1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,640 And in order to learn how the Wright Brothers refined and improved their flying machines, 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:10,640 we're here at the Wright Experience Laboratory in Virginia. 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:12,640 We're talking with Ken High. 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:14,160 He's the founder of the Wright Experience. 5 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,680 Now, Ken, tell me, how did the Wright Brothers improve upon their flying machine designs? 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:24,040 Well, with each new design and each new flight test, they did small refinements and small 7 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,040 changes to their design. 8 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:31,280 There may have been many problems at any given stage of the flying machine's development, 9 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,400 but the Wrights only changed one thing at a time. 10 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:38,400 They were never confused about which change was causing which result. 11 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:39,400 Ken, that makes sense. 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:44,680 I mean, that way they could select the changes that worked and then continue to refine their 13 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:45,680 design. 14 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:46,680 That's right. 15 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,520 And, Jennifer, this is the result of all their hard work. 16 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,040 This is a flying reproduction of the Wright Brothers' 1902 glider. 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,440 Ken, this is quite different from their original kite, isn't it? 18 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:56,440 Not really. 19 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:00,120 It uses the same principle of wing warping and wing twisting that they used in the original 20 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:01,120 kite. 21 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:05,560 But what was so important and so radically different about this glider from their early 22 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:12,200 designs was that the 1902 glider was the first aircraft ever that solved the problem of controlling 23 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,200 an airplane in all three axes, pitch, roll, and roll. 24 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:22,560 Okay, Jennifer, this is a control for the elevator, which controls the pitch, which 25 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,400 is the up and down movement of the aircraft. 26 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,960 Control roll, I can shift the hip cradle back and forth. 27 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:31,000 Watch how the wings twist. 28 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,400 That would change the roll position of the aircraft during flight. 29 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,280 But also wired into the hip cradle is a control for yaw. 30 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,480 Watch how the tail moves at the same time as the wings are warping. 31 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,160 Ken, this is so cool, but can you really fly this? 32 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:46,160 Absolutely. 33 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:48,440 We have a 1902 simulator that you can fly. 34 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:49,440 Come on. 35 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:50,440 All right. 36 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:55,480 Jennifer, this is our 1902 glider simulator, and it was developed from the wind tunnel 37 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,720 test that we did on this machine. 38 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,720 Bill Haddon is our expert on this, and he is a good instructor. 39 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,320 He's going to check you out on this and tell you about the machine. 40 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:05,320 Great. 41 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:06,320 Nice to meet you, Bill. 42 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:07,320 Hi, Jennifer. 43 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:08,760 Tell me about the simulator. 44 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:14,720 This was based on the wind tunnel numbers generated by taking our full-scale glider 45 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:19,680 and putting it in the Langley full-scale tunnel in Hampton, Virginia, operated by Old Dominion 46 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:21,400 University. 47 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:27,040 And the results of the wind tunnel test were incorporated in a flight simulator by Burrell 48 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:28,120 Applied Research. 49 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,500 That's their business, making flight simulators. 50 00:02:30,500 --> 00:02:35,840 So when you fly the simulator, you're flying actual wind tunnel data results. 51 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,000 So that's a lot of fun. 52 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:39,000 Would you like to try it? 53 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:40,000 I thought you'd never ask. 54 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:41,000 I'd love to try it. 55 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,000 Okay. 56 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:43,000 Okay, Jennifer. 57 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,720 On the left, you see your airspeed in knots. 58 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:47,720 That's 21 knots. 59 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:48,720 22. 60 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:50,680 Right there. 61 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:51,680 Airspeed control is critical. 62 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:56,680 If you get too slow, it'll stall, and too fast, it can dive into the ground. 63 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,600 It's just elevator control and hip cradle. 64 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:04,120 When you move the hip cradle, you're warping the wings to control roll, and you're also 65 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,000 getting rudder movement with it. 66 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,800 Well, it took some practice, and it wasn't real comfortable, but I think I got the hip 67 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:11,960 thing and the elevator thing going. 68 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:17,320 I was finally able to make a glide that lasted about 63 seconds. 69 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:18,320 Thank you so much, Bill. 70 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:19,320 Thank you. 71 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:20,320 You're welcome. 72 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:21,320 Well, how was it, Jennifer? 73 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:22,320 Oh, Ken, it was incredible. 74 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:23,320 It was incredible. 75 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,440 I'll tell you, it was a little uncomfortable, and it was kind of difficult to maneuver, 76 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,320 but I can really relate to how the Wright brothers must have felt. 77 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:30,680 They had a lot of stamina in order to be able to do this. 78 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:31,680 They sure did. 79 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:36,720 And this 1902 glider, all of their innovations are in this machine, is what they were striving 80 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:37,720 for. 81 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,240 By 1903, the Wrights were ready to add an engine and propellers. 82 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:46,440 The Wright brothers' breakthrough in propeller design came when they realized that a propeller 83 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:53,640 was merely a wing in rotation in a helical pattern, creating lift in the forward direction. 84 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:58,800 Once they saw the propeller in this way, they were able to use their wind tunnel data about 85 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,520 lift and drag to design an efficient propeller. 86 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:07,200 Jennifer, we also have a simulator of the 1903 Kitty Hawk flyer. 87 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:08,600 Would you like to fly this machine? 88 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:09,600 Of course I would, Ken. 89 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:14,960 Now, while I take flight on the 1903 flight simulator, why don't you check out how to 90 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,080 build your own flying machine and test its performance?