The Flying Machine

This post is about something that I absolutely love. I would love to get my pilots license. It has the first "flying machine" (I love the name) and the fastest rocket plane in the world. The red text is a very small portion of the patent. I'm fascinated by it all. Ashley did ask me who would be interested in a post about a flying machine and a rocket plane. I'm sorry if this is boring to you guys. Like I said earlier, a blog is great because everyone can choose what they want to look at. This is from my post in September. Talking about what Christine wants to do when she grows up reminds me of what I wanted to be when I was a young girl. I'm not sure why, but I wanted to become an astronaut. Maybe it had something to do with speed and the unknown. I do remember telling my mom that I wanted to go as far as I could into space in a lifetime. The universe never ends and that's mind boggling to me. Everyone have a good day :) Wilbur and Orville in 1909 The first picture is of Orville and his sister Katharine on her first flight. Oville and Wilbur's father, Milton, was a minister in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. As part of his work, he often traveled from place to place. When he returned home, he often brought gifts for his young children. Once, he presented a rubberband-powered flying toy to the boys. The toy fascinated them and sparked their lifelong interest in flight.

"Late in the autumn of 1878, our father came into the house one evening with some object partly concealed in his hands, and before we could see what it was, he tossed it into the air. Instead of falling to the floor, as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor ... It was a light frame of cork and bamboo, covered with paper, which formed two screws, driven in opposite directions by rubber bands under torsion. A toy so delicate lasted only a short time in the hands of small boys, but its memory was abiding." Neither Wilbur nor Orville finished high school, although both liked to learn new things. By the time Wilbur was 22 years old, he and Orville (who was 18) opened their own printing office. They recycled broken parts and built the printing press they would use to start their business. A few years later, they became interested in bicycles and decided to switch businesses. In 1893, they opened the Wright Cycle Company, a bicycle sales and repair business in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. By 1896, Wilbur had his mind set on a new idea: flying.

"Our machine was designed to be flown as a kite, with a man on board, in winds of from fifteen to twenty miles an hour. But, upon trial, it was found that much stronger winds were required to lift it. Suitable winds not being plentiful, we found it necessary, in order to test the new balancing system, to fly the machine as a kite without a man on board, operating the levers through cords from the ground."

" Neither could have mastered the problem alone. As inseparable as twins, they are indespensable to each other."

Bishop Milton Wright,

Father of Wilbur and Orville. January 16, 1904.

The patent.

o. 821,393

O. & W. WRIGHT. FLYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1903 Patented May 22, 1906 To all whom it may concern: Be it known that we, ORVILLE WRIGHT and WILBUR WRIGHT, citizens of the United States, residing in the city of Dayton, county of Montgomery, and State of Ohio, have in- vented certain new and useful Improvements in Flying-Machines, of which the following is a specification. Our invention relates to that class of fly- ing machines in which the weight is sustained by the reactions resulting when one or more aeroplanes are moved through the air edge- wise at a small angle of incidence, either by the application of mechanical power or by the utilization of the force of gravity. The objects of our invention are to provide means for maintaining or restoring the equi- librium or lateral balance of the apparatus, to provide means for guiding the machine both vertically and horizontally, and to pro- vide a structure combining lightness, strength, convenience of construction, and certain other advantages which will hereinafter ap- pear. To fly the airplane, the pilot lay prone with his head forward, his left hand operating the elevator control. Lateral control was achieved by warping the wing tips in opposite directions via wires attached to a hip cradle mounted on the lower wing. The pilot shifted his hips from side to side to operate the mechanism, which also moved the rudder.

1903 - First sustained flight with a powered, controlled airplane

And what a day it was! On that blustery December day, the world was made a little smaller. Two young men had forever changed the boundaries of human life. No longer would humankind envy the birds for their wings.

Unfortunately, mankind would have to wait a little longer. After Wilbur landed safely, a sudden gust of wind took the plane and sent it tumbling. The men rushed to save it, but were unable. The wings were broken, the motor damaged, and the chain guides were bent. They knew right away that there would be no more flights in 1903. In 1905 they introduce the flyer, the worlds first practical airplane.

The x-15 The x-15 made it's first flight in 1958. That's only 55 years from the Wright brothers first flight. That's super cool :) The second picture is of an x-15 ( under the bomber) just after being launched from a B-52. Third picture is the x-15 under the wing of the B-52. To fly an x-15 would be the bomb and flying a B-52 bomber wouldn't be so bad either. After a pilot flew an x-15 he was no longer just a pilot he was an astronaut as well.