Upon returning home to Dayton, Ohio from their successful experiments in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina the Wrights began work on a patent to protect their discovery. This patent was applied for on March 23, 1903 and issued on May 22, 1906. It was litigated for years and finally fully upheld in 1912 in an historic suit against Glenn Curtiss. This simple patent of a three-axis control system utilized in all airplanes was assigned to the Wright Brothers Company in 1909. Click on Image to see full patent.
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On Friday, October 3, 1902 Orville Wright wrote in his diary the simple statement: "While lying awake last night I studied out a new vertical rudder." Those twelve words captured the moment when mankind was forever changed. Orville recognized the need to control an aircraft in three axes, pitch, yaw and roll. This elemental discovery, overlooked by some of the greatest minds in history, is the final link in a chain of discovery that began in the sands of Kitty Hawk and has taken mankind to the moon and beyond. On October 24, 1902 Orville's diary stated: "Tried new end control. Steamer came in to watch experiments. Glides about 200 ft. on West Hill." This is the first photograph of an aircraft making a controlled, coordinated turn.
Designed from their wind tunnel data, this glider, flown here as a kite, had a very efficient wing profile with an elliptical forward horizontal rudder for pitch control. A new wing-warping design controlled the roll or banking of the aircraft and for the first time the Wrights incorporated a tail. It was mistakenly believed that the twin fixed vanes in the rear would aid in controlling the machine in flight. In fact it did just the opposite. The fixed rear vanes increased the possibility of a stall while banked. The cautious test flight practices of the Wrights permitted the Wrights to survive long enough to discover the solution to the problem of control.
In the winter of 1901 the Wright Brothers determined that existing aeronautical was incomplete and unreliable. They designed and built a simple six-foot long wooden box with which they tested dozens of small model wing sections. The results of this data allowed the Wrights to design flying machines with predictable aerodynamic performances.
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