Learning to Fly: The Wright Brothers Adventure pdf - ER - NASA

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Wright Brothers were raised in Dayton, Ohio, a few years afterthe Civil War. Their parents were Susan Catharine Wright andBishop Milton Wright, a minister in the United Brethren Church.Both parents were talented, college-educated scholars who lovedto learn. The boys’ father was intellectual, and their mother wasalso mechanically gifted.These qualities were inherited by the brothers and fostered bytheir life at home. Orville remarked, “We were lucky enough togrow up in an environment where there was always muchencouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; toinvestigate whatever aroused curiosity.” The older brother wasthoughtful and quiet; the younger brother was playful and adventurous.The two became lifelong best friends, always confidingtheir thoughts and plans to each other.His father said of Wilbur, “In memory and intellect, there was nonelike him. He systemized every thing. His wit was quick and keen.He could say or write anything he wanted to. He was not verytalkative. His temper could hardly be stirred. He wrote much. Hecould deliver a fine speech, but was modest.”Wilbur WrightWilbur was an excellent student, but circumstances such as his mother’s illness and his own health preventedhim from graduating from high school or attending college. But he and Orville found their own way in lifeanyway, using their imaginations and ingenuity.Orville, the younger brother, was more mischievous than Wilbur. Hewas a little like Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer; he was always coming upwith a new scheme. He was adventurous and became a championcyclist. While Wilbur would sit and read everything that fell into hishands, Orville was out in the world finding a lot of interesting thingsto get involved in.The brothers had always liked mechanical things, especially theflying toys they had as children. When they were very young men,they built their own printing press using a tombstone and buggyparts and printed their own newspaper. At one point, Orville printeda newspaper called the Tattler for a young classmate, the poet PaulLaurence Dunbar.Orville WrightWhen the brothers discovered bicycles, they began repairing themand eventually opened the famous Wright Cycle Company repairshop, where they produced their own bicycle models, the Van Cleveand the St. Clair. The bicycle shop became the brothers’ workshopto build airplane parts—the parts that eventually flew on the firstairplane.Learning to Fly: The Wright Brothers’ Adventure4EG–2002–12–007–GRC
When the brothers finally achieved their goal of powered flight, some people didn’t understand the meaning ofwhat they had done. Some found it hard to believe that a couple of “bicycle mechanics” could have succeededwhere other distinguished would-be flyers had failed. By 1908, Wilbur and Orville had convinced the publicthat they had attained the goal that so many had tried to reach.At one point, Wilbur amazed onlookers on the ground by flying around the Statue of Liberty and following theHudson River to Grant’s Tomb. This would be a shocking thing to see for the first time, if you’d only seenseagulls do it before. How brave and confident would you have to be to fly around the Statue of Liberty in yourown homemade flying machine? The ambition, the curiosity, the studiousness, and not least, the bravery of theWright Brothers were all needed to dare to fly.Not long after the Wrights’ success, in 1912, Wilbur died of typhoid fever at age 45. Orville sold the WrightCompany, built an aeronautics laboratory, and returned to inventing. He also stayed active in the public eye,promoting aeronautics. He served for 28 years on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA),which was the forerunner of the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).In 1930, Orville received the first DanielGuggenheim Medal. This award, awarded for“great achievements in aeronautics,” was establishedin 1928 by the Daniel Guggenheim Fundfor the Promotion of Aeronautics. It is stillawarded today to individuals for outstandingcontributions. Orville Wright died in 1948 at theage of 76 in Dayton, Ohio.Wright Cycle Shop, Dayton, OH, 1909.Although neither had more than a high schooleducation, the Wright Brothers were able to usethe math and science they had learned toaccomplish what is considered to be the mostinfluential achievement of the 20th century.Some people even said that more educationwould have “ruined” the Wrights. However,Orville never agreed with that view. On the contrary,he said, a better scientific education wouldhave helped them to do their work more easily.Learning to Fly: The Wright Brothers’ Adventure EG–2002–12–007–GRC5
Page 2 and 3: Learning to Fly: The Wright Brother
Page 4 and 5: AcknowledgmentsWriters and Contribu
Page 6 and 7: NCTM National MathematicsStandardsA
Page 8 and 9: vii
Page 10 and 11: Lilienthal was a great influence on
Page 16 and 17: Activity 1—Early AviationBefore y
Page 18 and 19: Having been appointed by the Societ
Page 20 and 21: Having visited the Wrights in Dayto
Page 22 and 23: Activity 5—Questions on the 1900
Page 24 and 25: You are involved with various activ
Page 26 and 27: Activity 9—Questions on the 1901
Page 28 and 29: Modern Wind TunnelsInlet diffuser o
Page 30 and 31: Activity 12—Operate the Wrights
Page 32 and 33: When the Society hears of the Wrigh
Page 34 and 35: Activity 15—Prices Then and NowTh
Page 36 and 37: He returns on December 11 and every
Page 38 and 39: Activity 18—Center of GravityIn c
Page 40 and 41: Questions1. Whose stick was the clo
Page 42 and 43: Activity 20—How To Launch the Fly
Page 44 and 45: You hear from your Dayton friends t
Page 48 and 49: Designed byRoger Storm, NASA Glenn
Page 50 and 51: 4. Make 12 spars by cutting toothpi
Page 52 and 53: 10. Turn the glider over again and
Page 54 and 55: While trying to solve these new pro
Page 56 and 57: 2. Using the templates as a guide,
Page 58 and 59: 7. To make a skid, join two toothpi
Page 62 and 63:
Designed byRoger Storm, NASA Glenn
Page 64 and 65:
4. Place glue on the flat edge of t
Page 66 and 67:
10. Glue the skids on either side o
Page 68 and 69:
16. Turn the glider right side up a
Page 70 and 71:
Designed byRoger Storm, NASA Glenn
Page 72 and 73:
4. Using the templates as a guide,
Page 74 and 75:
8. For spars for the elevator, cut
Page 76 and 77:
14. Cut two toothpicks to a 1.2-inc
Page 78 and 79:
20. Glue the V-shaped braces to the
Page 80 and 81:
26. (Optional) You can make the fig
Page 82 and 83:
Kite: A tethered glider that is lif
Page 84 and 85:
Activity 3 answers1. From your trip
Page 86 and 87:
Activity 9 answersThe report of the
Page 88 and 89:
Activity 12 answersPart D.Students
Page 90 and 91:
Activity 17 answersIf you were eith
Page 92 and 93:
Math challenge1. Your car can easil
Page 94 and 95:
DescriptionStudents are to assume t
Page 96 and 97:
Background informationThe students
Page 98 and 99:
Activity 9: Questions on the 1901 G
Page 100 and 101:
Background informationOrville and W
Page 102 and 103:
Background informationWith each gli
Page 104 and 105:
They also made the propellers turn
Page 106 and 107:
ProceduresThe students draw the rop
Page 108 and 109:
Learning to Fly: The Wright Brother
Page 110 and 111:
1901GliderBottom wingFront edge cur
Page 112 and 113:
1902GliderRight wing (cut out two)L
Page 114 and 115:
1903FlyerPropeller (cut out two)Pro
Page 116 and 117:
Learning To Fly: The Wright Brother
show all

Learning to Fly: The Wright Brothers Adventure pdf - ER - NASA

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?