Photographs 1900-1911 - Library of Congress]

*[http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/planetruth.html Plane truth: list of greatest technical breakthroughs in manned flight]

*[http://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/moviesandphotos/index.html Video clips about the invention of the airplane]

*[http://www.thefirsttofly.hpg.ig.com.br/pioneer2.htm About Santos Dumont first flight in Paris, with the "14-bis" ]

*[http://www.flyingmachines.org/ The Pioneer Aviation Group web site] contains many pictures of early flying machines and a comprehensive chronology of flight attempts.

*[http://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/i/Wrights/WrightUSPatent/WrightPatent.html HTML version of the Wright brothers' original patent.]

*[http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/WrBr/taleplane.html Analysis of Wright Brother work]

*[http://www.first-to-fly.com/ First to Fly .com]

*[http://www.centennialofflight.gov/ U.S. Centennial of Flight] 2003 celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first flight

*[http://www.rtptv.homestead.com/rtpwrightbrothers.html AeroSpace Show - RTP-TV] 2003 Video Tour of Wright Brothers Monument at Kill Devil Hills

*[http://www.immediart.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=46_52&products_id=178 New Scientist Magazine] Scientific Firsts: Print of Wright Flyer in France 1907

*[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wright/ PBS Nova: The Wright Brothers' Flying Machines]

'''Patents'''

* US[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=821393.WKU.&OS=PN/821393&RS=PN/821393 821393] -- ''Flying machine'' -- O. & W. Wright

[[Category:Aeronautical engineers]]

[[Category:American aviators]]

[[Category:People from Ohio|Wright, Orville]]

[[Category:People from Dayton|Wright, Orville]]

[[ca:Germans Wright]]

[[cs:Bratři Wrightové]]

[[da:Brødrene Wright]]

[[de:Gebrüder Wright]]

[[es:Hermanos Wright]]

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[[ja:ライト兄弟]]

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[[pl:Bracia Wright]]

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[[ru:Братья Райт]]

[[sl:Brata Wright]]

[[fi:Wrightin veljekset]]

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[[sr:Браћа Рајт]]

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