Part IV - Crafting the Flyer

The drawing below is the only known diagram of the 1903 Flyer. It was drawn by the Wright Brothers using pencil on brown paper. (In preparing this digital image for presentation on the web, light was added to allow better viewing.) There are three views on the paper. The top view is a "bird's-eye" view looking down onto the Flyer. (Imagine the bird's reaction upon first seeing humans in sustained flight!) The second view is a side view. At the bottom is a straight-on view of the Flyer, with the circles indicating the propellers' range.

　

No blueprint or other drawing of the 1903 Flyer exists.

Some technical specifications for the Flyer:
gasoline-powered engine weighed 179 pounds, delivered 12 horsepower
2 propellers, each 8.5 feet in diameter
propeller made of 3 layers of 1 1/8 inch spruce, glued together, shaped with hatchet and drawshave
wingspan = 40 feet, 4 inches
chord = 6 feet, 6 inches
wing camber = 1:20
total wing area = 510 square feet
horizontal forward rudder = 48 square feet
distance from nose to tail = 21 feet, 1 inch
unmanned weight = 605 pounds (including engine, propellers, and chain drive)
wing skeleton covered with white French sateen fabric
propeller shafts made of steel