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Watch this video to learn the basics of flying.

DO NOT click "skip". Just let the video play.

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An Explainer is a trained high school or college student who will answer your questions about how things fly. Explainers also host the webisode videos you'll find thoughout this website. And, if you visit the How Things Fly gallery in Washington, D.C., you will find Explainers assisting visitors to interpret exhibits and presenting hands-on demonstrations on the science of flight.

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Watch this quick video of the World Record-holding Paper Airplane!

Scroll down and read the short article. If you want to listen to the article being read, click the orange play button next to "listen" to the right of the text.

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Do you like making airplanes? If you like , we're sure you'd enjoy making airplanes, too. All it takes is some and a few simple supplies.

airplanes can be fun to around the house or outside in the yard. You can decorate them with any color or patterns that you like. If you play with a friend, you can race your airplanes and see whose can go the highest or the farthest!

No one knows for sure when the first was created. Sometimes, historians give credit to Leonardo da Vinci. However, folding and kite making were both popular in Asia hundreds of years before that, so it's likely the first airplanes may have been made long, long ago.

In Japan, the art of folding is called . Some people call the art of making airplanes aerogami.

airplanes are obviously lots of fun to play with. But did you realize that they can be more than just toys? It's true!

Since airplanes through the air, they can teach scientists and engineers a lot about basic concepts of flight, engineering and aerodynamics . In fact, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) once sent a into space on a space shuttle!

If you're wondering how a would in outer space, you might be surprised by the answer. According to scientists, airplanes won't actually in outer space, because there's no atmosphere . Instead, airplanes would simply in a straight line and could possibly forever unless they hit another object!

The Wright brothers also used airplanes to test out their theories about flight before making their first flight. They built a wind tunnel and used airplanes to gain a better understanding of how their aircraft would operate in the wind.

So just how far can a ? On February 28, 2012, former college quarterback Joe Ayoob set the world record for the longest flight. He threw a the entire length of a , setting the record at 226 feet, 10 inches. That broke the old record by 19 feet, 6 inches!

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Do you like making airplanes? If you like , we're sure you'd enjoy making airplanes, too. All it takes is some and a few simple supplies. airplanes can be fun to around the house or outside in the yard. You can decorate them with any color or patterns that you like.

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Help Orville and Wilbur put their flying machine together using this website!!

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Airplane Anatomy Flash Version | Wright Brothers Classroom Activities

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Do you have a question about the Wright Brothers that hasn't been answered yet? Look at this timeline and click on the links to read more.....maybe you can find your answer!

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Up

Wright Timeline 1940 to 1949
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Available in Française, Español, Português, Deutsch, Россию, 中文, 日本, and others.

o invention, no scientific discovery, no work of art, no human endeavor happens in an historical vacuum. There are always other factors -- cultural, political, personal -- that influence the outcome of a single event. So it was with the invention of the airplane. When Wilbur and Orville were children, the abacus was the most advanced mathematical aid, influenza was an often-fatal disease, and the cannon was the most feared weapon of war. By the time Orville died, the first computers were just being built, antibiotics had begun to wipe out disease, and the atomic bomb made war unthinkable. Many of these advances influenced the development of the airplane -- and the airplane, in turn, influenced further advances.

Here is chronology that shows not just the story of the Wright brothers, but also the world they lived in and the important political, cultural, and scientific events that loomed large in their lives. Click on the decade you want to see:

1940
With Orville in attendance, Dayton, Ohio dedicates the Wilbur and Orville Wright Memorial on a hill overlooking Huffman Prairie. The 1903 Wright Flyer is removed from the Kensington Museum and stored in a stone quarry for safekeeping during World War II.

Sikorsky makes the first successful helicopter flight; prehistoric cave paintings are discovered in France.

As World War II approaches and because Orville Wright is a consultant to the US Army, US military escorts bring Orville back to Ohio from his vacation home on Lambert Island in Canada. It is the last time he ever visits the island.

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and the United States enters World War II.

1942
Orville Wright designs an encryption machine for the US Navy. It is similar to German "Enigma" machines but cannot be deciphered by the primitive computers being used by National Cash Register to read coded German communications. The Smithsonian finally recants their 1914 report on the Langley Aerodrome and recognizes the Wright brothers as the first to make a controlled, sustained powered flight.

The first electronic computer is built in the U.S. and Bell Aircraft tests the first U.S. jet airplane.

His feud with the Smithsonian over, Orville recalls the Flyer I from England but it can't be shipped home until World War II ends. Fred G. Kelly publishes the first authorized biography of the Wright brothers, written with Orville's input and permission.

The Allies stop German advances in Italy, North Africa, and the Soviet Union. "Jitterbug" dance craze begins and Rogers and Hammerstein produce Oklahoma.

After setting a speed record flying a prototype Constellation across America, Howard Hughes lands in Dayton, Ohio and gives Orville Wright his last airplane ride.

The Germans fly the first operational jet fighter, the ME-262. They also launch V-2 rockets against the Allies.

The aircraft carrier the USS Wright is launched and christened at Camden, New Jersey by Orville's niece, Ivonette Wright-Miller.

First atomic bomb is detonated at Alamogordo, NM. World War II ends.

1946
Orville rediscovers the original 1901 Wright wind tunnel balances and airfoils in the attic of his laboratory ― they were lost when Orville moved there in 1916. These are donated to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

The first meeting of the United Nations is held in London

1947
Orville Wright assists in the restoration of the world's first practical airplane, the 1905 Wright Flyer III. It will later be installed at Deeds Carillon Park, a museum dedicated to Dayton's history and its role in transportation technology.

Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier in the Bell X-1.

Orville Wright dies of a heart attack in Dayton, Ohio and the Wright brothers' first powered airplane, the 1903 Flyer I, is enshrined at the Smithsonian Institution.

Israel becomes a nation, the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang forms in California, and Albert, a rhesus monkey, becomes the first astronaut riding a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 40 miles.

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Up Down Need to find your bearings? Try these navigation aids: If this is your first visit, please stop by: Something to share? Please: Available in Française, Español, Português, Deutsch, Россию, 中文, 日本, and others. o invention, no scientific discovery, no work of art, no human endeavor happens in an historical vacuum.

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E. What happened to the Wright Brothers first working plane?

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E. What happened to the Wright Brothers first working plane?

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So what did the Wright Brothers do with Flyer I after that day in Kitty Hawk? Watch this Discovery Channel video to find out where the plane is today!

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F. Do you think YOU could fly the Wright Brothers' plane?

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F. Do you think YOU could fly the Wright Brothers' plane?

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Go to the following website. Here, you will get a chance to fly the Wright Brothers' plane, Flyer I.

1. Click the blue "Launch Interactive" button.

2. Click the buttons at the bottom to change the controls.

3. See how different controls change how a plane flies

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Pilot the Wright Brothers' Flyer - NOVA | PBS

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Explore the Wright brothers' first plane and discover how they steered it.

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Everyone likes to have fun! Read this website's list of "10 Fun Facts" about the Wright Brothers.

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1. The Wright Brothers didn't have an advanced way to turn right or left. 2. The Wright brothers first airplane was actually a glider. 3. Their first flight using an engine was on a Thursday at 10:35...

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Did you know that there is a Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, NC? It is actually a National Park! Go to the park's website below and click around on the tabs towards the left. Find out what you can do while visiting the Wright Brothers Memorial.

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Wright Brothers National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)

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Wind, sand, and a dream of flight brought Wilbur and Orville Wright to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina where, after four years of scientific experimentation, they achieved the first successful airplane flights on December 17, 1903. With courage and perseverance, these self-taught engineers relied on teamwork and application of the scientific process.

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Enjoy playing this game about the Wright Brothers and the First Flight! USE YOUR HEADPHONES.

Click on the HINTS if you don't know the answer!!!!

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Thank you for working so hard and following directions! I hope you enjoyed this Internet Workshop. Now that you're done you may pick what to do next. Of course, you can do both!

Either:

1. Visit the website below and look at all the different primary sources about Orville and Wilbur.

OR

2. Exit out of the internet, log out of 502-student, power off, and turn your paper and table into Miss. Borowicz. Read quietly at your seat.

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The Wright Brothers - Primary Source Set | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress

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Wilbur and Orville Wright went from repairing bicycles to inventing the airplane. Features photographs at Kitty Hawk; flying machine patents; and personal letters and telegrams about the first flight.