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They discovered the importance of wing aspect ratio on lift and drag during their wind tunnel testing. The issue was Wright’s misreading of the data, which was based on a lack of information concerning Lilienthal’s test model’s wing geometry.ĭespite this, the Wrights conducted their tests with a crude wind tunnel they built themselves. When they measured the aerodynamic lift on their gliders, however, the Wrights discovered that it was only one-third of the lift calculated using Lilienthal’s data. To that effect, the brothers used the aeronautical data supplied by German aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal to create the wings of their first gliders in 19.
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Photo: Alan D R Brown – Gallery page, GFDL, Lift and Dragįrom the beginning of their work on flying machines, the Wright brothers knew that the wings would generate most of the lift. Lift is the opposite force of weight, and it occurs as air moves on wings. Quite different from the infamous Wright Patent Wars, there is nevertheless stiff competition between the companies when it comes to efficient wing design.Īs a primer, aerodynamics involves a combination of four different forces: lift, weight, drag, and thrust. The airplane wing has evolved from the wooden and fabric twin-wing design of the Wright brothers’ Flyer to the composite materials utilized in today’s models from giants Airbus and Boeing. To get some measure of the evolution of wing design, Orville Wright’s first flight, which lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet, was shorter than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. It generates the majority of the lift in conventional aircraft, with the fuselage and tail contributing only a small percentage of the overall lift. MIAMI – The heart of an airplane, aeronautical engineers will tell you, is the wing.