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17 December 1903: the first powered flight
On 17 December 1903, Orville Wright became the first person to achieve powered flight. Although he initially had some trouble with the wind, Orville remained in the air for 12 seconds and covered a distance of 36 metres, the equivalent of 10.8 km/h. On the same day, his brother Wilbur managed to fly for 59 seconds, covering a distance of 260 metres, or the equivalent of 19 km/h. It was an important day for aviation, although few people at the time were aware of this sensational event because the Wright Brothers conducted their tests more or less in secret. They did this to prevent anyone from copying their technology before they were able to patent it.
Other powered aeroplanes built by the Wright Brothers
Encouraged by their success, the Wright Brothers got right down to business. They continued to improve the "Flyer I", building Versions II and III. They managed to perfect "Flyer III" so that it remained in the air for as long as 30 minutes and returned to the ground safely. They had made their dreams come true.
Soon afterwards, Orville and Wilbur Wright developed a series version, known as the "Model A", on the basis of their first three test planes. In 1908, they went public with this plane and circled the Statue of Liberty in New York before an astonished crowd.
In 1909, the Wright Brothers took a ship to Europe. In Berlin they demonstrated their Model A, flying it from a field in Tempelhof. In so doing, they brought powered flight to Germany. "Flugmaschine Wright GmbH", a company based in Berlin, began building planes under licence. By 1913, they had built some 60 Wright double-decker planes in a variety of versions. One of them, the only one still in existence today, can be seen at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
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