Orville Wright Quotes

137 Orville Wright Quotes and (Bonus 30 Wilbur Wright Quotes)
– The Wright Brothers

1 2 3 4



The machine was launched entirely through the power of the motor and the thrust of the propellers.
Orville Wright

Santos-Dumont, the first European to succeed in raising himself from the ground with a motor-driven heavier-than-air flying machine.
Orville Wright

In a short time not less than six machines of the 1902 Wright type were being built in France, and a prize of 3,000 francs was offered for the best gliding flight. A year later a prize of 50,000 francs was put up for the best flight covering a complete circuit with a motor. The latter prize was not won for a number of years, in fact not until January 1908, and then it was with a machine which still contained many features of construction taken from the drawings of the 1902 Wright machine.
Orville Wright

During the year 1905, fifty flights were made having a total duration of over 216 minutes in the air. Between September 26 and October 5, 1905, six flights were made, ranging in duration from seventeen minutes, fifteen seconds to thirty-eight minutes, three seconds.
Orville Wright

[On describing the state of the art in planes as it existed in 1900 when they first stated serious practical experimentation] At the time there was no art. Hundreds of theories had been propounded, looking to the solution of human flight, and a great deal had been written on the subject, but these theories, as well as the designs for the machines which had been proposed, were mere speculations. The few machines that actually had been built failed utterly to perform according to expectation.
Orville Wright

[On existing plane technology before the Wright Brothers] Only a few measurements ever had been made of the pressures on curved surfaces at the different angles of incidence, and these measurements were entirely unreliable… In some cases they were several hundred per cent in error. In so simple a measurement as that of the wind pressure, produced by a current of air, striking against a plane one foot square, the different recognized authorities varied as much as one hundred per cent. … The travel of the center of pressure on curved surfaces as given in these writings was almost entirely wrong.
Orville Wright

Things which seemed reasonable were often found to be untrue, and things which seemed unreasonable were sometimes true. Truth and error everywhere were so intimately mixed as to be undistinguishable.
Orville Wright

[On existing information being unreliable] With this condition of affairs one was driven to doubt nearly everything that had been advanced in the speculations published in the books, excepting those things which could be personally verified by experiment.
Orville Wright

About the only real tests which could be made of the theories and speculations which had been advanced would be by experiments in actual flight, and no one before my brother and myself had conducted these experiments with the case that was necessary to adequately verify or to disprove them.
Orville Wright

Medals and honors were awarded to my brother and myself jointly, or to the one or the other of us, in recognition of our having been the first men to fly, or in recognition of our contributions to the science of aerodynamics and the art of flying.
Orville Wright



The ends of the wings in all of our machines from 1900 on were formed by a piece of ash, steamed and bent, which was bound to the forward and rear spars. This formed rounded front and rear edges at the top of the wings. In addition to this, the ribs were gradually shortened as the end of the wing was approached, which still more modified the angularity of the wings at their tips. … This form of construction I believe was used for the first time by my brother and me. Today it is a common form of construction used in most of the modern machines.
Orville Wright

[On why did they continue to use horizontal rudders in front of the wing surfaces of their later machines.] Because of the protection it afforded us against accidents, which are now termed ‘nose dives’. Lilienthal, and I believe Pilcher, were both killed in ‘nose dives’.
Orville Wright

A machine with the elevator in front can never go into a ‘nose dive’. For this reason we kept the elevator in front until we considered that we had acquired enough practice and skill in the handling of a flying machine to avoid ever getting into the ‘nose dive’.
Orville Wright

[On getting the right answer at school, but evidently not following the school textbook] I got it out of another book – Wentworth’s geometry. I get a lot of good stuff from Wentworth.
Orville Wright

[A friend said that ‘Even though what you accomplished was without the idea of making money, the fact remains that the Wright brothers will always be favorite examples of how American lads with no special advantages can get ahead.’] But, that isn’t true. Because you see, we did have special advantages. Simply that we were lucky enough to grow up in a home environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity. In a different kind of environment our curiosity might have been nipped long before it could have borne fruit.
Orville Wright

If they had been interested in invention with the idea of making money, they most assuredly would have tried something in which the chances for success were higher.
Orville Wright

It flies!
Orville Wright

Bonus: 30 Wilbur Wright Quotes

The person who merely watches the flight of a bird gathers the impression that the bird has nothing to think of but the flapping of its wings. As a matter of fact, this is a very small part of its mental labour. Even to mention all the things the bird must constantly keep in mind in order to fly securely through the air would take a very considerable treatise.
Wilbur Wright

If I take a piece of paper, and after placing it parallel with the ground, quickly let it fall, it will not settle steadily down as a staid, sensible piece of paper ought to do, but it insists on contravening every recognized rule of decorum, turning over and darting hither and thither in the most erratic manner, much after the style of an untrained horse. Yet this is the style of steed that men must learn to manage before flying can become an everyday sport.
Wilbur Wright

The bird has learned this art of equilibrium, and learned it so thoroughly that its skill is not apparent to our sight. We only learn to appreciate it when we try to imitate it.
Wilbur Wright

Now, there are two ways of learning how to ride a fractious horse: one is to get on him and learn by actual practice how each motion and trick may be best met; the other is to sit on a fence and watch the beast awhile, and then retire to the house and at leisure figure out the best way of overcoming his jumps and kicks. The latter system is the safest; but the former, on the whole, turns out the larger proportion of good riders. It is very much the same in learning to ride a flying machine; if you are looking for perfect safety you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial.
Wilbur Wright

If you are looking for perfect safety you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial.
Wilbur Wright

It seemed to us that the main reason why the problem had remained so long unsolved was that no one had been able to obtain any adequate practice.
Wilbur Wright

We figured that Lilienthal in five years of time had spent only about five hours in actual gliding through the air. The wonder was not that he had done so little, but that he had accomplished so much.
Wilbur Wright

It would not be considered at all safe for a bicycle rider to attempt to ride through a crowded city street after only five hours’ practice, spread out in bits of ten seconds each over a period of five years; yet Lilienthal with this brief practice was remarkably successful in meeting the fluctuations and eddies of wind gusts.
Wilbur Wright

Although the hours and hours of practice we had hoped to obtain finally dwindled down to about two minutes, we were very much pleased with the general results of the trip, for, setting out as we did with almost revolutionary theories on many points and an entirely untried form of machine, we considered it quite a point to be able to return without having our pet theories completely knocked on the head by the hard logic of experience, and our own brains dashed out in the bargain.
Wilbur Wright

Everything seemed to us to confirm the correctness of our original opinions—(1) that practice is the key to the secret of flying; (2) that it is practicable to assume the horizontal position; (3) that a smaller surface set at a negative angle in front of the main bearing surfaces, or wings, will largely counteract the effect of the fore-and-aft travel of the center of pressure; (4) that steering up and down can be attained with a rudder without moving the position of the operator’s body; (5) that twisting the wings so as to present their ends to the wind at different angles is a more prompt and efficient way of maintaining lateral equilibrium than that employed in shifting the body of the operator of the machine.
Wilbur Wright



It had been our intention when building the machine to do most of the experimenting in the following manner:—When the wind blew 17 miles an hour, or more, we would attach a rope to the machine and let it rise as a kite with the operator upon it. When it should reach a proper height the operator would cast off the rope and glide down to the ground just as from the top of a hill. In this way we would be saved the trouble of carrying the machine uphill after each glide, and could make at least 10 glides in the time required for one in the other way. But when we came to try it…
Wilbur Wright

The problems of land and water travel were solved in the nineteenth century, because it was possible to begin with small achievements and gradually work up to our present success. The flying problem was left over to the twentieth century, because in this case the art must be highly developed before any flight of any considerable duration at all can be obtained.
Wilbur Wright

However, there is another way of flying which requires no artificial motor, and many workers believe that success will first come by this road. I refer to the soaring flight, by which the machine is permanently sustained in the air by the same means that are employed by soaring birds. They spread their wings to the wind, and sail by the hour, with no perceptible exertion beyond that required to balance and steer themselves.
Wilbur Wright

But how does it fly? … Let’s make our own helicopters, Orville.
Wilbur Wright

From the time we were little children, my brother Orville and myself lived together, worked together, and in fact, thought together.
Wilbur Wright

Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!
Wilbur Wright

We doubted that we would ever resume our experiments.
Wilbur Wright

[1901] The inability to balance and steer confronts students of the flying problem although nearly ten years have passed. When this one feature has been worked out the age of flying machines will have arrived, for all other difficulties are of minor importance.
Wilbur Wright

Thus the balance was controlled by utilizing dynamic reactions of the air instead of shifting weight.
Wilbur Wright

The sails were rotten, the rope badly worn and the rudder post half-rotten off, and the cabin so dirty and vermin infested that I kept out of it from first to last.
Wilbur Wright



My plan then is this… My business requires that my experimental work be confined to the months between September and January and I would be particularly thankful for advice as to a suitable locality where I could depend on winds of about fifteen miles per hour without rain or too inclement weather.
Wilbur Wright

I shall consider your suggestions carefully in making my plans.
Wilbur Wright

For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my life. [At the end Wilbur died of Typhoid fever and not from a flight related crash or accident] I have been trying to arrange my affairs in such a way that I can devote my entire time for a few months to experiment in this field.
Wilbur Wright

The problem is too great for one man alone and unaided to solve in secret.
Wilbur Wright

I am about to begin a systematic study of the subject in preparation for practical work to which I expect to devote what time I can spare from my regular business. I wish to obtain such papers as the Smithsonian Institution has published on this subject, and if possible a list of other works in print in the English language.
Wilbur Wright

I am an enthusiast, but not a crank in the sense that I have some pet theories as to the proper construction of a flying machine. I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then if possible add my mite to help the future worker who will attain final success.
Wilbur Wright

I have been thinking for some time of the advisability of my taking a college course. I have thought about it more or less for a number of years but my health has been such that I was afraid that it might be time and money wasted to do so, but I have felt so much better for a year or so that I have thought more seriously of it and have decided to see what you think of it and would advise. … I do not think I am specially fitted for success in any commercial pursuit even if I had the proper personal and business influences to assist me. I might make a living but I doubt whether I would ever do much more than this. Intellectual effort is a pleasure to me and I think I would be better fitted for reasonable success in some of the professions than in business.
Wilbur Wright

I have been interested in the problem of mechanical and human flight ever since as a boy I constructed a number of bats [Toy helicopters] of various size…
Wilbur Wright

It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.
Wilbur Wright

I know of only one bird – the parrot – that talks, and it doesn’t fly very high.
Wilbur Wright



1 2 3 4

Return from Orville Wright Quotes to Quoteswise.com