Fun Facts about Orville Wright

• Orville and Wilbur owned a cat named Old Mom when they were children.
• In September 1908, Orville was working with the U.S. Army when the propeller split and the airplane crashed. Orville's passenger, Thomas Selfridge, was killed and became the first casualty of powered flight.
• In 1896 Orville was extremely ill with typhoid fever but he survived.
• Orville died of a heart attack on January 30, 1948.

Airplane Advancements Leave Me in the Dust

1948: What an incredible life. Ever since Wilbur and I built that first airplane, the whole world has made their own. But from what I have seen, more planes are built for war. I have watched as two world wars go by and I have seen massive advancements in airplane technology. It's amazing what the military can do to customize any airplane built and approved by them. I am old news now that they have new airplane designers. I think my time has come now. This is Orville Wright signing off.

The Death of My Brother

As successful as we were, Wilbur only enjoyed our success for a few years. On May 30, 1912 Wilbur died of typhoid fever. I remember earlier in the year He said, "While thousands of the most dissimilar body structures, such as insects, fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals were flying every day at pleasure, it was reasonable to suppose that man also might fly." Now I don't know what to do with his dog, Flyer. The Wright legacy will still live on, not only by what we accomplished but because I am still alive.

Becoming International Celebrities

We built a plane back in 1905 that could fly for thirty-nine minutes. After the success of the Flyer, we dedicated ourselves to building more practical airplanes. That's how the other plane we built was made so we could sell it. In 1908 we signed contracts to build airplanes for the U.S. military and French investors. In a matter of months, the whole world learned of our invention and we were international celebrities.

The First to Fly

Success!! December 17, 1903, with myself, Orville Wright at the controls, the flyer lifted off into the air 120 feet on its own power. Did I mention that we built a light weight engine, which makes it different from any old glider. Anyway, that twelve second flight proved that humans can fly. This is the start of a new legacy of vehicles. We will go down in history for this accomplishment.

Testing the Aircraft

1900: I haven't written lately because my brother and I have been in the village of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina testing our aircraft, maybe oh, more than 250 flights. We took the results from our tests in Dayton and built our full scale glider. We chose the outskirts of this city since it provides us steady winds, sand dunes for take off, a soft landing space, and privacy. We then came back to Kitty Hawk in 1901 and 1902 with an improved glider. Our accomplishment is that we have solved the problem of control and that we can now begin construction of a powered airplane and fly it.

Research and Testing

My brother and I started off by researching the subject of flying. First we went through our local libraries. And the Smithsonian offered us aeronautics, the science of flight. After the research Wilbur told me that if we were going to fly we had to solve the problem of control. In the back of the bicycle shop we built giant kites and gliders to find a good design to work with. We focused on creating a mechanical system that would be the pilot control the aircraft in any direction. We tested flexible tail rudders and wings, and we tested a third small wing. Along the way we invented new technology needed to build our aircraft. We needed to test wind curvatures so we built a wind tunnel out of a six-foot-long wooden box, bicycle spokes, old hacksaw blades, and a old belt-operated fan.

Trying Something New

As fun as those businesses were, we wanted more of a challenge. Back when we were children our father brought home a toy helicopter, it was powered by rubber bands and it lifted itself into the air. That's how we got interested in flight and we found our challenge in the mystery of flight. In 1896 a German glider pioneer died of a glider accident.And then we decided to look into what went wrong with his glider, fix the problem and build our own full-size flying machine.

Previous Careers

My brother and I loved to tinker as kids and we still do. When I was seventeen, I started a printing business. I made a press out of odds and ends. But soon enough my brother decided to join the venture, but it wasn't all that bad since we both ended up building a bigger and better press. It was much stranger than the other one, in fact, it included the top of an old buggy carriage. But it could print much more than the old one, 1,000 sheets an hour. We could make everything from business cards to newsletters. Three years later we branched out and opened up a bicycle shop. It wasn't long before we went from repairing and selling bikes to designing and manufacturing our own models based on the latest technology available. It was a total success.

Who am I?

Hello, I'm Orville Wright, but people sometimes call me Bubs, the younger one of the Wrights. My older brother is Wilbur Wright, but I believe I'm the smarter one since Wilbur never graduated from high school. I was born in Dayton, Ohio on August 19, 1871. Our parents, Milton and Susan Wright, moved all over the east side of the U.S. until they settled in Dayton. Because of this, my brother and I have grown particularly close to each other. In fact, Wilbur once said that we live together, play together, work together, and nearly everything done in our lives is a result of conversations, suggestions, and discussions between us.