Wright Brothers File Flight Patent
The Wright Brothers filed their patent for a flying machine, protecting their invention
May 22, 1906
From Bicycle Shop to Flying Machine
Orville and Wilbur Wright were bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio, who became obsessed with the problem of powered flight. They studied the work of earlier aviation pioneers, built their own wind tunnel to test wing shapes, and spent years refining their designs at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where steady winds and soft sand made it a good testing ground. On December 17, 1903, they achieved the first successful powered, controlled airplane flight in history. The first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. By the fourth flight that day, Wilbur had flown for 59 seconds over 852 feet.
Protecting the Invention
The Wright Brothers filed their first patent application in 1903 and received U.S. Patent 821,393 on May 22, 1906. The patent covered their system of three-axis control — the method of controlling an aircraft's roll, pitch, and yaw — which remains the foundation of all fixed-wing aircraft design to this day. The brothers aggressively defended their patent, suing competitors including Glenn Curtiss in protracted legal battles. Critics argued these lawsuits slowed American aviation development relative to Europe in the years before World War I.
A Century of Flight
The Wright Brothers' achievement launched the aviation age. Within a decade, airplanes were being used in warfare. Within three decades, commercial air travel was a reality. Within sixty-six years of the first flight, humans landed on the Moon. The transformation of the world through air travel — in commerce, communication, warfare, and tourism — is almost impossible to overstate. Use the date calculator to calculate exactly how much time elapsed between the Wright Brothers' first flight and the first Moon landing.