Wright Flyer Full-Scale Reproduction

On December 17, 1903, after four years of research and development, Orville Wright piloted the 1903 Wright Flyer and achieved the first flight of a piloted, controlled, powered, heavier-than-air aircraft. Although the first flight only lasted 12 seconds covering a distance of 120 feet, Wilbur Wright piloted one later that day for 59 seconds covering 852 feet. During the design and construction of the Wright Brothers’ experimental aircraft, they pioneered many of the basic tenets and techniques of modern aeronautical research, such as the use of a wind tunnel and flight-testing as design tools. Their dedicated and disciplined experiments accomplished not only the breakthrough of the first flight of an airplane, but they also refined the process of aeronautical engineering.