Stop Trying to Steal Dayton’s Thunder, Kitty Hawk!
Forget North Carolina. Ohio is really the place where credit for the Wright Brothers’ impact on the history of aviation is due. Orville and Wilbur Wright got their mechanical start on the bicycle. Their bicycle manufacturing and repair shop is still located in Dayton. They took knowledge about the workings of bicycles and applied it to aviation. The Wright brothers may have never been able to build the first airplane, if they had not first gained their engineering merits at the Dayton, Ohio bicycle shop.
Both Orville and Wilbur Wright bought their first safety bicycles in 1892. Orville Wright was known to have won several medals in racing competitions. However, the brothers were known for their achievements as mechanics. They were already known for building their own printing press, and they soon moved to bicycle repair. The same year the Wright Brothers started riding bicycles, they opened their own shop, a small storefront at 1005 West Third Street in West Dayton.
The bicycle shop and printing press helped Wilber and Orville Wright develop an intuitive way of working together. They were known for being partners in everything: salesmen, mechanics, printers, manufacturers, and advertisers. In 1899, it was their combined technical knowledge and ingenuity that led them to “solve the mystery of human flight.”
Moreover, the machine shop gave the Wright brothers a chance to put their creative and mechanical genius to work. Not only did they build their own bicycles, but the brothers also developed several innovative bicycle parts including an oil-retaining wheel hub and a coaster break. Additionally, the workshop is where they built their first engine; it powered the line shaft for the drill press and turret lathe, as well as provided them with the experience necessary to build an engine for their first aircraft in 1903.
In 1902 the Wright brothers deduced what kind of engine was needed to power their plane. It had to weigh less than two hundred pounds, while providing 8 to 9 horsepower, and run smoothly. Because there was no manufacturer willing to build it for them, the brothers consulted bicycle mechanic, Charlie Taylor. With Taylor’s intervention, the team built the engine in their own shop in only six weeks.
Another way the Wright brothers applied their knowledge of bicycles to an aircraft is with the idea of balance. As bicyclists, they knew that in order to maintain balance of a bicycle in motion, one must be able to control it. To turn a bicycle, handlebars are necessary, and a person must lean in the direction he or she needs to go. Flying machines have the same requirements.
The Wright brothers left for Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in September of 1903. After several mechanical setbacks, including a failed flight on the 14th, the Wright Flyer achieved its first flight on December 17th at 10:35 A.M. Yes, the first flight took place in North Carolina, but the flying machine was imagined, developed, and built in Dayton, Ohio.
*all information used in this post was gathered at Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
