Pilot Proficiency

Wright Brothers: Little Known Secrets to their Success

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 12:31 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The Wright Flyer, an "aeronautical Ugly Duckling," achieved paradoxical success despite its canard configuration and wing warping, design features that were quickly abandoned in favor of a conventional tail-mounted empennage which actually predated the Wrights.
The Wright brothers' critical advantage stemmed from their focus on aircraft control rather than inherent stability, distinguishing them from European experimenters and enabling their pioneering achievements.
While earlier inventors conceived of conventional aircraft layouts and some may have achieved brief, uncontrolled hops, the Wrights' lasting contribution was demonstrating genuinely controllable and sustained powered flight, even as their specific design rapidly became obsolete.

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The following article, Wrightophilia, is from the December 2003 print issue.

Peter Garrison taught himself to use a slide rule and tin snips, built an airplane in his backyard, and flew it to Japan. He began contributing to FLYING in 1968, and he continues to share his columns, ""Technicalities"" and ""Aftermath,"" with FLYING readers.