A century of flight

A century ago on Thursday, December 17th 1903 at 12 noon, Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved the world’s first flight in a heavier than air machine named Flyer 1. That morning the brothers took it in turns to fly. The first flight lasted 12 seconds! The second 15, but the third 59 seconds and covered 852ft with Wilbur as pilot. What experts had declared impossible was accomplished by the two sons of a bishop!

The brothers grew up in a happy home and took part in daily family prayers together with prayers of thanks before meals. Sunday was a rest day and the brothers endeavoured to keep it like this throughout their lives. Bishop Milton Wright and his wife Sue, taught their family to reverence God and to obey His rules in Scripture and in nature. It was this teaching, coupled with a good grasp of mathematics and a flare for invention that made them men of integrity and intelligence who set out to discover God’s secret laws that lay behind the design of birds. At first they made and experimented with kites, which they sold. Then they designed a bicycle with pneumatic tyres and the sale of these provided enough money for their aeronautical research. Later extra long bicycle chains were used to drive the twin propellers of Flyer 1.

In October 1900 the brothers constructed a wind tunnel and made numerous calculations about wing span, wing camber, propeller shape etc. After over 1000 flights in gliders they powered one with an engine. Nothing was left to chance, God’s laws were respected and obeyed and after much toil and trouble they were rewarded with success. In 1969 only 21 years after Wilbur died, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, and there displayed near the top of one of his boots, was a piece of cloth from Flyer 1!

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