The Wright Stuff: The Mathematics of the Wright Brothers

Abstract

<p>On a cold and blustery day in December of 1903 near the town of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright, haul an ungainly looking craft from a shed and get ready to attempt a feat that has never been accomplished before - to fly a heavier-than-air powered airplane with a person on board.</p> <p>The weather conditions that day were terrible. The temperature was 34 degrees F and the winds were steadily blowing between 20 and 30 miles an hour [McFarland, 395].1 The wind chill (according to modern tables) was around 8 degrees F [McCullough, 113]. 2 The Wrights had originally come to Kitty Hawk because of the strong and steady winds, which were generally between 10 and 20 miles an hour [Wescott and Degen, 24], 3 but the winds on this day were stronger than usual. One of their friends, William Tate, didn't even come to watch their attempted flight saying "...no one but a crazy man would try to fly in such a wind" [Kelly, 61].</p> <p>And yet they tried. Why? It was late in the season and the weather was predicted to get worse. They had also planned to be home for Christmas and time was running out. However, the main reason they tried was the confidence the brothers had that flight was possible under these conditions. I believe that the main reason for their confidence was mathematics. I would like to discuss some of the mathematical experiments and calculations performed by the Wright brothers before this famous date.</p> <p>The article was presented at the Following the Footsteps of the Wright Brothers: Their Sites and Stories Symposium at Wright State University, September 28, 2001.</p>