Twelve seconds that changed the world

Nick Morrison looks at how a 12-second flight ushered in a new age in human history.

UNDER the headline 'Balloonless Airship', with the dateline New York, Friday, December 18, the Daily Mail of London reported: "Messrs Wilbur and Orville Wright, of Ohio, yesterday successfully experimented with a flying machine at Kittyhawk, North Carolina. The machine has no balloon attachment, and derives its force from propellers worked by a small engine.

"In the face of a wind blowing 21 miles an hour the machine flew three miles at the rate of eight miles an hour, and descended at a point selected in advance. The idea of the box-kite was used in the construction of the airship."

The Daily Mail was by no means alone in devoting just two paragraphs to what happened on that beach in North Carolina. Only three US newspapers thought it worth reporting at all. One of the most significant events in human history had passed virtually unnoticed.

Since long before Icarus stuck feathers to his arms with wax and then flew too close to the sun, man has looked longingly at the birds, envying their ability to soar above the ground. First balloons, and then gliders had taken him into the air. But, at the mercy of the elements and with sporadic control, these proved to be just appetisers for the main feast: a flying machine that was engine powered and heavier than air.

As youngsters, Orville and Wilbur Wright had been fascinated by the emerging art of aviation, particularly the glider flights of Otto Lilienthal in Germany. Inspired by his work, the brothers built a wind tunnel and conducted experiments on more than 200 different types of wing, looking at surface lift and drag and centres of pressure. They found that varying the angle of the wing tips gave them control over the aircraft, the same principle used in ailerons on modern aircraft.

Their tests led them to construct a glider which was twice as efficient as any of their previous efforts, and made more than 1,000 flights at Kitty Hawk in 1902, but by the end of that year they were ready to move into powered flight.

With the help of their mechanic, Charles Taylor, Orville and Wilbur built the Flyer, known to the brothers as 'the whopper flying machine'. Combining the necessary lightness and power, its engine produced 12 horse power at 1,200rpm and weighed 170 pounds. With a wingspan of 40ft and four inches, and 21ft long, it weighed 750 pounds in total.

On Monday, December 14, Flyer was ready for its first flight. It took three quarters of an hour to drag it to the top of a hill and balance it on a rail, dubbed 'The Grand Central Junction Railroad'. The aircraft was to travel along the 60ft wooden rail under its own power until it reached flying speed. As the motor started, young boys accompanying the men ran off, fear overcoming their curiosity.

The brothers tossed a coin to see who would have the privilege of piloting the Flyer. Wilbur won but when he took his place lying prone on the cradle, a clip which would have released the machine failed to work. As this was adjusted, Flyer began to roll down the slope so suddenly that Orville, who was meant to run alongside holding the wing tip to steady it until it was airborne, failed to get a proper grip.

As he lost his hold, the Flyer left the rail and rose into the air. But its nose was pointing too sharply upwards, it turned into the wind and crashed to the ground. The Wright brothers' first attempt at powered flight had ended in disaster.

But Wilbur and Orville were not to be discouraged. Indeed, Wilbur wrote to his father that there was now no doubt of ultimate success. Taking two days to repair damage caused by the crash, they set the date for the next attempt for Thursday, December 17.

This time, Flyer was to be launched from the level ground, and Orville decided to set his camera on a tripod pointing at the spot where the machine was expected to rise from the rail. It was a freezing morning. Both brothers had to periodically leave the preparations to warm themselves over an indoor stove.

This time, it was Orville's turn to fly. He lay on the cradle and pulled the catch, moving the machine into the gusting wind. It moved so slowly Wilbur was easily able to run alongside to balance it. At exactly 10.03am it lifted into the air.

Orville struggled to control the Flyer in the strong wind, until, with a sudden dart, the machine's speed plummeted and it hit the ground. Flyer had covered some 120ft in 12 seconds. Orville crawled off the cradle having become the first man in history to undertake a powered flight.

The brothers attempted another three flights that morning. In the longest, Wilbur covered 852ft over 59 seconds. In none of the flights did they gain any significant altitude: it was considered too dangerous in the winds.

At the end of the morning, as the brothers stood discussing what had happened, a gust of wind began to turn Flyer, standing a short distance away, on to its side. Wilbur was the first to reach it, but his efforts to prevent it being overturned failed, and the machine was flung over, being reduced to a jumble of chains, wires and wood. Flyer had gone down in history, but it would never fly again.

After lunch, the brothers walked the four miles to the town of Kitty Hawk to send a telegram to their clergyman father. Including mistakes over both Orville's name and the time spent in the air, it read: "Success four flights thursday morning all against twentyone mile wind started from Level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas. Orevelle Wright."

Although it had made history, Flyer was merely built to prove the brothers' theories. In May the following year, they built Flyer II. It made around 80 flights between May 23 and December 9, with a longest flight of five minutes and four seconds, covering two-and-three-quarter miles. In 1905, Flyer III became the world's first practical airplane, able to turn, bank, fly figures-of-eight and remain in the air for more than half an hour. The following year, after more than 200 flights, a patent was granted for the airplane, but it was not until 1908 that the brothers started to receive any sort of recognition of their achievements.

Wilbur died of typhoid fever in 1912. Orville sold his interest in the Wright Company three years later, but for years was dogged with arguments over whether it was the Wrights or one of their rivals who had made the first powered flight. It was not until shortly before Orville's death, in 1948, that it was finally recognised beyond doubt that he was the first man to fly.

The Men Who Changed The World by Peter Cooksley (Sutton Publishing £25).

The history of flight

1010AD - Oliver of Malmesbury, a Benedictine monk, becomes the first man to fly some distance with the aid of wings. He jumps from Malmesbury Abbey and covers 125 paces, before falling and breaking his legs.

1488-1514 - Leonardo da Vinci made the first design of flying machines.

1536 - Denis Bolor in France tries to fly using wings flapped by a spring. The spring breaks and he falls to his death.

1783 - The Montgolfier brothers successfully attempt the first balloon flight. Propelled by burning wool and old shoes, its first passengers are a cockerel, a duck and a sheep.

1804 - Sir George Cayley builds and flies the first successful model glider.

1903 - The Wright brothers achieve the first powered, heavier-than-air, controlled flight.

1907 - Paul Cornu flies the first helicopter, hovering a foot above the ground in a flight lasting 20 seconds.

1909 - Louis Bleriot makes the first cross Channel flight.

1919 - First sustained international commercial passenger air service begins, between Paris and Brussels.

1927 - Charles Lindbergh makes the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic.

1928 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to cross the Atlantic.

1930 - Amy Johnson becomes the first woman to fly solo between England and Australia.

1939 - The Heinkel He 178 makes the first jet-powered flight.

1949 - The DeHavilland Comet, the first commercial jet aircraft, makes its first flight.

1966 - The Boeing 747 introduces mass air transport.

1969 - Concorde makes its first flight.

1979 - The Gossamer Albatross makes the first man-powered Channel crossing.