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Simpson Street Free Press

The Wright Brothers: American Inventors and Pioneers of Aviation

In December 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright, often known as the Wright brothers, built the first successful piloted aircraft. It was a propelled two-seater plane and flew 120 feet, lasting 12 seconds in the air.

As little kids, the two brothers were fascinated by a toy helicopter that functioned on a rubber band. Hoping one day to build a flying machine big enough for both of them, the brothers set out to work. Before they could work on building planes, as young men, they started in business, first at a printing press and then at a bicycle repair shop.

At this time, gliders were around, but they did not have engines. The Wright brothers then decided to start testing different engines for their plane designs. In 1899, they worked on building their planes and a year later moved from Ohio to North Carolina to test their experiments and make new changes to their designs. Finally, in 1903, they crafted a plane called the Wright Flyer 1 that took flight and made history; it was flown a few times afterward.

The Wright brothers changed the world with their idea of the engine-propelled plane. Now, jet-powered planes are everywhere and are one of the most common forms of transportation, but nobody should forget the first flight ever in history.

[Source: Kidsnationalgeographic.com]

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