Wright brothers were not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft.
Before them, many experts have been trying to fly in the air.
When the Wright brothers decided to make an aircraft, they were looked down by everyone.
They did not have a formal degree and came from a modest family.
On the other side, their competitors were experts with exceptional technical knowledge, having college degrees and lots of money.
But the Wright brothers loved machines and gadgets.
At an early age, they designed a printing machine and opened a printing shop.
When the bicycles were invented, they started repairing bicycles and designed their own custom-built bicycles.
To design an aircraft, they read about physics and mathematics of flights.
They studied the designs of Leonardo Da Vinci and the gliders of the 19th century.
They studied the behaviors of different birds.
Eventually, they studied the design of aircraft built by expert competitors.
They came to a conclusion - the experts were using a lot of money, skills, and knowledge.
But they were lacking common sense.
The aircraft made by the experts had a powerful engine to take them in the air, but it lacked stability and could not fly for more than a few seconds. Because of this, they were unable to test out their designs. The experts were stuck in a dangerous loop.
Based on the analogy of Ships, the experts designed the wings of their machines in a V-shape.
To the Wright brothers, it was a wrong approach.
The Wright brothers visualize the aircraft like a bicycle, which is unstable and it is the rider’s job to balance it.
Armed with passion, limited budget, and scrap bicycle parts, they jumped into designing a flying machine.
First, they designed kites to learn the mechanics of flying.
Based on the kites, they designed a glider.
Instead of testing the glider by jumping off the cliff, they took it on the sand dunes of the beaches at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Where they could fly from small elevations and land in a soft bed of sand.
This minimized the danger of injuries.
They tested flights after flights and perfected the design based on the test results.
After a few years, they came up with a glider with remarkable control overturning and banking.
It could also fly for a much larger distance when compared to the gliders of their competitors.
It was certainly like a flying bicycle.
The final step was to add an engine and propellers to their design.
Due to budget constraints, they build their own engine with the help of a mechanic working in their shop.
Unlike others who designed their propellers based on boats.
Wright brothers designed their propellers like the wings of a bird.
On December 17, 1903, Wilbur Wright successfully piloted their aircraft at Kitty Hawk for 59 seconds.
It was the first manned, controlled, and powered flight in history.
The flying journey did not stop here.
Over the years they tried new experiments to improve the design of their flying machines.
On one side were experts with degrees and money; but with no common sense.
On the other side were two brothers with determination and common sense.
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