The 1902 Glider
The 1902 glider was the first fully controllable glider ever made by the Wright brothers that was manned by a person. They had done a lot of thinking after the first glider’s failures and decided that they needed a longer wingspan. On the 1902 glider they added 10 feet to each of the wings. After the first couple tries of this glider the brothers were excited that there was a big improvement. Orville wrote in his diary that day,
“We are convinced that the trouble with the 1901 machine is overcome by the vertical tail.”
Over the next couple days of gliding, the brothers found the glider was still doing some of the bad tricks of the glider before it. On September 23, Orville wrote again in his journal.
“I was sailing along smoothly, when I noticed that one wing was getting a little too high and that the machine was slowly sidling off in the opposite direction.”
The glider when up and turned around then landed wing first in the sand. Orville just came out without a scratch.
“We are convinced that the trouble with the 1901 machine is overcome by the vertical tail.”
Over the next couple days of gliding, the brothers found the glider was still doing some of the bad tricks of the glider before it. On September 23, Orville wrote again in his journal.
“I was sailing along smoothly, when I noticed that one wing was getting a little too high and that the machine was slowly sidling off in the opposite direction.”
The glider when up and turned around then landed wing first in the sand. Orville just came out without a scratch.
