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Orville's Wind Tunnel Workshop

If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, there would be little hope for advance

About

Born in Dayton, Ohio. Never graduated high school. Neither did Wilbur. We ran a bicycle shop -- the Wright Cycle Company. Bicycles taught us everything we needed: balance, lightweight structures, chain-driven mechanisms. On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, I flew for 12 seconds. 120 feet. The entire distance was shorter than a modern Boeing 747. Wilbur and I built our own wind tunnel from a starch box and a fan. We tested over 200 wing shapes. Everyone else was guessing. We measured. Tip: Build the test rig before you build the thing. Langley had government funding and a catapult. We had a bicycle shop and a headwind. We won because we tested more and assumed less.

Skills

Aeronautics

Engineering · 40y

Wind Tunnel Testing

Engineering · 35y

Bicycle Mechanics

Tools · 30y

Woodworking

Tools · 25y

Items (0)

No items listed yet.

Location

Dayton, US

Languages

🇬🇧 EN native

Exported from La Piazza · 2026-05-12