The (W)Right Brothers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ruechlin

Seven children were born to Milton and Susan Wright. Wilbur and Orville were third and fourth in birth order. Milton was a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren, and the family moved with the job from time to time.

Answer: Their father gave them a toy helicopter.

Bishop Wright brought the boys a souvenir toy helicopter on one of his trips. It wasn't very sturdy. Made of bamboo, paper, cork, and a rubber band, sources say the boys played with it until it broke, and then they made their own!

Answer: None of these

Wilbur had plans to attend Yale. However, an injury and his mother's illness kept him at home. Orville dropped out of high school to help his brother start a new business.

Answer: Printing Shop

The brothers opened a printing business in 1889 after building their own press. One source states that it was made out of a damaged tombstone and old buggy parts. Their first paper was called "The West Side News." Orville was the publisher, and Wilbur was the editor. Eventually the brothers moved on to commercial printing.

Answer: Van Cleve

In 1892 they opened their own repair and sales shop, called the "Wright Cycle Exchange," and by 1896 they began manufacturing their own brand. The "Van Cleve" model sold for $64, and the "St. Claire" sold for $42.50. It is estimated that Wilbur and Orville manufactured about 300 bicycles during this time, and earned between $2,000 and $3,000 a year. Today only five of their bicycles are known to exist.

Answer: Dayton, Ohio

As the boys were growing up, the family moved from time to time due to their father's work. Wilbur was born in Indiana; Orville was born in Ohio. The family moved to Iowa when Milton became a bishop, but subsequently moved back to Dayton. This is where their aviation experiments began, but, of course, Kitty Hawk is the place of their first flight.

Answer: True

While working in their bicycle ship, the brothers began to experiment in the field of aviation. Called "the flying problem," the first thing the early aviators needed to figure out was how to *survive* their attempts to fly! James Howard Means, editor of the influential journal, "The Aeronautical Annual," published an article in 1896 called "Wheeling and Flying," in which he suggested a link between bicycles and flight having to do with balance, control, the need for lightweight structures, etc.

The brothers needed to find a good way for their machine to bank into the turn - like birds did. Later called "wing warping", Wilbur discovered the concept while twisting an empty bicycle tube box with the ends removed. He first tested the concept on a small kite and found it worked! Their shop was also used as a laboratory for aviation experiments.

The famous "Wright Flyer" was built in their last shop in Dayton.

Answer: They could not test fly together.

Because of the high mortality rate among early aviators, the brothers promised their father they would not fly together, but in 1910 they asked their father's permission to do so, and he allowed it. Then Orville took Milton, 82 years old, on a seven-minute flight. Reportedly, the plane rose to about 350 feet, and Milton called, "Higher, Orville, higher!"

Answer: Dress Silk

The plane flew from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio, in one hour and six minutes. Morehouse-Martens Department Store paid $5,000 for the service. They cut the silk in small pieces and sold them as souvenirs.

Answer: True

Wilbur once said he "did not have time for both a wife and an airplane."

Most of my information comes from Tom D. Crouch's, "The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright."