|
The following sites either contain original material on the Wright Brothers, valuable
research materials, or both.
To Fly Is Everything
This is the largest and best of the Wright Brothers sites, including a complete, original
narrative of the story of the invention of the airplane, all 301
Wright photos from the Library of Congress collection, a computer simulation of Wright
wind tunnel, brief biographies on all early aviators, and brief descriptions of early
airplanes. It's largely the work of Gary Bradshaw, who has our gratitude and admiration
for his pioneering work in virtual museums.
http://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/
To Fly is Everything has many useful and interesting
sections – pioneer aviation images, videos, galleries of inventors – but among the most
unique is its digital library:
- Cayley, Sir George, On Aerial Navigation, Nicholson's Journal, November,1809;
February, March 1810.
- Chanute-Wright Correspondence: 1900 - 1901
- Chanute-Mouillard Correspondence, 1890-1897
- Chanute, Octave, Address To International Conference On Aerial Navigation, 1883
- Chanute, Octave, Progress in Flying Machines, 1894
- Means, James (Editor), The Aeronautical Annuals, 1895, 1896, 1897
- Wright, Orville, How We Made the First Flight, 1913
- Wright, Wilbur, Some Aeronautical Experiments, Western Society of Engineers,
September 18,1901
- Wright, Wilbur, What Mouillard Did, Aero Club of America Bulletin: May, 1912.
- Wright, Wilbur and Orville, The Wright Brothers Aëroplane, Century Magazine,
September, 1908.
Wright, Wilbur and Orville, U.S. Patent No. 821,393, awarded to, May
22,1906.
Franklin Institute Flights of Inspiration
Late in life, Orville Wright donated a great many papers and artifacts to
the Franklin Institute, including the balances and air foils used in the
Wright brothers 1901 wind tunnel experiments. Additionally, the
Institute has the only original Wright Model B in existence.http://www.fi.edu/flights
AIAA 1903 Wright Flyer Wind Tunnel Tests
Just before the Centennial of Flight in 2003, the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics built an exact replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer
and tested it in the huge wind tunnel at NASA Ames. These are the results.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/teachers/angles/data.html
First Flight
Information on the Wright Brothers and Sir George Cayley. Includes simulators of several
early aircraft, including the 1903 Wright Flyer I.
http://firstflight.open.ac.uk/
Flying Machines
Official web site of the Pioneer Aviation group, written and
maintained by pioneer aviation historian Carroll Gray. Solid, accurate
information not just on the Wright brothers, but almost every other
pioneer aviator and inventor of note.
http://www.flyingmachines.org/
Octave Chanute Pages
Focuses on Chanute's contributions to early aeronautics, his experiments with gliders in
the Indiana Dunes, and his association with the Wright brothers. Chanute, a
respected
engineer, served as an important sounding board for the brothers as they perfected their
invention.
http://spicerweb.org/chanute/cha_index.asp
Otto Lilienthal Museum
Writings and aircraft designs of Otto Lilienthal, the first successful
glider pilot and the man whose death inspired the Wrights to begin their own
work in aviation.
http://www.lilienthal-museum.de/olma/ehome.htm
Public Broadcasting System/American
Experience
The complete text transcript of the 1996 video, "The Wright Stuff, " by WGBH
Boston for the program The American Experience.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wright/
Wright Flyer Online
Part of NASA's "Aero Design Team" web site with lots of
information on the Wright Brothers and Wright airplanes. Includes contests
for young people, special events, games, even a comic book version of the
Wright story.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/
|
|
|
Many of the following sites belong to museums and historical sites outside of Dayton,
Ohio, associated with the Wright Brothers. Others have small amounts of original
research materials.
Wright Flyer Project
Evolved from the AIAA Wright Flyer Project of 2003, this group is
building a flying look-alike of the 1903 Wright Flyer using a modern
engine and materials.
http://www.wrightflyer.org/
1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet
Event-by-event, airplane-by-airplane description of the first air meet west of the
Mississippi.
http://www.csudh.edu/1910airmeet/
Aero-Web
Offers the complete text of Orville Wright's 1908 article for Century
Magazine, "How We Made the First Flight."
http://www.aero-web.org/history/wright/wright.htm
Air Museum Site Locator
Locator for museums and aircraft types, included Wright aircraft
http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/
Aviation Museums
Lists aviation museums in the United States and Canada by state and
province.
http://www.aerofiles.com/museums.html
Centennial of Flight
This is the website of the U.S. Centennial of
Flight Commission, organized to celebrate the Centennial of
Flight in 2003. They still maintain an enormous amount of historic
information that they gathered about the Wright brothers and pioneer
aviation.
http://www.centennialofflight.net/
The Early Birds
Dedicated to the preservation of pioneer aviation history, this ambitious
group is building a website to tell the story of the "Early Birds" --
those pioneer aviators who soloed before World War 1.
http://earlyaviators.com/
First Flight Centennial Foundation
The First Flight Centennial Foundation was originally the fund-raising arm
for the First Flight Centennial Commission (below). Political infighting
has obscured it's role somewhat and it now seems to be concentrating on
improving the Wright Monument and museum buildings at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Offers information about events at or nearby the Wright Brothers National
Memorial.
http://www.firstflightcentennial.org/
First Flight Society
One of aviation's oldest societies, originally organized to preserve the
site of the Wright brother's work in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their
site offers a history of the Wright's inventive work from 1899 to 1903.
http://www.firstflight.org/
Inventors Hall of Fame
Offers a short entry on Wilbur and Orville Wright.
http://invent.org/inductee-detail/?IID=156
http://invent.org/inductee-detail/?IID=157
London Science Museum
A short history of flight and descriptions of aircraft on display, including a
reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer I.
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/about_us/smg.aspx
National Aeronautic Association's Katharine Wright Memorial Award
An award for women's contributions to aeronautics. Contains a description of the award and
a list of recipients.
https://naa.aero/awards/awards-and-trophies/katharine-wright-award
National Public Radio
NPR has several news segments related to the Wright brothers that you can
listen to over the Internet. They are:
The Time Life 100
Bill Gates writes about Wilbur and Orville!
http://www.pathfinder.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/
wright.html
Virtual Aviation Museum
Descriptions and links to hundreds of types of aircraft through the world.
http://www.aviastar.org/index2.html
VMRL Model of 1903 Wright Flyer
VRML file of the Flyer, available to download.
http://www.ocnus.com/models/Vehicles/
Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy
Description of an award given yearly by the National Aeronautic Association, and a list of
recipients.
https://naa.aero/awards/awards-and-trophies/wright-brothers-memorial-trophy
History of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
Very short history, starting with the Wrights at Huffman Prairie.
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=6234
|
|
Up 
Links 
Need
to 