Wilbur and Orville Wright

Wilbur and Orville Wright are our heroes. We decided on them because of their great acheviement with a heavier than air airplane. They tried many times with this, which shows they have great determination. That is another reason we chose them. They took off on December 17, 1903. We think that they are great examples of wonderful heroes.

Wilbur Wright was born on April 16, 1867 near Millville, Indiana. He was his father's favorite child and had a dominant personality among his siblings. In 1912, he died of typhoid at the age of 45.

Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871. He was born in Dayton. Orville show an interest in science and technology early in his life. He dismantled things and performed experiments to figure out how things work. He fits the inventor-stereotype much more than Wilbur. He died in January 30, 1948.

The Plane-

The Wright brothers first plane was a glider that from wing tip to wing tip measured 16 feet. It cost only $15 dollars to build.

The "Wright Plane" is the plane they flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It lasted in the air for 12 seconds. Although it seems short, that was a great length since they hadn't ever flown before. No one had. Sadly though, only five lucky people were there to witness this fabulous accomplishment. Few stories were written in the newspaper too. This plane cost them less than $1000 dollars to build. They kept "tinkering" with it and 5 years later, they got a plane to stay in the air for 1 hour and 2 minutes. With Orville flying it, they crashed, and his passenger, tragically, died. This was the most serious accident they had ever had during a flight. The original plane they flew was sent to a Science Musuem in London in 1928. Twenty-years later, the plane was shipped back to the U.S. and is now in the National Air Musuem in Washington D.C.