Wright Brothers Experiment with Gliders

Beginning in 1900, Wilbur and Orville Wright carried out a series of glider experiments in the windswept dunes near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They had chosen the Outer Banks for its steady winds and soft sand, ideal conditions for testing manned and unmanned gliders with relative safety. Their flights were conducted in the area of Kill Devil Hills.

Over successive seasons from 1900 through 1902, the brothers methodically refined their designs, studying lift, drag, and especially control. Dissatisfied with the published aerodynamic data of the time, they built their own wind tunnel to gather accurate figures, an approach that set their work apart from rivals who relied on trial and error.

The gliders were the essential proving ground for the breakthroughs that followed. By 1902 the Wrights had developed a craft they could turn and control reliably in three axes, solving the fundamental problem of flight stability. That mastery of control, more than engine power alone, made possible the first powered, sustained, controlled flight at Kitty Hawk in December 1903.