STORIES
Scientists
DONATE

Wilbur and Orville Wright

by Alexander

Orville Wright, age 34, with mustache  (Lib. of Cong. ( Wright, Wilbur - Wright, Orville))
Orville Wright, age 34, with mustache (Lib. of Cong. ( Wright, Wilbur - Wright, Orville))

The Wright brothers are my heroes because they took man into the skies and eventually, space. They were born in a small town in Ohio named Dayton. Their father was a preacher and he always brought a toy of some sort for his children. One day he brought a small wooden helicopter that was powered by a rubber band. Wilbur and Orville Wright were quite fascinated by the toy helicopter and they started to copy the design of the toy and started making it bigger and bigger until it couldn't fly anymore. Their parents were very encouraging and didn't stop them. The brothers were home schooled and then put into normal school. Wilbur was later smashed in the face with a hockey stick. Wilbur became a recluse after that and took care of his ill mother. After the brother's mother died, Wilbur was convinced by his sister Katherine to get back into life and help his brother build their airplane. The brothers still made their plane even though they never went to college. The brothers were clever, determined, and risk takers.

Wilbur Wright, age 30 (Lib. of Cong. ( Wright, Wilbur - Wright, Orville))
Wilbur Wright, age 30 (Lib. of Cong. ( Wright, Wilbur - Wright, Orville))

The Wright brothers were clever because when they were teenagers, they built their own printing press out of an old gravestone and some bits of metal and wood. Neither of the brothers went to college nor finished high school. This shows that they were clever enough to teach themselves or understand complicated engineering concepts of flight without a higher education. The brothers made their own wind tunnel and tested their own wing designs. They also built their own self oiling bicycle hubs. They even built their own engine that was lighter, more powerful, and less expensive than the car engine that they originally bought. The brothers figured out how to make their plane turn inflight. They read a lot of books when they were little, this is important because they were able to read well before a lot of kids in that time. It is also important because it shows they were curious about the world and probably could read science and engineering books when they were younger. The brothers always tinkered things when they were little and in high school. This is why I think the Wright brothers were clever.

Another characteristic is risk taking. The brothers were always taking risks, which were not only physical, but mental risks as well. The mental risks that they took when building their plane were that they would do what a lot of the people in the brothers' home town said that they couldn't do, like building an airplane. Even their father, who was a preacher, said that they shouldn't try to fly in an airplane and they should reserve flying for the angels. But the brothers didn't care and they said they will do it anyway. Some of the physical risks they took were when they built their own glider and tested it, without the gilder hanging on a rope like when they tested their other gilders when they weren't riding them. They also rode their first motorized plane when it worked. Whenever they crashed, their plane would do somersaults across the beach and smash up into pieces. But the brothers still carried on testing. That's why I think the brothers were risk takers, and that also brings me to my next characteristic: Determination.

The Wright brothers were very determined to build a plane that could fly and was controllable; if they weren't determined, they wouldn't have succeeded and would have gave up after the first sign of failure. When Wilbur Wright was smashed in the face with a hockey stick, he became a recluse and stayed home to take care of his ill mother. After Mrs. Wright died, Katherine, Wilbur and Orville's sister, convinced Wilbur to go on and continue with life and complete their dreams of flying in an airplane that they built. Then the brothers continued to test their plane until one day, they made one final attempt in the Flyer 1 (the name of their first airplane) and Orville was the one to fly it. He took off in the airplane and flew for 12 seconds in a rather up and down flight, literally. The plane went up and down with the occasional turn in the air. They continued to make planes that worked and flew farther and farther and for longer periods of time. The brothers tried selling their planes to the military who promptly declined it, but the brothers continued to try for years, until France took interest in the Brothers' planes. They became quite popular in France, and slowly other militaries that denied them before, took interest in the Wright's planes and ordered some of them. That is why the Wright brothers were determined.

The Wright brothers were determined, clever, and risk taking individuals. They did what people thought was impossible then. They did it even though others in the town said that they couldn't do. When they didn't have the item they needed, they improvised. They built pretty much all their machinery, for example they built their own wind tunnel, where they tested different wing designs. They flew their planes and glider to test them (but the brothers did not fly all the gliders they made). Wilbur died much earlier than Orville, at age 45. Wilbur had heart problems for a while, which when he found out, made him almost give up. Orville died at the age of 78. Their discovery took man to the skies, and eventually space. Pilots today still use the same flying methods that the Wright brothers used when they tested their own planes. For these reasons, this is why the Wright brothers are my heroes.

Page created on 5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.