When they added a moveable rudder, the Wright brothers found they had the magic formula in 1903, as they succeeded in flying the first free, controlled flight of a power-driven, heavier than air plane.
Wilbur and Orville Wright were American inventors and pioneers of aviation. In 1903 the Wright brothers achieved the first powered, sustained and controlled airplane flight; they surpassed their own milestone two years later when they built and flew the first fully practical airplane. Determined to develop their own successful design, Wilbur and Orville headed to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and got to work trying to figure out how to design wings for flight. They observed that birds angled their wings for balance and control, and tried to emulate this, developing a concept called “wing warping.” When they added a moveable rudder, the Wright brothers found they had the magic formula in 1903, as they succeeded in flying the first free, controlled flight of a power-driven, heavier than air plane. They flew their plane for 59 seconds, over a distance of 852 feet, which was an extraordinary achievement.