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Meanwhile...    
How about     
 a little music?     

We have a selection     
of tunes that were     popular during the     
first days of aviation,    performed by Sue     
Keller, courtesy the     
 Ragtime Press:     

Alexander's    
Ragtime Band
 
Irving Berlin 1911    

 Aviation Rag 
Mark Janza 1905    

 Maple Leaf Rag 
Scott Joplin 1899     

Solace 
Scott Joplin 1909    

St. Louis Rag 
Tom Turpin 1903    

Waiting for the    
Robert E. Lee
 
Gilbert/Muir 1912    

  Available in Française, Español, Português, Deutsch, Россию, 中文, 日本, and others.

he Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company web site is divided into several sections; each section is further subdivided; and so on as necessary to organize the vast amount of material on this site. The map/outline/table of contents below lists the pages on this site and shows how they fit in to the overall organization.

If you're viewing this page in IE (Internet Explorer), the map is expandable. If there is a down-arrow () following a section head or title, this indicates that there are more pages in that section or following that page. Click on the arrow, and the map will expand, revealing the hidden pages. Click on the arrow again and that portion of the map will collapse. Viewers using Firefox, Safari, and other browsers may not have this convenience.

To navigate to a page on the outline, click on it's underscored title. Note: If a page has no link or is "ghosted" in a light gray, this indicates that it is down for updates and/or repairs.
 

 

Navigation

Aids to help you use the museum and find your way around.

bullet Museum Entrance & Guide
bullet Site Map
bullet Museum Index
bullet Search the Museum
bullet About the Museum 
bullet Translation
bullet Contact us
bullet An Unique Opportunity

 


The first navigation devices to be carried aboard airplanes were gimbaled ship's compasses, such as the old Hutchinson compass shown. They were mounted on the cockpit floor, between the pilot's legs.

History Wing

The story of the Wright brothers, the invention of the airplane, and pioneer aviation (1799 to 1918).

bullet The Wright Story 
bullet The Wright Timeline 
bullet 1860 to 1869
bullet 1870 to 1879
bullet 1880 to 1889
bullet 1890 to 1899
bullet 1900 to 1909
bullet 1910 to 1919
bullet 1920 to 1929
bullet 1930 to 1939
bullet 1940 to 1949
bullet An Unusual Childhood 
bullet The Bishop's Kids (1859 to 1878)
bullet Special Advantages (1878 to 1881)
bullet Settling in Dayton (1881 to 1884)
bullet A Life on Hold (1884 to 1889)
bullet Career Choices 
bullet Printing and Popcorn (1886 to 1889)
bullet Wright & Wright (1889 to 1890) 
bullet Wright vs. Wright
bullet Good News, Bad News (1890 to 1893) 
bullet Volume 1, No. 1
bullet The Bicycle Craze (1893 to 1903) 
bullet 1900 Wright Van Cleve Catalogue
bullet Just Like Flying (1896)
bullet Inventing the Airplane 
bullet Eyes on the Skies (1896)
bullet An Inkling of an Idea (1896 to1899) 
bullet Mo' Info
bullet A Warped Experiment (1899) 
bullet Inner Tube Box
bullet Kitty Hawk (Spring 1900) 
bullet Afflicted with the Belief
bullet Off on an Adventure (Fall 1900) 
bullet The Voyage of the Curlicue
bullet Summing Up
bullet The Wright Triangle
bullet Not Within a Thousand Years (Summer 1901) 
bullet There Came a Mighty Swarm
bullet The Angle of Incidence
bullet Kitty Hawk in a Box (Fall 1901 to Spring 1902)
bullet Wagging Its Tail (Fall 1902) 
bullet The Last Piece of the Puzzle
bullet Propellers-R-Us (Winter 1902 to Summer 1903)
bullet The French Connection (Spring 1903)
bullet The Darkest Hour (Fall 1903 to Winter 1903)
bullet December 17, 1903 
bullet Orville Wrights Diary: December 17, 1903
bullet Viginia Pilot Story: December 18, 1903
bullet Jonahed (Spring 1904 to Summer 1904)
bullet A Little More Oomph (Fall 1904)
bullet A Practical Flying Machine (1905)
bullet Showing the World 
bullet Politics & Patents (1905 to Spring 1906) 
bullet Patent No. 821,343
bullet The Prize Patrol (Summer and Fall 1906)
bullet Stalled in Europe (Winter 1906 to Fall 1907) 
bullet Selling the Wright Aeroplane
bullet Meeting Mr. Wright
bullet Bell's Boys (Fall 1907 to Spring 1908) 
bullet Letter to Mabel
bullet A Turn for the Purse (Fall 1907 to Winter 1908)
bullet Back in the Air (Winter and Spring 1908) 
bullet Signal Corps Specification No. 486
bullet The June Bug (Summer 1908)
bullet He Flies! (Summer 1908)
bullet Tragedy at For Myer (Fall 1908) 
bullet The Wright Brothers Aeroplane
bullet Pushing the Envelope (Fall and Winter 1908)
bullet A Whirlwind Tour (Winter and Spring 1909)(
bullet Them's Our Boys (Spring and Summer 1909)
bullet The Military Flyer (Summer 1909) 
bullet A Day to be Remembered
bullet Crossing the Channel (Summer 1909) 
bullet Bleriot's Cross-Channel Flight
bullet The Patent Wars (Summer 1909)
bullet Rheims (Summer 1909)
bullet 'Round the Lady (Fall 1909)
bullet The Airplane Business
bullet A Long Twilight
bullet A History of the Airplane 
bullet The Century Before 
bullet The First Airplanes (1799 to 1853)
bullet Powering Up (1854 to 1879)
bullet Airmen & Chauffeurs (1880 to 1898)
bullet The Road to Kitty Hawk (1899 to 1903)
bullet The Decade After 
bullet Landing Without Crashing (1904 to 1905)
bullet Wake Up Call 1 (1905 to 1909)
bullet Wake Up Call 2 (1905 to 1909)
bullet Wake Up Call 3 (1905 to 1909)
bullet Wake Up Call 4 (1905 to 1909)
bullet Faster, Higher, Farther 1 (1909 to 1912)
bullet Faster, Higher, Farther 2 (1909 to 1912)
bullet Girding for Battle (1912 to 1914)
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers 
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers A
bullet The Wright/Smithsonian Controversy 
bullet The Flight of the Langley Aerodrome
bullet Patents and Politics
bullet Aerodrome Beginnings
bullet Rebuilding a Reputation
bullet Jump-Starting the Langley Laboratory 
bullet Letter to the Editor
bullet An Idea Whose Time Has Come
bullet Making the Aerodrome Airworthy 
bullet Comparing the 1903 and 1914 Langley Aerodromes
bullet Maintaining the Flow of Misinformation
bullet Return Fire 
bullet Why the Wright Flyer Was Sent to England
bullet The Plot to Kidnap the Flyer
bullet Resolution
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers B
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers C
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers D
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers E
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers F 
bullet Charley Furnas, the First Airplane Passenger 
bullet Mechanical Ambitions
bullet Wright Place & Time
bullet Wind, Sand, & Wings
bullet Two for the History Books
bullet Fatal Attractions
bullet Moving On
bullet Almost Forgotten
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers G
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers H
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers I
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers J
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers K
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers L
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers M
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers N
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers O
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers P
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers Q
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers R 
bullet Cal Rodgers and the Tale of the Vin Fiz 
bullet Aristocracy of Heroes
bullet The Hearst Prize
bullet Fix 'er Up, Boys
bullet Help That Man Fly
bullet A Gift to Remember
bullet Been There, Done That
bullet Vin Fiz Revisited
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers S
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers T
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers U
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers V
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers W
bullet Pilots, Planes and Pioneers XYZ
bullet Who Was First? 
bullet The Smithsonian Contract 
bullet Just Whose Conspiracy Is This?
bullet Gustav Whitehead 
bullet Whitehead Articles
bullet Alberto Santos-Dumont
bullet Aviation's Attic  
bullet With the Wright Brothers in America
bullet The Lost Flights of the Wright Brothers
bullet The 1909 Wright Glider
bullet Kate Carew's Interview
bullet Charles Flint Remembers
bullet Unbelievable Flying Objects
bullet Everything a Pilot Could Want

 


Quite possibly the first fixed-wing aircraft to lift a person into the air was this "governable parachute" designed by Sir George Cayley. It lifted a small boy aloft near Brompton, England in 1849. Cayley later published an improved design in "Mechanics Magazine" in 1852. This flew in 1854 with Cayley's coachman aboard.

Adventure Wing

Getting up close and hands-on with the Wright brothers.

bullet Will and Orv's Workshop 
bullet Inner Tube Box Experiment 
bullet Not Quite Wright Kite 
bullet Making the Not Quite Wright Kite
bullet Flying the Not Quite Wright Kite
bullet Wind Tunnel and Balance
bullet 1902 Wright Glider Model
bullet Vintage Rubber Band-Powered Flyer Model
bullet Return to Kitty Hawk
bullet The Virtual Hangar 
bullet 1899 Kite Replica
bullet 1900 Glider Replica
bullet 1901 Glider Replica
bullet 1901 Wind Tunnel Replica
bullet 1902  Glider Replica
bullet 1903 Flyer Replica
bullet 1905 Flyer Replica 
bullet The Real McCoy: The Original 1905 Wright Flyer
bullet Expeditions 
bullet Dayton, Ohio Area 
bullet The Real McCoy: The Original 1905 Wright Flyer
bullet Outerbanks, NC
bullet Dearborn, MI
bullet Washington DC
bullet Indiana
bullet Elsewhere
 

Initial experiments with our replica of the 1905 Wright Flyer III showed that the Wright catapult system, combined with the thrust of the propellers, could accelerate the airplane to an airspeed of 29 mph before it reached the end of the launch track.

Exhibits & Programs

Bringing our airplanes and expertise to your school, museum, or institution.

bullet The Secret of Flight 
bullet Secret of Flight Packet (pdf)
bullet Scholastic Benchmarks (pdf)
bullet Kind Words from Others
bullet The Birth of Aviation Exhibition
bullet Do-It-Yourself Flyer
bullet Past Successes  
bullet The Birth of Aviation Pavilion
bullet The Centennial Flyer
bullet From Russia to Kitty Hawk
bullet Charley Furnas Memorial

 


Connie Tobias, a senior pilot with US Airways (21,000 hours!) and the first woman to successfully pilot the 1903 Wright Flyer (11 seconds!), described her experience to a group of young people at an exhibit we presented in conjunction with the Aviation Hall of Fame.

Company Store

Everything for the Wright enthusiast, from shirts to propellers.

bullet Plans
bullet Publications
bullet The Big Stuff
bullet About Our Plans
bullet Terms & Conditions

 


One of the most popular T-shirts from our 2003 Centennial of Flight collection.

Information Desk

Checking facts and finding resources about the Wright brothers.

bullet Wright Resources 
bullet Books and Videos
bullet Museums and Libraries
bullet Pioneer Aviation Links
bullet Help With Homework 
bullet Wright Timeline 
bullet 1860 to 1869
bullet 1870 to 1879
bullet 1880 to 1889
bullet 1890 to 1899
bullet 1900 to 1909
bullet 1910 to 1919
bullet 1920 to 1929
bullet 1930 to 1939
bullet 1940 to 1949
bullet Wright Photos
bullet 1903 Wright Flyer Models
bullet 1903 Wright Flyer Plans and Drawings
bullet Wright Expert Interview
bullet Just the Facts 
bullet The Wright Family 
bullet Wright Genealogy 
bullet Wright Beginnings circa 1050
bullet First in Line circa 1400
bullet Landed Gentry circa 1500
bullet A Nation of Saints circa 1650
bullet On to Ohio circa 1800
bullet Bishop Milton Wright
bullet Katharine Wright 
bullet The American Girl Whom All Europe is Watching
bullet Wright Kites and Gliders 
bullet 1899 Wright Kite
bullet 1900 Wright Glider
bullet 1901 Wright Glider
bullet 1902 Wright Glider
bullet 1911 Wright Glider
bullet Wright Airplanes 
bullet 1903 Wright Flyer I
bullet 1904 Wright Flyer II
bullet 1905 Wright Flyer III
bullet 1907-1909 Wright Model A
bullet 1909 Wright Military Flyer
bullet 1909-1910 Wright Model AB
bullet 1910 Wright Model R
bullet 1910-1911 Wright Model B
bullet 1911-1912 Wright Model EX
bullet 1912 Wright Model C
bullet 1913 Wright Model CH
bullet 1912 Wright Model D
bullet 1913 Wright Model E
bullet 1913-1914 Wright Model G
bullet 1916 Model L
bullet Wright Engines and Propellers 
bullet Wright Engines Overview
bullet 1903 Wright Engine
bullet 1903 Wright Propellers
bullet 1904-1905 Wright Engines
bullet 1905-1915 Wright Propellers
bullet 1906-1912 Wright 440 Engine
bullet 1911-1915 Wright 660 Engine
bullet Wright Bicycles
bullet Wright Trivia

 

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While it's well-known that the Wrights borrowed a lot of bicycle technology for their Flyers, some of it is as subtle as it is ingenious. For example, take the frame of a Wright bicycle and rotate it about 70 degrees and you have a propeller support for a Wright airplane!

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"Aviation is proof that – given the will – we can do the impossible."
 Eddie Rickenbacker

 

 

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