Testing Lilienthal Mechanical Math Demonstrations
Greg Cone

The Wright brothers' wind tunnel experiments profoundly affected their understanding of flight, and set them far ahead of any of their competitors. Ironically, the wing they used on their next glider was one never tested in the tunnel. Why?

The Wright Story
1902 gliderWhat happened next?
Education Feature: Growing wings...
Resources
The Langley Full Scale Wind Tunnel
NASA's History of Wind Tunnels
In Motion
Bill Hadden of the Wright Experience built the reproduction balances after making detailed measurements of the copies in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum. His experience with the balances makes them look easy to operate, but don't be fooled. It takes patience and care to keep the delicate connections from collapsing.
lift setup

Test setup: lift balance
lift run

Test run: lift balance
drift run
video clip
Test run: drift balance
tunnel interior

Inside the tunnel
fan

The fan
in the tunnel

The Wrights in the tunnel today

©2002, The Wright Experience™

Credits