During the nineteenth century there were many attempts to build a machine capable of flying and even if someone was able to get a partial success, the first flight by a heavier-than-air and with a man on board was that of December 17, 1903 thanks to the Flyer, an aircraft built by the Wright brothers.
Initially, the Wright brothers had a bicycle shop in the city of Dayton in Ohio and during the last years of the nineteenth century they began to study the physics of flight. They put into practice their studies between 1900 and 1902 trying to fly some gliders experimental but the results were unsatisfactory. This first approach led them to build a small wind tunnel through which they could find an airfoil suited to provide the right support to lift a machine in flight. The problem that appeared later was that of controllability. It was brilliantly solved by the Wright brothers in fact they used the technique of warpage wing to counter the roll, inserted two horizontal planes furniture in the front to prevent the pitch and a pair of vertical planes in the rear to handle the yaw. With the help of mechanic Charlie Taylor a gasoline engine of 12 horsepower was built,it was light enough to be supported in flight. The Wright Flyer was ready and at the end of 1903 exploiting headwind and a small cart for the rush it effected four flights; the first one was 36 meters long and lasted 12 seconds, the last one was 260 meters long and lasted 59 seconds. In 1904 and 1905 the Wright brothers continued to fly with improved versions of the Flyer. The latest version of the aircraft was the first one that could fly in full control reporting to land the pilot. In October 5, 1905 , Wilbur Wright flew for 39 km in 39 minutes and 24 seconds.
Initially, the Wright brothers had a bicycle shop in the city of Dayton in Ohio and during the last years of the nineteenth century they began to study the physics of flight. They put into practice their studies between 1900 and 1902 trying to fly some gliders experimental but the results were unsatisfactory. This first approach led them to build a small wind tunnel through which they could find an airfoil suited to provide the right support to lift a machine in flight. The problem that appeared later was that of controllability. It was brilliantly solved by the Wright brothers in fact they used the technique of warpage wing to counter the roll, inserted two horizontal planes furniture in the front to prevent the pitch and a pair of vertical planes in the rear to handle the yaw. With the help of mechanic Charlie Taylor a gasoline engine of 12 horsepower was built,it was light enough to be supported in flight. The Wright Flyer was ready and at the end of 1903 exploiting headwind and a small cart for the rush it effected four flights; the first one was 36 meters long and lasted 12 seconds, the last one was 260 meters long and lasted 59 seconds. In 1904 and 1905 the Wright brothers continued to fly with improved versions of the Flyer. The latest version of the aircraft was the first one that could fly in full control reporting to land the pilot. In October 5, 1905 , Wilbur Wright flew for 39 km in 39 minutes and 24 seconds.