The two became interested in [[aviation]] when they read an article on the death of a daring glider pilot and inventor named [[Otto Lilienthal]]. In 1899, they began to experiment with a biplane kite. The next year, the brothers went to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to test a 16 foot (ft.) glider, which cost them $15.00 to build. They returned to Kitty Hawk in 1901 to experiment with a larger non-motor powered aircraft, but neither glider had the lift they had counted on. They concluded that the published tables of air pressure on curved surfaces were all wrong. | The two became interested in [[aviation]] when they read an article on the death of a daring glider pilot and inventor named [[Otto Lilienthal]]. In 1899, they began to experiment with a biplane kite. The next year, the brothers went to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to test a 16 foot (ft.) glider, which cost them $15.00 to build. They returned to Kitty Hawk in 1901 to experiment with a larger non-motor powered aircraft, but neither glider had the lift they had counted on. They concluded that the published tables of air pressure on curved surfaces were all wrong. |