1905 – The First Practical Airplane

The first practical airplane took shape in May 1905, when the Wright Brothers started building the new Flyer III. It was based on the Flyer II’s components, but enhanced to eradicate its problems. The airplane’s pitch and yaw control were improved, featuring a bigger elevator and rudder. Semi-circular “blinkers” were inserted between elevator surfaces to prevent the Flyer III from sideway shifts whilst turning. Small tabs were included on the trailing propeller blade edges to maintain thrust. Most crucially, the rudder could be completely controlled by the pilot, separately from the elevator.

The first primitive Flyer III was flown on June 23, 1905 by Orville Wright. Over eight flight attempts, with all experiencing damages to the aircraft, little success was achieved. Their best result lasted all but 20 flight seconds.

Testing of the Flyer III took a near-tragic turn on July 14, when Orville crashed it at speeds exceeding 30 miles per hour. Thankfully, Orville survived, but it left the brothers with a serious re-look at their creation. To improve safety and control, the plane’s elevator was enlarged to 83 square feet and shifted away from the wing’s leading edge by almost 12 feet.

The result was a series of successful, and safe, flight attempts around Huffman Prairie, beginning from late August. More notable results came from Wilbur’s 18 minute flight on September 26 and another flight of 26 minutes on October 3, manned by Orville. This was immediately improved upon on October 4, when Orville flew for 33 minutes. The Wright Brothers had in the Flyer III, a potential practical airplane.

This news spread like wildfire. Wilbur then made history with the longest flight ever recorded up till then on October 5 when, in front of a small crowd and the presence of Torrence Huffman and Dave Beard, he remained airborne in the Flyer III for 39.5 minutes over 30 circuits and a distance of 24 miles.

The Flyer III was thus the first practical airplane ever invented. It was stable, had great control, smooth circling and could achieve flights of more than 24 miles. The Wright Brothers had seen their efforts come to fruition and great satisfaction.

Despite much attention from the Dayton media, due to poor weather, the Wright Brothers failed to demonstrate the aircraft to their greatest supporter, Octave Chanute, or any larger audience. This was to prove a critical cause for their failed attempts at selling their invention to the Europeans in 1905.

When the U.S. Secretary of War was disinterested in purchasing the Flyer III, the Wright Brothers resolved to conceal their invention from the public as much as possible to protect their patent bids and commercial possibilities. Exposure to media and publications were not entertained to safeguard the Flyer III’s configuration. All test flights were scraped before a patent and commercial deals were obtained. The Flyer III was dismantled and stashed away on November 5, 1905. It did not reemerge until 1908.

Throughout 1905, the brothers continued to peddle their creation to Europe. In continued attempts to protect their patent bid, they offered deals where buyers were to purchase the aircraft without any demonstrations. Refunds were guaranteed if results were not satisfactory. Despite some interest, the War Office in Great Britain and the French turned them down. The French were particularly indignant in their reaction. Without any corroborated proof of the Flyer III’s flight results in the American press and regardless of positive feedback from their own Dayton field reports, the French ridiculed the Wright Brothers asking price of $200,000.

This came amidst a backdrop of a surge in growth and advancement of the aviation industry in France. Ernest Archdeacon became the first person to launch and land his glider at an Issy-les-Moulineaux aerodrome in March 1905, the precursor to the airfield and airport. The classic Voisin configuration which featured stability with an absence of lateral control, followed in June, when the float-gliders – a Voisin-Archdeacon model and Voisin-BI, riot design - featured Lawrence Hargrave’s box-kite configuration.