The brothers originally went into business selling, repairing and designing bicycles. However, by the end of 1899 they had developed a keen interest in flight, and began to devise control systems that could be employed on manned gliders. Their justification was that it was pointless to create a powered aircraft before a reliable control system had been designed. Their research led them to develop three axis control: wing-warping to control the roll of the aircraft, a moveable rudder to control yaw, and elevators to control the pitch.
Successful testing of these controls on a glider in 1902 led the brothers to build an engine to power their flying machine, along with a pair of specially-designed propellers that were refined under testing in their own wind tunnel.
The aircraft, which was first known as the Wright Flyer but was later named Flyer I, made its historic flights about four miles south of the town of Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. After a number technical delays, the brothers tossed a coin to decide who would be the first to fly on 14 December.
Wilbur won the coin toss but stalled the engine on take-off and crashed the plane after just a three-second flight. After repairing the aircraft, Orville became the first to pilot it on its first true flight three days later although the first flight lasted for just 12 seconds over a total distance of only 36.5 metres. Each brother successfully flew the aircraft twice that day.
